Principal Tuba Bill Mickelsen has played thousands of concerts for TFO in 40 years, but few notes have resonated like low B-flat for a swamp full of alligators. We look back with author Jeff Klinkenberg as Bill retires.
TFO musicians performed more than 130 concerts this season. Whew! As the season ends, it’s time for umbrella drinks and long vacations, right? If only. Find out how some musicians keep busy over the summer, today on the TFO Blog.
Violinist Sarah Shellman searched high and low for just the right dresses for her concerto performances. Turns out one had been hanging in her mom’s closet since the ‘70s. Each dress has a story, today on the TFO Blog.
TFO violinist Sarah Shellman dedicated a year of her life to preparing a concerto for this weekend. Her husband, Greg, lived through it all. Get the inside scoop, today on the TFO Blog.
As TFO’s Sarah Shellman practices her upcoming violin concerto, her husband dares to admit what few will: “I like contemporary classical music.” He makes his case, today on the TFO Blog.
This TFO violinist’s house is filled with more cats than music. Find out why today on the TFO blog.
It’s easy to be entranced by soloist Joshua Roman in the Bates Cello Concerto. But if you hang out in the percussion section, it’s all about the cowbells and thumb pianos. Tuned, of course. See and hear what we found, today on the blog, with video clips.
When Meghan Lance took over as the orchestra director at Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School, she had her work cut out for her. “I remember my first year thinking that the orchestra sounded like The Sister Act choir of orchestras. They were all playing at different times, horribly out of tune, I was like, ‘What is happening?!’“ Mrs. Lance said.
This weekend The Florida Orchestra’s “Quilting Violinist,” Linda Simon Hall, will be a celebrity judge at a quilt show put on by the Peacemakers Quilt Guild of Brandon. It’s aptly themed “A Symphony of Colors.”
John Shaw never tires of his top concert pick of the season – which percussionists know well from auditions. Today on the TFO Blog.
