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The Florida Orchestra 2025-26 season announced
Actor Morgan Freeman will make an in-person appearance with The Florida Orchestra Sept. 25 at St. Petersburg’s Mahaffey Theater.
The Academy Award winner’s recorded narration accompanies Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, and he is also scheduled to speak at the concert, a celebration of Mississippi Delta blues music.
“Wicked.” Photo: Universal Pictures.
The Florida Orchestra’s just-announced 58th season begins Sept. 3 with a with-orchestra performance from Wicked star Cynthia Erivo (postponed from the spring) at Ruth Eckerd Hall. These tickets are on sale now.
A collaboration with American Stage at the projectALCHEMY dance company, Quiara Alegría Hudes’ The Good Peaches blends music and theatrical storytelling with movement Sept. 20 (two performances) at the Mahaffey Theater.
Concerts take place at the Mahaffey Theater, Ruth Eckerd Hall and Morsani Hall, inside Tampa’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts.
The Pops schedule for 2025-26: Summer Breeze: Yacht Rock Classics (Oct. 10 and 12); Troupe Vertigo (circus performers and circus music, Nov. 1); Holiday Pops (Dec. 19-21); The Billy Joel Songbook (Jan. 16 and 17); The Envelope Please (Academy Award film music, Feb. 14); Bugs Bunny at the Symphony (April 18); America 250: Stars and Stripes Forever (May 22 and 23); Defying Gravity: The Music of Stephen Schwartz and Friends (June 7).
The Masterworks schedule for 2025-26: Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony (Oct. 3 and 5); Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto (Oct. 18 and 19); Beethoven & Bernstein (with the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, Nov. 7 and 8); Mozart & Handel (Nov. 23); Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 (Jan. 9-11); Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe (Jan. 23-25); Beethoven’s Triple Concerto (Feb. 6 and 7); Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (Feb. 21 and 22); Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony (March 21 and 22); Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (with the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, March 27-29); Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 (April 10-12); Sibelius Symphony No. 2 (May 1-3); Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 (May 15-17); Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (with the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, May 29 and 31).
“The Alpine Symphony is the biggest and most impressive of all the Strauss tone poems,” music director Michael Francis told the Catalyst. “And that’s just the first half.” It’s paired with Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending and Respighi’s Pines of Rome. “That’s a really astonishing concert,” Francis said.
Every Masterworks program includes performances of other pieces of music. “Every piece is connected,” said Francis. “We’re always taking you on a journey; we’re always connecting the pieces together – and if you don’t know about them, come to the pre-concert talk. And we’ll talk from the podium.
“And we love to perform modern music, by living composers. I’m always trying to achieve a balance.” He raved about Thierry Caens’ Tribones Trombone Concerto, a U.S. premiere next April (it’s paired with Ferde Grofe’s Mississippi Suite and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
“I’m also really looking forward to [Leonard Bernstein’s] Kaddish Symphony, a great way to remember what happened in World War II,” Frances explained. It features text by Samuel Pisar, who survived multiple concentration camps as a child. “It’s a very moving piece, and Samuel Pisar’s wife and daughter are coming to read.” This program (Nov. 7 and 8) is presented in partnership with the Florida Holocaust Museum.
Another highlight for Francis: “Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, but as you’ve never heard it, in Mahler’s arrangement, which is much bigger and bolder and more powerful.” (Performances are March 27-29.)
Visiting artists this year include Benjamin Beilman (violin), George Li (piano), Maximilian Hornung (cello), Evren Ozel (piano) and acclaimed conductor Jeannette Sorrell.
Also scheduled are six Morning Matinee concerts.
Soundwaves chamber orchestra concerts, along with other special and community performances, will be announced at a later date.
Season packages for all subscription series are on sale now at this link. Single tickets go on sale Aug. 12.
