From Brahms to Broadway to the Beatles, there are so many excellent musical (and other) opportunities from which to choose this week:
On Sunday, Maestro Christopher Confessore and the Brevard Symphony Orchestra return to Community Church for a 7:30 p.m. concert, which opens with Schubert’s Overture to “Rosamunde,” a tale of palace intrigue and murder, best known for Schubert’s music. The evening’s featured soloist will be young and gifted violinist Paul Huang, whose multiple awards include the highly prized Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists and the Avery Fisher Award. Huang will perform Pulitzer- and Grammy-winning composer Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto. To round out the evening in dramatic style, the orchestra will perform Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s Sixth Symphony, in which, according to Wikipedia, he “manages to capture some of the Czech national style within a standard Germanic classical-romantic form.” Tickets are $55.
Broadway hits – always an audience favorite. This Sunday the Treasure Coast Chorale and Friends are serving a heaping musical helping at First Baptist Church in Vero. The 70-member chorale, under the direction of Dr. Michael Carter, celebrates 16 years of music with a tried-and-true program, “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” including their very popular audience-singalong segment, for those of us who just can’t keep from, well, singing along, or at least lip-syncing along, to our faves. For Sunday’s concert, the Chorale will be joined by local trio “The Dolls”: guitarist Dave Mundy, drummer Richie Mola and pianist Judy Carter. The new matinee time is 4 p.m. A $10 donation is suggested.
Speaking of musical theater, one of Broadway’s all-time greatest musicals, “Gypsy,” opens this Tuesday at Riverside Theatre. It is, of course, the story of the most indomitable stage mother in the annals of theater, Mama Rose, as she tenaciously shepherds her daughters’ song-and-dance act on the vaudeville circuit, living her own dreams of showbiz glory through them. “Gypsy” is loosely based on the memoirs of the older daughter, Louise, who eventually becomes the famous burlesque striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. Riverside’s production features local Riverside Children’s Theatre students, cast in June, and Louise’s Vaudeville numbers. This is the kind of show at which Riverside absolutely excels, and you can bet your front row-center tickets you’ll get a Broadway-comparable production. Performances are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Opening Night, Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; matinees Wednesdays, select Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays, 2 p.m. “Gypsy” runs through March 25. Tickets start at $35.
For years, “1964: The Tribute” has been collecting rave reviews as “the best Beatles tribute band,” and cheering audiences in Carnegie Hall, Shea Stadium, Red Rocks and a ton of other venues concur. See and hear for yourself Thursday, March 8, at the Emerson Center when LIVE! From Vero Beach presents “1964: The Tribute.” Unlike other tribute bands, this one focuses on “the quintessential moment in history, when the Beatles actually played before a LIVE audience,” says the official website. They do it like it was done 50 years ago, in the days before giant screens, high-tech effects, and a hoard of back-up singers and dancers: it was just four guys, three guitars and a drum set. And thousands of screaming fans – the original Beatlemania. Show time is 7 p.m. Tickets are $127 to $149.
And something special for you jazz fans: This Saturday, the Johnny Varro Swing 7 will lay it down at the Vero Heritage Center, presented by the Treasure Coast Jazz Society. Varro began studying piano at 10, and was introduced to jazz soon after. He’s worked on the Jackie Gleason Show, and with Flip Phillips, Billy Butterfield, Phil Napoleon and the Dukes of Dixieland, and organized Swing 7 to cover the styles of the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. Swing 7, says the show promo, plays jazz festivals and concerts across the U.S. and throughout Europe. Admission to a single concert is $45 for Jazz Society members, $50 for Non-Members. The jazz begins at 12:30 p.m. 772-234-4600.
Ah, romance. If you seek music which “has charms to sooth a savage breast,” this concert could be the one: This Sunday, the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra presents “Romantic Masterpieces, Brahms and Schumann” at the Vero Beach High School PAC. According to Wikipedia, it took Brahms 14 years to complete his Symphony No. 1, partly because he was super self-critical, and partly because he was intimidated that people expected him to assume the musical mantel of the great Beethoven. It was an immediate success, and well worth the wait. As an ardent romantic, Schumann created works filled with sensitivity and color. In his Symphony No. 4, Schumann creates a musical journey “from darkness into a blaze of light,” notes Wikipedia. The music begins at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25. Students and people under 18, free. 855-252-7276.
What do you get when you mix a virtuoso organist with a handful of internationally recognized poets? You get a perfectly extraordinary experience: improvisational music tailored to a poetry reading, from “intricately delicate to flamboyantly theatrical.” Intrigued? This unique cultural series takes place at Community Church every Thursday through March 22. The designated poet will read his or her chosen work, while Community Church’s organist Andrew Galuska improvises to complement the reading. On March 1, poet Lisa Rosear Bradford of Buenos Aires will read. On March 8 it will be Casey Baggot of Vero Beach; March 15, Sean Sexton of Vero Beach; and March 22, Sidney Wade of Gainesville. Sexton, Indian River County’s poet laureate, has assembled the poets. These programs are open to the public, and begin at 11 a.m. Call Galuska for further information: 562-3633.