The Atlantic Classical Orchestra promises a season of varied music, virtuoso brilliance and just sheer inspiration for everybody – mavens of symphonic music as well as those yet uninitiated to it.

“It is a restorative and comforting pursuit,” says Maestro David Amado. “It’s an amazing gift to give yourself.”

Amado, the conductor and music director for the ACO, worked with their artistic advisory committee to choose the upcoming season. The committee, he says, comprised of individuals with varied tastes and backgrounds, brings valuable insight into the concert experience.

“It’s really important to have more than one voice at the table,” he explains. “It yields really good results. What makes this season special is we have not only such an incredibly wide range of eras of music but also stylistic differences.”

There are programs that have “light” music and those with more traditional “heavier” symphonic works. There are also movie soundtracks and grand, sweeping American works.

The idea, he says, is to offer a wide variety and avoid a season that’s filled to the brim with intensity.

Amado is quick to add that he is not complaining about traditional programming. Indeed, he has a long line of serious conducting credits and he recently retired from 20 years conducting the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. However, he does liken a full course of heavy programming to a menu that starts off with crème soup, followed by lobster in cream sauce and filet mignon.

“I think it’s important to have a lot of variety, so people’s ears don’t fatigue, their psyches don’t fatigue,” he says. “I think we’ve done a really nice job threading that needle. I’m really proud of it.”

The Atlantic Classical Orchestra presents a Masterworks Series of four concerts at the Community Church of Vero Beach and at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart. It also offers a Chamber Series which has three concerts presented at the Vero Beach Museum of Art and at the Elliott Museum in Stuart. Visit the ACO website for the Stuart dates and times.

Masterworks I: The Wild West, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11
The rousing program features Gioachino Rossini’s “William Tell Overture,” William Grant Still’s “American Scenes,” Aaron Copland’s “Four Dances from Rodeo,” Leonard Bernstein’s “Magnificent Seven” and John Williams’ “Cowboys.”

Amado says this is a great way to begin the season. He’s especially proud to feature work by William Grant Still, an African American composer of the 20th century whose compositions are quickly gaining renewed interest.

Masterworks II: Paris Jazz, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8
The program features Darius Milhaud’s “La Boeuf sur le toit,” Maurice Ravel’s “Piano Concerto in G Major with pianist Terrence Wilson, Bohuslav Martinu’s “Jazz Suite” and George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.”

Amado says this is an especially “fun concert” with an interesting, strange mix. The Milhaud composition was conceived of as a soundtrack for a Charlie Chaplin silent film that was never made, but filmmaker Jean Cocteau heard the music and staged a ballet to it.

Masterworks III: Latin Passions, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21
The program features George Bizet’s “Carmen” Suite No. 1, Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” with violinist Siwoo Kim, and Manuel de Falla’s “Three Cornered Hat.”
This concert also features members of the Treasure Coast Youth Symphony playing alongside the ACO musicians.

“Siwoo is going to be fantastic,” Amado says, adding that the Piazzolla piece is based on Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.” “It’s so incredibly colorful.”

Masterworks IV: The Classics, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11
The program features Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Coriolan Overture,” Joseph Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with ACO’s principal cellist Ashley Garrison, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.”

Amado says he is excited to present the “Eroica” to audiences because the scope and scale was so unprecedented when Beethoven wrote it. At the time, he says Beethoven had become enraptured with Napoleon and dedicated the work to him.

However, after he discovered the darker truth behind Napoleon, “He scratched his name out with such ferocity he scratched through the paper,” Amado says. “The political energy that went into creating the piece, as a political statement, was something that would become a staple of classical music.”

Chamber Series I: All-American Stars, 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21
The ACO Brass Quintet will feature Beni Salvia on trumpet, Dan Satterwhite on bass, trombone and tuba, Jesse Cook on trumpet, Stan Spinola on horn and Tim Conner on trombone in a virtuoso performance that features excerpts from Gershwin’s groundbreaking “Porgy and Bess.”

Chamber Series II: Intimate Portraits, 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18
An all-string program will feature Leonid Sigal on violin, Anna Ivanova on viola and Christopher Gladsdorp on cello. An interesting highlight of this will be a show-stopping work by Bohuslav Martinu, who wrote the piece for Amado’s grandmother, famed violist Lillian Fuchs.

Chamber Series III: The Flute Summons, 3 p.m. Sunday, March 17
A quartet will feature Christina Apelgren on flute, Aleksandr Zhuk on violin, Kaitlin Seto on viola and Ashley Garritson on cello, highlighting works by Mozart and Beethoven that put the flute front and center.

The Masterworks Series is presented at the Community Church of Vero Beach, 1901 23rd St., Vero Beach, and at the Lyric Theatre, 59 SW Flagler Ave., Stuart. The Chamber Series is presented at the Vero Beach Museum of Art and the Elliott Museum, 825 NE Ocean Blvd., Stuart.

Ticket prices range from $30 to $65 for the Masterworks Series and from $35 to $40 for the Chamber Series. There are discounts available for season subscriptions. For more information, call 772-460-0851 or visit AtlanticClassicalOrchestra.com.

Photos provided