Musicians of the Sarasota Orchestra.
In Tuesday’s (3/12) WUSF (Tampa Bay), Susan Giles Wantuck writes, “The Sarasota Orchestra is celebrating its 75th anniversary on March 12. Its first performance under its original name, The Florida West Coast Symphony, was at Sarasota Municipal Auditorium on March 12, 1949. It’s the longest continuously operating orchestra in Florida. And it has had six music directors: Lyman Wiltse, Alexander Bloch, Paul Wolfe, Leif Bjaland, Anu Tali, and Bramwell Tovey, who died unexpectedly of cancer within a year of taking the position. Now it’s actively searching for its seventh music director…. ‘It really started from very humble beginnings, where a number of locals came together to pursue the interest in music,’ Sarasota Orchestra President and CEO Joe McKenna said…. One facet of the Sarasota Orchestra’s musical mission is its sponsorship of Sarasota Music Festival, for which musicians from top college music programs conservatories audition and, once accepted, attend for free…. The Sarasota Orchestra is expanding its reach and service by building a new home for music-making and education on Fruitville Road…. McKenna said, ‘This is a transformative project, both as a cultural center and a music center. But it’s also a big economic engine and a big social project for our region.’ ”
