Starting this Thursday, you can hear a full Florida Orchestra concert on Tampa Bay’s classical radio station WSMR. And it’s a doozy: the phenomenal performance of Carmina Burana recorded live on opening night little more than a week ago.
There will be more to come, thanks to a new partnership with WUSF Public Media and Classical WSMR radio, in which live recordings of select Florida Orchestra Masterworks concerts from the 2017-18 season will air on WSMR 89.1 & 103.9 FM to celebrate TFO’s 50th anniversary. You can also listen online at wusf.usf.edu.
There will be 13 broadcasts in all, a combination of Tampa Bay Times Masterworks concerts from this season and archival recordings from TFO’s 50-year history in Tampa Bay.
We could not pick a better concert for the grand debut at 7 p.m. Thursday. Under the baton of Music Director Michael Francis, The Florida Orchestra and the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay go full throttle into Orff’s Carmina Burana in an outstanding performance. Listeners will get the full concert, which also includes Tippett’s Ritual Dances from The Midsummer Marriage, along with bonus insight from WSMR Music Director and Host Russell Gant, Maestro Francis and others. Look for future concerts to air on select Thursdays through May.
It’s a no-brainer for The Florida Orchestra and WSMR to team up. We are both so rooted in Tampa Bay and dedicated to bringing the power of classical music to our community. The orchestra performs throughout the bay area with concerts in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, and WSMR is Tampa Bay’s only classical music radio station.
A special thank you to the Florida Orchestra Musicians Association and the American Federation of Musicians Local 427-721 for making these broadcasts possible as a special 50th anniversary gift to the community.
The broadcasts also are made possible by support provided by the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.
