It's been years since the Britt Festival Orchestra had a "normal" season of concerts on the hill in Jacksonville. Even before the COVID pandemic curtailed the concert schedule, summer wildfire smoke forced changed venues and cancellations.
So this year BFO is making a big change: holding the concerts much earlier in the year, in June and July instead of August.
Today (February 10) Britt announces the works for the season, conducted by Teddy Abrams.
New festival GM Renia Shterenberg checks in with the list:
WEEK 1
June 17: Anniversary Spectacular
Featuring a World Premiere Special Commission.
Sebastian Chang, piano
Timo Andres - Everything Happens So Much
Sebastian Chang - Piano Concerto "The Empress"
West Coast Premiere: Commissioned in 2022 by Britt Music and Arts Festival.
Dedicated to the 60th Anniversary of the Britt Festival Orchestra
Ludwig Van Beethoven - Symphony No. 3
June 19: Juneteenth Celebration
Featuring music by Black composers.
Seth Parker Woods, cello
Valerie Coleman - Umoja
Tyshawn Sorey - For Roscoe Mitchell
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson - Calvary Ostinato from Lamentations
Adolphus Hailstork - from Symphony No. 4, Still Holding On
Julius Eastman - Femenine
WEEK 2
June 24: Truths Be Told
Davóne Tines, baritone
Star Spangled Banner, arr. Michael Schachter
Davóne Tines - Concerto No. 1 "Sermon"
Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 10
June 26: Orchestral Colors
A program showcasing the textures, colors and depth of the orchestra.
Orchestra only
Michael Tilson Thomas - Shówa/Shoáh
William Grant Still - In Memoriam: The Colored Soldiers Who Died for Democracy
Igor Stravinsky - Symphony in Three Movements
WEEK 3
June 28: Family Show - special morning program: 11:00 AM
Family Friendly 1-hour program
Bruce Campbell, narrator
Dave Anderson - "Celebration"
Nathaniel Stookey - The Composer is Dead!
July 1: American Soundscapes
Works using American folk and popular musical heritage for inspiration.
Tessa Lark, violin
Gabriel Kahane - Nocturama
Leonard Bernstein - Serenade after Plato's "Symposium"
Antonín Dvořák - Symphony No. 8
July 3: Rhythms of the Barrio
Featuring a West Coast Premiere Special Commission.
People Of Earth
Tania Leon - Ser
Dafnis Prieto - Tentacion - commission/ West Coast Premiere
Arturo Márquez - Danzón No. 2 (conducted by conducting fellow, Gabriel Kahane)
George Gershwin - Cuban Overture
Maurice Ravel - Bolero
Schedule and programs subject to change.