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
Jacksonville Symphony leader bound for Paris
Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony This weekend, I head to France to spend six weeks conducting a very exciting new ballet with music by the English composer, Thomas Adès, for the Opéra national de Paris at the famous Palais Garnier. Inspired by Dante Alighieri’s 14th century epic poem, “The Divine Comedy,” “The Dante Project” is a rarity … Read More
A Feast for Your Eyes and Ears: The Magic Flute
Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony In a few weeks the Jacksonville Symphony will present our largest production of the season, The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s perennially popular opera. It’s my favorite Mozart opera, a fairy tale of good versus evil, enlightenment versus ignorance and the journey of finding your own way in the world. After the … Read More
Music For You: The Jacksonville Symphony Premieres Another New Commission
Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony, Haskell Endowed Chair Last season, the Jacksonville Symphony began a series of new commissions from today’s brightest composers. Building on the legacy of our Composer in Residence program in 2018, this series is very close to my heart. I think of the tradition of classical music as continuous and unbroken from the … Read More
The Jacksonville Symphony Casts Operatic Enchantment With ‘The Magic Flute’
Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony, Haskell Endowed Chair On April 28 and 30, the Jacksonville Symphony will present one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most beloved and famous operas, “The Magic Flute.” The two performances will be the culmination of several years of planning and preparation, and the Symphony’s largest production of the season. This is the story … Read More
The Jacksonville Symphony Rings in a Bright Holiday Season
Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony The holiday season is almost upon us, a time when we can enjoy being together with family and friends, eat and drink too much and reflect on the year that has passed. I’m looking forward to traveling to London and Belfast to be Uncle Courtney for a few weeks. It’s a time … Read More
Jacksonville Symphony Extends Contract with Music Director Courtney Lewis
Jacksonville Symphony Extends Contract with Music Director Courtney Lewis The Jacksonville Symphony proudly announces that Courtney Lewis, Music Director, and the Board of Directors have agreed to extend his contract through June 30, 2027. Lewis has served as the Jacksonville Symphony’s Music Director since 2015, a position permanently endowed by Haskell in 2009. This will be his third contract … Read More
Schumann’s heartbreaking Second one of Lewis’ favorites
When I’m asked the impossible question, “What’s your favorite symphony”, I usually refuse to answer, but inside my head a voice always cries out: Schumann’s Second! Robert Schumann (1810-1856) was the archetypal Romantic: he loved poetry as much as music, couldn’t decide whether to be a musician or a writer, married another artist (the great pianist Clara Wieck), struggled with … Read More
Mozart, MacMillan pieces will challenge symphony
I know I speak for all the musicians and staff at the Jacksonville Symphony when I say we are delighted to be back onstage performing. I’m especially looking forward to our program on Nov. 13-14, which features works by Mozart and the Scottish composer James MacMillan. MacMillan is Scotland’s leading composer, having been in the public eye since the late … Read More
Finding Strength In Classical Music
The Jacksonville Symphony’s Courtney Lewis says that, in trying times like these, we can all find strength and solace in the works of the masters. A friend recently asked me what symphonic music I think feels of the moment, what music feels like now, as we adjust to a new normal of social distancing and uncertainty. I often use music … Read More