The Philadelphia Orchestra Heads to Florida Under the Baton of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos this February

Pianist André Watts Featured on Week-Long Tour of the Sunshine State with Performances February 5-9  

(Philadelphia, January 24, 2013)—The Philadelphia Orchestra heads to Florida under the baton of guest conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos for a five-concert tour kicking off on Tuesday, February 5, 2013. The Orchestra’s week-long tour through the Sunshine State includes stops in West Palm Beach, Miami, Naples, and Sarasota and features virtuosic pianist and Philadelphia favorite André Watts as guest soloist. This tour marks The Philadelphia Orchestra’s16th visit to Florida since its first trip to the state with Eugene Ormandy in 1939. The Orchestra’s last tour to Florida occurred in 2006.  

Longtime friend of the Orchestra Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos leads this series of five performances throughout Florida. This is not the first concert for Frühbeck and Watts, as these two close collaborators will perform their highly-anticipated tour program nearly in its entirety on Friday, February 1, and Saturday, February 2, in the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall just days before hitting the road.

The tour begins with a performance on February 5 at 8:00 PM in West Palm Beach, at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in a concert featuring Liszt’s Les Préludes, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”), and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1. The following afternoon at 2:00 PM, also in West Palm Beach at the Kravis Center, the Orchestra performs Bach’s “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,” in an orchestration by Leopold Stokowski; Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. From there, the Orchestra travels to Miami’s Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for a performance on February 7 at 8:00 PM of Bach’s “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,” Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1. This will be the first time the Orchestra has visited this hall. Next, the ensemble heads to Naples to perform the Bach, Grieg, and Brahms works on Friday, February 8, at 8:00 PM at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts. The tour concludes with a performance in Sarasota’s Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Saturday, February 9, at 8:00 PM of Les Préludes, the Grieg Piano Concerto, and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

“We are glad to return to our Florida audiences, with whom we have connected many times over the years, bringing together dear musical friends once again,” said Philadelphia Orchestra President and CEO Allison Vulgamore. “We welcome yet another opportunity to act as Philadelphia’s ambassador on this five-day tour, and are particularly pleased to be joined by Philadelphia’s own André Watts as our guest soloist, and Maestro Frühbeck.”

The Philadelphia Orchestra has long been known for its distinguished touring history, widely known as one of the most-travelled American symphonic ensembles. The first American orchestra ever to make a transcontinental tour, in 1936, The Philadelphia Orchestra has toured the United States extensively with over 100 U.S. tours throughout its history.

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Renowned for its distinctive sound, beloved for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences, and admired for an unrivaled legacy of “firsts” in music-making, The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world.

The Philadelphia Orchestra has cultivated an extraordinary history of artistic leaders in its 112 seasons, including music directors Fritz Scheel, Carl Pohlig, Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Christoph Eschenbach, and Charles Dutoit, who served as chief conductor from 2008 to 2012. With the 2012-13 season, Yannick Nézet-Séguin becomes the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Named music director designate in 2010, Nézet-Séguin brings a vision that extends beyond symphonic music into the vivid world of opera and choral music.

Philadelphia is home and the Orchestra nurtures an important relationship not only with patrons who support the main season at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts but also those who enjoy the Orchestra’s other area performances at the Mann Center, Penn’s Landing, and other venues. The Philadelphia Orchestra Association also continues to own the Academy of Music—a National Historic Landmark—as it has since 1957.

Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, the Orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the United States. Having been the first American orchestra to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, today The Philadelphia Orchestra boasts a new partnership with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The Orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center while also enjoying a three-week residency in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and a strong partnership with the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.

The ensemble maintains an important Philadelphia tradition of presenting educational programs for students of all ages. Today the Orchestra executes myriad of education and community partnership programs serving over 45,000 annually, including its Neighborhood Concert Series, Sound All Around and Family Concerts, and eZseatU. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.

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