“Courtney Lewis is looking forward to many parts of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s season” that opened on September 30, writes Marilyn Young in Friday’s (9/30) Daily Record (Jacksonville, Fl.). “The season includes pieces everyone knows … and contemporary music from Gyorgy Ligeti and Julian Anderson … in his second full season as music director for the orchestra…. It’s the second season he and CEO Robert Massey have been working to rebrand and build the symphony…. They increased the offerings that were popular last year, such as the Sunday Masterworks concerts, which has grown from three to eight. The Pops concerts offer a lot of diversity, such as Disney’s Broadway Hits, Second City’s Guide to the Symphony and Bond and Beyond…. The orchestra also is offering create-your-own subscriptions…. The orchestra closed fiscal year 2016 in the black. Its budget for the new fiscal year is a record-setting $10 million…. This summer, [Lewis] listened to recordings from some of last season’s performances. Things he felt were ‘enormous problems’ at the time, he didn’t even notice…. Stepping back and being able to hear the improvements and knowing that goals have been reached brings great satisfaction.”
Posted October 3, 2016
