Chair’s Reflections
THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2019-2020
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Dear Friends,
I am thrilled to welcome you to another wonderful performance
by The Florida Orchestra. As TFO begins our 52nd Season, I could
not be more proud to serve as Board Chair for such an innovative
organization.
We are ecstatic that in just the past four years, our community and
education programs have grown a whopping 47%, reaching more
than 91,000 people last season at mostly free events like park,
youth, and hospital concerts. To us, these numbers are a huge
success because they show we’re fulfilling a key part of our mission.
As our Music Director Michael Francis says: If you believe in the
power of music, then you have to take it to everyone – even those
who can’t come to a concert hall.
I am also delighted to announce our new full-orchestra Family Concerts—expanded from our previous
kid-sized concerts performed by a small chamber group. These Sunday afternoon concerts are geared for
the whole family and revolve around a milestone moment: July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong became
the first human to walk on the moon. Historic NASA video and images of the lunar surface will beam
onto the big screen, as kids and their parents sing and dance along to music about space travel and the
skies during the interactive concerts, called One Giant Leap. TFO will perform One Giant Leap on Sunday,
Oct. 27, 2019, at the Straz Center in Tampa at 2 pm, and Sunday, Nov. 3, at the Palladium Theater in St.
Petersburg at 2 pm. Tickets are on sale now at FloridaOrchestra.org.
As you join us over the next two seasons, you will be treated to all of Beethoven’s symphonies and major
concertos in honor of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth. As Michael Francis so eloquently
says: “Beethoven is the greatest composer because he took all that life threw at him and turned it into
inspirational art that still unites humanity today. There’s no composer that’s not influenced by him.
Something about that music, and about that man, about what he dealt with. It just taps into the human
psyche in a more universal way than any other composer.”
Thank you for helping us build a vibrant, thriving Tampa Bay community through music. I hope you will
join us again soon.
Warm regards,
Janet E. Paroo
Chair, Board of Directors
/FloridaOrchestra.org