Sarasota Orchestra

Music Moves Us - SMF Edition: Hildegard von Bingen

The Bridge Trio presented a concert at the Neel Performing Arts Center in Bradenton called "Coming to America," featuring the Dvořák Piano Trio in F Minor as well as music by John Adams and Ernest Bloch. Bethany Cagle welcomes the trio, led by Sarasota Orchestra violinist Felicia Brunelle, to our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio. They engage in conversation and a live performance to commemorate the passing of Paul Wolfe, former Music Director of Sarasota Orchestra.



The Ying Quartet and Sarasota Orchestra principal clarinetist Bharat Chandra stopped by our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio to play for you live on the radio! Hear the music of Mozart and Brahms, as well as conversation with Bethany Cagle.

Sarasota Orchestra performed the Gliere Harp Concerto with acclaimed harpist Xavier de Maistre, and we bring you a little preview of that concert on Classical WSMR! Join Russell Gant as he welcomes his guest Xavier de Maistre to our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio for live music and conversation.

Pianist and conductor David Greilsammer paid a visit to Classical WSMR’s Sarasota Broadcast and Performance Studio while guest conducting for Sarasota Orchestra! Greilsammer has a passion for exploring contrasting musical worlds, and his programs frequently juxtapose works from the past and present. His Sarasota Orchestra concert featured composers from four musical eras who stretched the boundaries of classical tradition. Greilsammer discusses the concert with host Russell Gant and also plays piano for you live. 

Join Classical WSMR's Bethany Cagle for live music as she welcomes famed American pianist William Wolfram to our Sarasota Broadcast and Performance Studio. William Wolfram was a silver medalist at both the William Kapell and the Naumburg International Piano Competitions, a bronze medalist at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, and finalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He’s appeared with many of the greatest orchestras of the world and made a stop in Sarasota to play Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F with Sarasota Orchestra.

Sarasota Orchestra presented a program of Russian masterworks including Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, played by Estonian pianist Mihkel Poll. He joined Bethany Cagle to play a few selections in our Sarasota studio.

Between rehearsals for a concert featuring the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 2, Sarasota Orchestra concertmaster Daniel Jordan stopped by our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast studio to play for you live.

Charismatic trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling gained acclaim portraying Louis Armstrong in the musical Satchmo and has been featured with many top big bands. He’s performed with more than 50 symphonies and came to town to play with Sarasota Orchestra in a show titled “Satchmo, Fats, and the Duke.” Stripling and pianist Kenny Drew, Jr. joined Bob Seymour for conversation and an exciting live studio performance.

One year after his Carnegie Hall debut, violinist Ray Chen made his first guest appearance with Sarasota Orchestra. While in town, Chen and his 1702 “Lord Newlands” Stradivarius stopped by our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio to talk with Bethany Cagle and play a bit of Bach and Mozart for you live. 

Russell Gant is joined by conductor Leif Bjaland and pianist Orion Weiss in our Sarasota studio for live music and conversation. In this session, Maestro Bjaland, was preparing for the farewell concert of 15-year tenure as Music Director of Sarasota Orchestra, and you’ll hear his reflections about his time in Sarasota. Plus Orion Weiss plays for you, too.

Coleen Cook welcomes Chloe Hanslip, whom some critics have called the most exciting violinist to come out of England. Hanslip performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Sarasota Orchestra and stopped by our Sarasota studio to play works for solo violin, including music by Paganini and Peteris Plakadis.

Sarasota Orchestra (previously the Florida West Coast Symphony) opened its 60th season with a new name and a new look, changes prompted by months of community research by Sarasota’s regional orchestra. Music Director and conductor Leif Bjaland talked with WUSF classical music host Coleen Cook about a growing arts community, reasons behind Sarasota Orchestra’s name change, and the innovative “Journeys to Genius” concert concept. 

Join WSMR's Bethany Cagle as she welcomes musicians from Sarasota Orchestra for some live music by violinists Dan Jordan and Chung-Yon Hong and harpist Cheryl Losey. Listen to music from Bach's "Double” violin concerto with harp taking the role of the orchestra, and Massenet's "Meditation" from the opera Thaïs.

Join Classical WSMR's Bethany Cagle for live music with violinist Philippe Quint. He performed the Barber Violin Concerto with Sarasota Orchestra and stopped by our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast studio to play live! Quint shares Bach and even some of his own music from a film called Downtown Express … a movie he acted in! Learn more about this GRAMMY-nominated violinist and enjoy his music and conversation.

Violinist Giora Schmidt’s musical journey has included tutelage with some of the greatest violin pedagogues of our day, including Itzhak Perlman. Schmidt is a graduate of the Perlman Music Program and gained his first teaching experiences here in Sarasota through the PMP. He gave a sneak peek into his performance with Sarasota Orchestra of the tango-influenced “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires,” and performs selections from Bach and Kreisler live on the air.