Jacksonville Symphony to debut new composition

Conducting Electricity

Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony    On March 8 and 9, we present a program of French and American music featuring a world premiere by Courtney Bryan. Courtney was our first Mary Carr Patton Composer-in-Residence a few years ago, and we’re delighted that she’s written us a second piece, entitled “Visual Rhythms.” The piece takes its title from … Read More

The Jacksonville Symphony: A Harmony of Culture and Celebration 

Conducting Electricity

The Jacksonville Symphony’s mission is to enrich the human spirit through music, and as we celebrate Black History Month, it is important to know that Black History is American History. The Jacksonville Symphony continues to celebrate the American story through music by presenting diverse programming that is culturally and demographically representative of the community that we serve. Music, the universal … Read More

Love, Obsession and Revenge: The Jacksonville Symphony Presents Carmen

Courtney Lewis, Conducting Electricity

Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony      On April 12 and 14, the Jacksonville Symphony will stage our biggest production of the season, our “symphonically-staged” opera, which this year is Georges Bizet’s beloved and ever-relevant Carmen. For those of you who haven’t attended one of these operas before, Jacoby Symphony Hall is transformed into an opera house with a … Read More

Symphony to celebrate 100th anniversary of ‘Rhapsody’

Courtney Lewis, Conducting Electricity

 We begin the new year with a program celebrating the 100th birthday of George Gershwin’s revolutionary Rhapsody in Blue. This extraordinary piece, part symphony, part concerto, part big band swing session has an amusing genesis. In January 1924, Gershwin had the unsettling experience of reading in the New York Tribune that he was already at work on a “jazz concerto” … Read More

The Home of Traditions: The Jacksonville Symphony’s Begins the Holiday Season 

Conducting Electricity

 As winter approaches in Jacksonville, there’s a magical transformation taking place at the heart of the city. The Jacksonville Symphony is gearing up to celebrate a holiday season that promises to be extraordinary. Every December, the Symphony enters the most exciting part of its annual calendar, orchestrating 17 concerts for an audience of 21,000 patrons who all gather to experience … Read More

Jazz Comes to Symphony in a New Concert Series

Conducting Electricity

The Symphony is thrilled to launch its inaugural Jazz Series this season. Jazz is one of, if not the most, significant artistic contributions to have ever come from the United States. It was born from the collision of several different musical styles shared by a diverse population in late 19th to early 20th-century New Orleans. It was the most diverse … Read More

Jacksonville Symphony to debut new music

Courtney Lewis, Conducting Electricity

Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony    Fall is upon us, and at the Jacksonville Symphony, we’re gearing up for our first classical concert of the new season on September 29 and 30. The program opens with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Overture to Leonore No. 2, one of the first examples of a tone poem in music in which Beethoven … Read More

Jacksonville Symphony has big plans for season 

Conducting Electricity

Steven B. Libman, President & CEO of the Jacksonville Symphony     Although we are presently in the midst of an incredible heat wave, our administrative, artistic and production teams are very busy with preparation for the opening of our 2023/24 Season. Our 74th season has so much to offer the community – from phenomenal classical music to Pops concerts featuring … Read More

Jacksonville Symphony gears up for season

Courtney Lewis, Conducting Electricity

Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony   The summer months are some of my favorites of the year. Ironically, time away from the Symphony gives me the opportunity to learn new music and absorb all the scores for the coming season. What the audience hears at a concert is like the tip of the iceberg: most of the preparation … Read More

Jazz, ‘Carmen,’ ‘E.T.’ part of upcoming Jacksonville Symphony season

Conducting Electricity

Steven B. Libman, President & CEO The 2022/23 season at the Jacksonville Symphony just concluded with the thrilling energy and virtuosity of pianist Conrad Tao as he performed Sergei Prokofiev’s famous Third Piano Concerto. Having also featured Dmitri Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony, this finale marked the perfect exclamation point on a remarkable season. Now, we are turning our sights toward the … Read More