what's (on) second?
So my second class of the week is my "arts" class and we met up at Holley Hall for a visit to the Sarasota Orchestra-
A very interesting presentation by the admin folks at the Orchestra was accompanied in the background by a rehearsal of the Orchestra in the Holley Hall- while we were across the way in a "class room" style room...
a statue near the entrance to the box office- but the current conductor is from Estonia and her name is Anu Tali- and she is not your stereotyped conductor-
the facility has a gallery hall where they exhibit rotating art- today it is very colorful and just by chance we meet the artist -
a permanent piece located just outside the room where the Orchestra is rehearsing-
a practice hall- recently renovated- had wonderful acoustics-
we got to peek into the Library where all the scores are done for each musician - what an amazing amount of work that is!
here are some facts about the Sarasota Orchestra-
They have about 80 full time musicians, who audition for positions with the Orchestra behind a screen so the decision is based upon merit/ability. This system was originally used to ensure that women were not excluded from the important positions and has been the standard for quite some time - not just at this orchestra.
The orchestra is unionized so it is subject to a lot of regulation and also has tenured positions for those who maintain a level of excellence.
The orchestra performs (in various iterations and various venues) 125 concerts a year.
They have four series each year and many other special concerts- including a concert called "thrill of a lifetime" where young performers who have won a competition get to perform with the Sarasota Orchestra.
The Orchestra plays at Holley Hall, Neel Auditorium and Van Wezel and even sometimes at the Opera House in Sarasota.
They have an outreach program which sponsors every 4th and 5th grader in Sarasota and Manatee counties to a classical concert (more than 10,000 students)
They have a summer music camp for more than 300 students and a youth orchestra of over 300 students (up to and including a philharmonic- students are placed based on ability)
The Orchestra used to be the Florida West Coast Orchestra and was re-branded in 2008 as the Sarasota Orchestra - they chose Orchestra over Symphony because it tested better (and likely gave them an opportunity to avoid the initials SS in a heavily Jewish community) the Orchestra
Hall is actually the Friedman Symphony Center which contains the Holley Hall performance venue and the David Kahn performance venue
A photo of the Thrill concert-
Then we were on to the Sarasota Art Center- just across the street-
The Sarasota Art Association was established in 1926 as the first arts organization in Sarasota.
In 1941, the Association incorporated as a not-for-profit organization.
The City of Sarasota provided the Art Association, with a lease of land near the downtown area and in 1948, after the war, the association broke ground for its present building which was designed in the then-popular style of the Sarasota School of Architecture. The building opened in 1949 with only one gallery which is now known as Gallery 3.
The Atrium or "Patio Gallery" as it was called was later erected with donations from members and was enclosed in 1961.
In 1996, the Sam and Sally Shapiro Sculpture Garden was created
some of the students at work during a class-
many classes to choose from-
one of the exhibits in the gallery space-
an outside piece-
a flyer for an upcoming sale and show- our teacher will be exhibiting there-
next up- my newest information from the Florida Maritime History Class or the Asolo play we saw this week with our friends- not sure which one will be done first (LOL- actually - third- I Don't Know)
Labels: holley hall, neel auditorium, sarasota arts scene, Sarasota cultural events, sarasota orchestra, van wezel, youth orchestra programs
back to school (catching up)
an OMG surprise!
third- I don't know (LOL)
who's (on) first?