Artis Naples: Baker Museum & Naples Philharmonic

As Music Director Andrey Boreyko enters his third season as the organization’s artistic leader, his focus continues to be the examination of the communion between visual and performing arts.This season will find programs across series and disciplines that explore the ideas of muses and scale.

“These two themes provide us with several interesting points of comparison throughout the Artis—Naples offerings,” Boreyko said. “The effects of muses on art dates back to antiquity. This season, we chose to explore three dynamic women who influenced countless great artistic minds of the 19th and 20th centuries. For scale, we are excited to show how visual and musical works can be filled with tremendous artistic intensity regardless of size.”

Artistic cross-pollination continues with visiting artists performing in multiple series. The orchestra continues to explore various eras of music with Baroque concerts, a Masterworks appearance by noted early-music expert Bernard Labadie and new works by contemporary composers Gabriel Prokofiev, Giya Kancheli and Nicholas Jacobson- Larson. Our Pops programming celebrates Broadway divas and dives into the unfairly maligned music of the 1980s.The 2016-17 season will also see an increase in the number of dance and Broadway performances from four to five.

And the Naples Philharmonic Chorus will celebrate its 25th anniversary this season. In addition to its part in our annual Holiday Pops concerts, the chorus will sing Handel’s Messiah with the Naples Philharmonic in a stand-alone concert in November and perform Vaughn Williams’ Toward the Unknown Region during Masterworks concerts in April 2017.

THE POWER OF MUSES: CLARA SCHUMANN, ALMA MAHLER AND MISIA SERT

The influence these three women had over the classical arts from the middle of the 19th century through the 1950s is incalculable.  Each held some of the greatest visual and performing artists of the period enthralled by their mesmerizing personal charm. Throughout the season, works inspired by, financed by or written for these women will be performed, often paired with compelling programming from other parts of the organization.

Schumann’s clout appears across several concerts. In addition to performing with the full orchestra in the Masterworks series, pianist Benedetto Lupo joins Naples Philharmonic musicians for a Wang Chamber Music series performance of Brahms’ Piano Quartet in C Minor, which is rumored to have been written as an expression of his affection. Schumann is again the subject of an entire Masterworks performance conducted by Boreyko with works by Mendelssohn, her husband Robert Schumann, and Brahms.

In March, the orchestra takes up the mantle of Alma Mahler with another -led Masterworks concert featuring Korngold’s Violin  Concerto—dedicated to her—and her husband Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.4. At the same time, she will be the subject of works  in the Wang series and an exhibition by The Baker Museum of works by her lover Oskar Kokoschka.

Sert, too, will be the focus of Boreyko’s programming with a Masterworks concert featuring works by her teacher, Fauré, and Stravinsky’s Petrushka, the ballet Sert famously saved with a last-minute purchase of costumes for the Ballet Russes’ opening  performance. Various Lifelong Learning series will explore her roles in the music, dance and art worlds, where she was notable for  hosting an influential salon and posing for artists such as Toulouse- Lautrec and Renoir.

CLIMB UP AND DOWN THE SCALE

As Music Director, Boreyko is also delving into the idea of scale as part of the 2016-17 season. At The Baker Museum, a season long exhibition of work from the Olga Hirshhorn collection includes the return of her Mouse House collection of small works from prominent artists such as Picasso, Calder, Giacometti, Man Ray and more. The works were originally the decorations for a small carriage house she owned in Washington, D.C., and have been a favorite of local museum-goers since they went on display at The Baker Museum a decade ago.

Boreyko’s love of short orchestral pieces is being transformed into a Masterworks concert inspired by them. The performance includes newly commissioned works from composers Prokofiev, Kancheli and Jacobson-Larson. Prokofiev and Jacobson-Larson were selected in part because of their previous work with the orchestra, mirroring Hirshhorn’s long association with visual artists.
On the other end of the size spectrum, The Baker Museum along with the Naples Botanical Garden is hosting an exhibition  of monumental sculptures by artist Kevin Box. The works will be displayed on the Artis—Naples’ Kimberly K. Querrey and Louis A. Simpson Cultural Campus and at the garden. Box’s metal sculptures resemble giant origami creations. A work of his unfolded origami models will also be on display at the museum.

BIGGER BROADWAY

The season begins with six performances of 42nd Street, from December 26-29.This tale of a plucky, young Broadway hopeful  who catches her big break by accident has delighted audiences for decades since its Tony winning run started in 1980. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, January 17-22, has taken the theater world by storm during its short, four-year history, winning four Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Don’t miss this hilarious send-up of British aristocracy.

If you love the music of Carole King, then don’t wait until it’s too late to see Beautiful—The Carole King Musical, February 7-12.  Telling the popular singer-songwriter’s story through her own music, this soaring show is Some Kind of Wonderful.

The bumbling Bottom brothers can’t escape the shadow of their more famous playwright counterpart, William Shakespeare, in  Something Rotten!, March 14-19.But a soothsayer named Thomas Nostradamus thinks he might have found their big break in this uproariously funny musical.

The Broadway season finishes with one of the most beloved musicals of all time, Cabaret, April 12-16.A young British cabaret  singer and a struggling American writer fall in love as Nazi Germany begins to rise in 1930s Berlin in this touring version of the 2014 Broadway revival.

SUPERSTAR PERFORMERS, POWERHOUSE POPS AND EXPANDED DANCE

The upcoming orchestra season is heavy with sensational visiting artists, from household names—violinist Joshua Bell and pianist  Hélène Grimaud—to notable younger artists making their debuts with the orchestra—rising conductor Eric Jacobsen and cellist Sol Gabetta. Several Naples Philharmonic favorites return, including pianists Kirill Gerstein, Vladimir Feltsman and Lilya Zilberstein.

Guest conductors include Labadie, Jacobsen and Roberto Abbado.

Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly has another exciting Pops season created to amp up the nostalgia with tributes to Broadway’s best divas, the music of celebrated film composer John Williams and the 1980s. Plus, Artis—Naples is one of the first  venues where Everly is performing a new program with the Doo Wop Project, an a capella group that tracks the lineage of tight  vocal harmonies from the Crests and Belmonts to today’s radio hits. Hayes Hall favorite Stuart Chafetz returns to remember the  ’80s with a spectacular concert.

With the addition of a third Miami City Ballet performance this year, the dance program now provides ballet lovers five nights of  impeccable programming. MOMIX blends dance and illusion into a performance The Huffington Post says creates the feeling “we have just interfaced with genius.” And American dance legend Twyla Tharp continues the celebration of her company’s 50th year with a special performance.

“We are continuing to deepen our artistic scope with the hope of delighting our current patrons and reaching new audiences in  the community,” van Bergen said. “The ever increasing support from Southwest Florida makes it possible for us to explore bold new offerings and expand popular programs and series.”