March Brings Legends to the Stages and Galleries of Artis—Naples

From a Motown legend and an ’80s superstar to a pair of jazz giants and back-to-back nights with one of the world’s leading orchestras—one of which features an all-time great pianist—plus the opening of an exhibition celebrating a giant of American photography, March promises a memorable month for Artis—Naples audiences.

Installation view of The Passion of Collecting:
Stories in Glass and Ceramics from the Sibrack Collection. Photo by Darren R. Silva.

In The Baker Museum, a new exhibition, Discovering Ansel Adams, opens on March 14, showcasing over 100 of Adams’ most celebrated works from his beginnings as a 14-year-old tourist to the height of his career as an innovator and America’s greatest landscape photographer. Also on view are sonia louise davis: to reverberate tenderly, a multisensory installation shaped by the artist’s improvisational language of line and sound; There & Here, a presentation of permanent-collection highlights, cocurated with a community advisory committee; and The Passion of Collecting, an exhibition of contemporary glass and ceramics recently donated to the museum.

Meanwhile, over in Hayes Hall, the Naples Philharmonic takes center stage this month beginning on March 3, when the orchestra joins the Limón Dance Company for a return engagement featuring classic and contemporary works that examine masculinity through powerful movement and dramatic storytelling. From March 10-14, the orchestra partners with the Los Angeles-based cirque-style company Troupe Vertigo for Mysterioso: Music, Magic, Mayhem and Mirth, a Naples Philharmonic Pops program led by Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly and featuring vocalist Katie Scarlett Swaney. On March 19-20, Artistic and Music Director Alexander Shelley and the orchestra are joined by soprano Miah Persson, mezzosoprano Dame Sarah Connolly and the Naples Philharmonic Chorus for a Masterworks program featuring Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” a monumental meditation on death, renewal and transcendence. Over in Daniels Pavilion, the music of Haydn and Beethoven is featured as part of the month’s Sypert Salon chamber music programming on March 3 and 8, with musicians of the Naples Philharmonic performing Beethoven’s String Trio and Haydn’s String Quartet.

March also brings two evenings with the Vienna Philharmonic on March 6-7. Led by esteemed conductor Andris Nelsons, the orchestra is joined by pianist Lang Lang on its first night in Naples for Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto, paired with Mahler’s First Symphony.

The second program features Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 “Linz” and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6. Several other major artists appear in Hayes Hall throughout the month, including vocal group Il Divo on March 1, ’80s hitmaker Christopher Cross on March 8 and the Queen of Motown, Diana Ross, on March 22. The Broadway tour of A Beautiful Noise, which traces the career of singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, runs March 24-29.

Jazz audiences have much to anticipate as well. In Daniels Pavilion, baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan performs with the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra on March 4, followed by two performances by jazz vocalist Veronica Swift on March 15. Pink Martini, featuring Storm Large, returns to Hayes Hall on March 4 with its signature blend of classical, jazz, pop and Latin influences, and 20 time Grammy-winning guitarist and composer Pat Metheny appears in Hayes Hall on March 15 following the release of his latest album, Side-Eye II+.

Tickets and additional details can be found at ArtisNaples.org

FEATURED PHOTO: Kathleen van Bergen President CEO Artis Naples