Renée Fleming, Stewart Goodyear, Marc-André Hamelin, Ray Angry headline Toledo Symphony. Toledo Ballet to present the world premiere of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. John Pizzarelli joins Toledo Jazz Orchestra.
TOLEDO, OH – On Friday, May 24, 2024, the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), announced its 2024-2025 performance season. Subscriptions are now available for purchase by calling the TAPA Box Office at 419-246-8000 or by visiting artstoledo.com/subscribe. Single tickets will go on sale on Thursday, August 1, 2024. For a full listing of events, visit artstoledo.com.
The Toledo Symphony's Rita Barbour Kern Masterworks Series opens with Beethoven's final symphony, his Ninth, which features the famous "Ode to Joy." Renowned soprano Renée Fleming performs alongside baritone Rod Gilfry in Kevin Puts's The Brightness of Light based on the letters of artist Georgia O'Keefe.
“We knew it would be a challenge to top our 80th anniversary season," says TSO Music Director Alain Trudel. "What a treat to have Renée Fleming on this season's Masterworks Series!"
The 81st season will also feature Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue as well as symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, Sibelius, Mahler, and Bernstein. Pianists Stewart Goodyear, Marc-André Hamelin, Terrence Wilson, and Élisabeth Pion, violinist Paul Huang, and members of the Toledo Symphony appear as soloists.
"The 2024/25 Season will be a transformational one for TAPA. Not only will we present new and imaginative programs with the Toledo Symphony, Toledo Ballet, and the Toledo Jazz Orchestra, but we will open an incredible new building that will create new opportunities for creativity, community, and collaboration to thrive," says Zak Vassar, President and CEO of TAPA. "I can’t be more enthusiastic about the future of the performing arts in Toledo!”
The KeyBank Pops Series kicks off in January with "A Night at the Oscars," conducted by conductor, TV and film star Damon Gupton. The series also includes "A Nashville Songbook" featuring Mandy Barnett and "The Music of Pink Floyd" performing The Dark Side of the Moon. Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez performs "La Vida Broadway" in a celebration of the Latine voices of Broadway, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno and Linda Ronstadt. Gupton returns to conduct Marvel's Black Panther Live in Concert at the Stranahan with talking drum soloist Massamba Diop. The KeyBank Pops series concludes on Juneteenth with multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer Ray Angry with GRAMMY®-winning bassist Ben Williams performing DEARLY BELOVED – The Music of Prince Reimagined.
Toledo Ballet celebrates its 85th anniversary season with the world premiere of a brand-new ballet choreographed by Eric Otto, Toledo Ballet's Artistic Director and Head of Curriculum. "I've had the idea for a feature-length ballet based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for a long time," says Otto. "I'm very proud to add this new ballet to Toledo Ballet's repertoire and I'm confident that it will be a new Halloween tradition for years to come."
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, part of The Andersons Inc. Charitable Foundation Family Series, will feature a newly commissioned score from composer Jonathan Heck which will be performed live by the Toledo Symphony. The world premiere takes place on Friday, October 25 at 7pm with a repeat performance on Saturday, October 26 at 2pm at the Valentine Theatre.
The Andersons Inc. Charitable Foundation Family Series continues with Christmas Movies at the Peristyle, a double feature of the nostalgic films "The Snowman" and "Shaun the Sheep's Flight Before Christmas." Scores to both films will be performed by the Toledo Symphony led by Steven Jarvi. In April 2025, Toledo Ballet will add another full-length story ballet to its repertoire with the Toledo premiere of Snow White at the Valentine Theatre.
The Buckeye Broadband and The Blade Chamber Series will feature five performances in TAPA's new headquarters on Heatherdowns Blvd, adjacent to The Stranahan. The series will include music by Bach, Dvořák, Schubert, and Brahms and a family-friendly performance of The Carnival of the Animals and Peter and the Wolf. The Toledo Symphony brass section will commemorate the beginning of Holy Week with sacred music for brass by Bach, Tomasi, and others. The Buckeye Broadband and The Blade Chamber Series will conclude with Beethoven, Brews, and BBQ, a day-long series of performances of Ludwig van Beethoven's entire string quartet catalog accompanied by activities throughout the building and grounds of TAPA's new headquarters.
Special Events for TAPA's 2024-2025 season includes TSO's annual performance of Handel's Messiah on Sunday, December 8 at Rosary Cathedral and Toledo Ballet's 84th annual production of The Nutcracker on December 14 and 15 at the Stranahan, the oldest consecutively running Nutcracker production in North America.
The Toledo Jazz Orchestra's Hartmann Bogan Jazz Series returns for a third season featuring five concerts at the Valentine Theatre or The Peristyle. The series opener will feature the music of Stan Kenton conducted by Alain Trudel. Guest conductor Andrew Bishop and Toledo native and vocalist April Varner return for A Very Jazzy Christmas at the Peristyle. “We are once again excited to be working with Alain for a third season as well all the other featured musicians on the series,” says Scott Potter, long-time bandmember and president of the Toledo Jazz Orchestra board. Vocalist Kim Buehler joins TJO to honor her mentor and Toledo jazz legend Jon Hendricks, and Alain Trudel conducts Porgy and Bess – The Miles Davis Album, a full recreation of the legendary Miles Davis/Gil Evans concept album from 1959. The Hartmann Bogan Jazz Series concludes with GRAMMY-award winning guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli who has been hailed by the Boston Globe for "reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz."
Subscriptions to the Rita Barbour Kern Masterworks Series, KeyBank Pops Series, Buckeye Broadband and The Blade Chamber Series, Hartmann Bogan Jazz Series, and The Anderson's Inc. Charitable Family Foundation Series are on sale now by calling the TAPA Box Office at 419-246-8000 or by going to artstoledo.com to view programs and purchase series subscriptions online. Tickets for Handel's Messiah and The Nutcracker may also be added on to any subscription at this time. Single tickets for all performances go on sale on Thursday, August 1, 2024.
For complete program information, please visit artstoledo.com/subscribe. Season brochures will be available in June.
The Rita Barbour Kern Masterworks Series will feature twelve performances with eight concerts on Friday or eight concerts on Saturday at 8pm.
The KeyBank Pops Series will feature six performances including five at 8pm on Saturday and a special Juneteenth performance at 8pm on Thursday, June 19.
The Andersons Inc. Family Series will include two Toledo Ballet premieres – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in October and Snow White in April with performances on Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 2pm as well as Christmas Movies at the Peristyle on Saturday at 4pm.
The Buckeye Broadband and The Blade Chamber series will feature four performances on Sundays at 4pm including a family-friendly program with crafts and activities and a day-long marathon of Beethoven's sixteen string quartets.
The Hartmann Bogan Jazz Series will feature five Saturday performances at 8pm at either The Valentine Theatre or The Peristyle.
For questions, please contact Vanessa Gardner, Vice President of Marketing & Operations for the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts at vgardner@artstoledo.com.
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ABOUT TOLEDO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Toledo Symphony Orchestra is a community-supported organization of professional musicians and teachers who deliver quality performance and music education for all.
Formed in 1943 as The Friends of Music and incorporated in 1951 as the Toledo Orchestra Association, Inc., the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has grown from a core group of twenty-two part-time musicians to a regional orchestra that employs sixty-nine professional musicians who consider the Toledo Symphony their primary employer, as well as numerous extra players annually as repertoire demands.
The Toledo Symphony reaches more than 260,000 individuals annually through performances and education programs. The series concerts (Masterworks, Pops, Chamber, and Family Series) are the critical underpinning of the orchestra’s artistic mission and regularly draw people from 135 postal zip codes. Education programs, student performances, and community concerts are held in schools, neighborhood churches, performing arts centers, and community facilities throughout the region; many are offered at no charge or provided at a reduced fee to help expand participation.
ABOUT TOLEDO BALLET
Toledo Ballet inspires the passions and spirit of the Toledo community through dance. Toledo Ballet provides quality dance instruction and exceptional performance opportunities to over 250 students throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan annually.
Founded in 1939 by Marie Bollinger Vogt, Toledo Ballet continues to offer quality dance education spanning all ages and ability levels. Classes include ballet, contemporary, tap, tumbling, and Adaptive Dance, a unique class providing those with special needs an opportunity to learn to move in ways that come naturally to them. Acting, voice, musical theater, and conditioning are also offered at the school. In addition, Toledo Ballet brings in world-renowned, professional dancers each year to lead its summer intensive programs, drawing students from across the region seeking to advance their skills.
Toledo Ballet students have competed at the national and international level, including the Youth American Grand Prix (YAGP), the world’s largest international student ballet competition, and many have pursued dance professionally at some of the most prestigious ballet institutions in the nation, including New York City Ballet, Chicago Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet.
ABOUT TOLEDO ALLIANCE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
On January 1, 2019, the Toledo Ballet and Toledo Symphony officially merged to form the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing exceptional live music and dance performances and education for the region. Stemming from an 81-year partnership and annual presentation of The Nutcracker in Toledo, this merger is one of only a few in the nation and promises to create new and invigorating programs, provide cost and revenue synergies in operations, and integrate the arts through shared educational missions.
ABOUT THE TOLEDO JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Since 1979, the Toledo Jazz Orchestra has worked with dozens of industry legends, including Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams, Clark Terry and Zoot Sims. This 18-member group also performs the works of the major big bands from the past eight decades along with arrangements commissioned specifically for the orchestra. The Toledo Jazz Orchestra has two albums to its credit titled “Groovin’” and “Out of Nowhere.” For more information about TJO, visit toledojazz.org or artstoledo.com/toledojazz.
