Orchestra announces eclectic, economical season

The big news for the Florida Orchestra's 2011-2012 season means big savings for concertgoers. Beginning October 2011, ticket prices will drop from $20-$67 to $15-$45. The new price structure is designed to attract broader audiences, bringing that much more energy to every program.

To kick off the season, guest conductor Markus Huber will join the orchestra Oct. 14-16 for the Masterworks series, performing Orff's "Carmina Burana," Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio" Overture and Haydn's "Symphony No. 100." The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, helmed by the new music and artistic director, James Bass, will accompany, as will the Tampa Bay Children's Chorus.

After three seasons conducting the Coffee Concert series, Alastair Willis will bid the orchestra adieu. Tony Award winner Stuart Malina will step in, leading the orchestra in an eclectic season of symphonies, opera, Broadway, film and ballet.

The Pops series will also bring a variety of genres, from rock in "Rock on Broadway" to mambo in "A Night in the Tropics" to classics and ballads in "The One and Only Frank Sinatra" and "Music for Lovers."

Prices and venues vary depending on performance dates. Season tickets will start at $150 and go on sale for current subscribers Feb. 1, and March 1 for new subscribers. Individual concert tickets go on sale Aug. 15. For information, call (727) 892-3337 or visit www.floridaorchestra.org.

Here's a look at the 2011-2012 Florida Orchestra Masterworks, Pops and Coffee Concert season:

Masterworks

Oct. 14-16: Mozart: Abduction from the Seraglio Overture; Haydn: Symphony No. 100; Orff: Carmina Burana

Oct. 29-30: Mahler: Symphony No. 7

Nov. 11-13: Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6; Beethoven: Violin Concerto

Dec. 2-4: Haydn: La fedelta premiata Overture; Mozart: Concerto for Piano No. 21 in C Major, K467; Bruckner: Symphony No. 3

Jan. 7-8: Beethoven: Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage; Delius: Sea Drift; Delius: Appalachia: Variations on an Old Slave Song with Final Chorus; Copland: Lincoln Portrait

Jan. 13-15: Respighi: Trittico Botticelliano; Hindemith: Mathis der Maler; Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition

Jan. 28-29: Bartok: Divertimento; Bartok: Piano Concerto No. 2; Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Suite

Feb. 3 and 5: Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 4; Bartok: Rumanian Folk Dances (string orchestra version); Vivaldi: Four Seasons

Feb. 17-19: Nielsen: Helios Overture; Sibelius: Symphony No. 1; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2

March 17-18: Copland: Appalachian Spring (13-player version); Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915; Schumann: Symphony No. 1, "Spring"; J. Strauss Jr.: Voices of Spring

April 13-15: Hummel: Trumpet Concerto; Brahms: Symphony No. 4

April 27-29: Weber: Oberon: Overture; E. Franck: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13; Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture; Lortzing: Der Waffenschmied: Overture; Nicolai: The Merry Wives of Windsor: Overture; Wagner: Die Meistersinger: Prelude

May 11-13: Farinas: Penthesilea; Lewis: Cubanitis for solo timpani and orchestra; Prokofiev: Classical Symphony; Lopez-Gavilan: Rit-Motiv; Moncayo: Huapango; Romeu: Danzón "Tres Lindas Cubanas"

May 25-26: Chabrier: Habanera; Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major; Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Eroica

Pops

Nov. 4-6: Cirque de la Symphonie

Nov. 25-27: The One and Only Frank Sinatra

Dec. 9-11: Christmas at the Pops!

Jan. 20-22: Music for Lovers

Feb. 10 -11: A Night in the Tropics

March 9-11: Rock on Broadway

April 21-22: American Songbook Encore

May 18-20: Postcards from Paris

Coffee Concerts

Nov. 3: Bernstein: Mambo from "West Side Story"; Dvorak: Slavonic Dances; Milhaud: Saudades de Brasil

Dec. 8: Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; Bernstein: Times Square from "On the Town"; Rodgers: Slaughter on Tenth Avenue

Jan. 18-19: Debussy: Clair de lune; Vivaldi: Spring from The Four Seasons; Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, Pastorale

Feb. 9: Beethoven: Symphony No. 5; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4; Haydn: Symphony No. 94, Surprise

March 8: Strauss Jr: Tritsch Tratsch Polka; Mozart: "The Marriage of Figaro" Overture; Lehar: "The Merry Widow" Overture

April 18-19: Gershwin/Rose: Overture to "Girl Crazy"; Lloyd Webber: "The Phantom of the Opera" Selections; Sullivan: Overture to "The Mikado"

May 16-17: Ravel: Beauty and the Beast from Mother Goose Suite; Tchaikovsky: Waltz from "Swan Lake"; Williams: ET: Adventures on Earth