Classical Music

The Southwest Florida Symphony’s final performance of the season, May 18, titled “70s, 80s & 90s Unplugged” features music inspired by the popular MTV Unplugged concert series. Ahead of the show, we will hear from composer, producer, arranger, conductor, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and music educator Andrew Lipke, who created the symphonic arrangements and who will serve as maestro and featured performer.

The Southwest Florida Symphony’s final Masterworks concert of the season features guest cellist Sterling Elliot performing Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme,” a new work by Taiwanese composer Ke-chia Chen titled “Ebbs and Flows,” and Shostakovich’s beloved Symphony No. 5 in De minor, which is steeped in the turbulent history of the Soviet Union.We take a deeper dive into the program with Southwest Florida Symphony Maestro Radu Paponiu.

The Southwest Florida Symphony’s next Masterworks concert, Feb 3, will feature Naples-based pianist Alexandra Carlson performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, along with performances of Gideon Klein’s Partita for Strings, and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8. We’ll delve into the program in a conversation with Maestro Radu Paponiu and the symphony’s community outreach ambassador Robert Van Winkle.

The Southwest Florida Symphony’s first Masterworks Series program features well-known works by iconic American composers Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and John Williams. The Marcus Roberts Trio joins the symphony to perform Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” ahead of next year’s 100th anniversary of the composition. Ahead of the Nov. 4 concert, we get a preview from Maestro Radu Paponiu and the Symphony’s Community Outreach Ambassador Robert Van Winkle.

The Southwest Florida Symphony’s upcoming performance season features performances by violinists Robert McDuffie and Charles Yang, cellist Sterling Elliot, the Marcus Roberts Jazz Trio, and R.E.M. founding member Mike Mills. We get a preview of the full season in a conversation with Maestro Radu Paponiu and the symphony’s Community Outreach Ambassador Robert Van Winkle.

In July Artis-Naples announced full plans for the coming 2023-24 visual and performing arts season. The unifying theme this year is “Artistic Senses – See, Hear, Taste,” and seeks to transcend the boundaries between artistic disciples in a way that engages the senses on multiple levels.

A conversation with Southwest Florida Symphony Maestro Radu Paponiu and Community Outreach Ambassador Robert Van Winkle about the orchestra’s upcoming concert featuring Cuban-American cellist Thomas Mesa performing Antonín Dvořák’s Cello “Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104. The Masterworks series concert, Saturday, March 11, also includes a piece by contemporary American composer Jessie Montgomery and Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.” We’ll take a deeper dive into these compositions.

A conversation with Southwest Florida Symphony Maestro Radu Paponiu and Outreach Ambassador Robert Van Winkle about the orchestra’s upcoming concert featuring world-renown violinist Gil Shaham performing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto in G Minor. The Masterworks series concert, Saturday, Jan. 28, also includes the overture to Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. We’ll take a deeper dive into the music and the historical context behind each piece.

The Southwest Florida Symphony begins its performance season with a new artistic and music director, Maestro Radu Paponiu. We’ll explore the new symphony conductor’s background in music and explore performance offerings in the 2022-23 season in a conversation with Paponiu and the organization’s Community Outreach Ambassador Robert Van Winkle.

In late July, Artis-Naples announced its full plans for the coming season. The overarching theme is “Distance – Devotion.” We’ll have an encore presentation of our recent conversation all about the 2022-2023 season with Artis-Naples CEO and President Kathleen van Bergen.