Episodes

Strap on your cowboy hat and boots to join the SCF Bradenton Symphony Orchestra for Boots, Banjos and the South on Thursday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m. Selections will include Aaron Copland’s Hoedown and Buckaroo Holiday from Rodeo, Donald Grantham’s Southern Harmony , which is based on four southern shape note tunes, and featuring Dr. Jon Godfrey as composer and soloist on the premier of his Okeechobee Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra. Come along and join the club! • Aaron Copland Website • Dr. D...

Nate and Erin Mayland have been making a living playing on Broadway in pit orchestras for the past decade. Nate plays jazz and orchestral trombone having toured with the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Platters, and Frankie Valli, as well as performing for over 10 Broadway shows including Beetlejuice. Erin played violin in many Broadway shows and for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Show with the Rockettes, until she auditioned for this unknown, off-Broadway show called Hamilton, which becam...

She is a Brazilian-born educator and artist with extensive work experience and knowledge in theater, music, arts and literacy, and cross-cultural engagement. On the Suncoast, Maria Schaedler-Luera has served as the Manager for Arts Integration for Any Given Child Sarasota at Sarasota County Schools and serves as a drama teaching artist for the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Her company, Atomica Arts, has a simple mission: To explore the building blocks of extraordinary. She studied with theater...

Dr. Dan Burdick "retired" to Lakewood Ranch about a month ago. He is a world-class tuba player and teacher, was on the faculty of Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, has two degrees from Boston University and his doctorate in tuba performance from the University of Michigan. He has performed with the Canadian Brass, the Detroit Symphony, the John Philip Sousa Band, and has soloed on tuba all around the world, including Austria, Italy, Germany, Scotland, and Canada. He is now the new tuba eupho...

From shooting the Worker Project at the Sarasota Art Museum to hanging from the ceiling by her belt to shoot for the Sarasota Ballet, to taking photos of political figures such as Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama, Suncoast native Barbara Banks tells stories through pictures. Her skill and eye for light and pose make her photos remarkable, memorable, and iconic. Take a listen to her story of growing up in Sarasota, her path to photography as her art form and business, and her fav...

Ever wonder what the state of Florida does to support music education? Listen to this episode as Melodie Dickerson and Robyn Bell explain what the state sponsored "Student Artist Competition" is and meet SCF Music's eight students who will be competing this January for the $2000 scholarship. These eight students will be presenting their competition pieces in a recital on Thursday, January 21 at 7:30 p.m. live-streamed on the SCF Music's Facebook Page. You won't want to miss these fine musicians:...

In the halls of the SCF Music building, you often hear, "Ms. Aza! Ms. Aza!" as student affectionately call her. To her colleagues, she is simply known as "Aza, piano player and teacher extraordinaire." Her road from Russia led her to an unfamiliar place, hearing an unfamiliar language, but performing very familiar music. Take a listen as Aza Torshkoeva describes her upbringing, early piano successes, navigation of the immigration system, and love of teaching the piano students at the State Colle...

The Suncoast Culture Club podcasters Robyn Bell, Kelly Burnett, Katherine Bzura, Melodie Dickerson, and Amanda Schlachter chat together about their experiences in the cultural arts and the semester in the arts at SCF over the past five months. How close did we come to someone getting COVID? Closer than you might think! What's in store for the SCF Art Gallery, Theatre Program, Dance Company, and Music Program in the spring semester? Take a listen and get the scoop! Come along and join the club! •...

From Poland to Baltimore to Philadelphia to Boston to Houston to Sarasota, find out how this trip around the planet brought the Sarasota Orchestra's Acting Principal Percussionist and new SCF Percussion Instructor Tomasz Kowalczyk to our beloved Suncoast of Florida. And, what we all really want to know...Polish sausage or pierogis? Tomasz is here to tell us on this episode of the Suncoast Culture Club. Come along and join the club! • Sarasota Orchestra Website & Facebook & Instagram & Twitter & ...

As the Van Wezel Foundation looks to expand is arts education programs while raising money and awareness for the new Sarasota Performing Arts Center on the Sarasota Bay, Suzanne Hudson-Smith has returned to the Suncoast to help cultivate donor relationships and experiences at the Foundation. Her experience in theatre and the performing arts and her rich history in the cultural arts on the Suncoast makes her the perfect fit to fulfill the mission of the Van Wezel Foundation – to create a world-cl...

On Thursday, December 3 at 7:30 PM, join the SCF Music Program on our Facebook Page for our final concert of the semester. “Joy to the World” brings you all your holiday favorites and will feature the SCF Big Band and Jazz Combo, Concert Choir and Chamber Choir, Guitar Ensemble, and Bradenton Symphony Orchestra. Listen to conductors Dr. Pete Carney, Rex Willis, Melodie Dickerson, and Dr. Robyn Bell as they talk about the selections on this concert, what holiday music means to them, and how grat...

Her tour of the world includes Louisville, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Des Moines, Boston, Montgomery, and finally, Bradenton/Sarasota. Natalie Helm is celebrating year number five as the principal cellist of the Sarasota Orchestra and she's here to tell us about her organization Upward Notes, what she finds most valuable in a conductor, why she has named her cello "Ricky," and so much more. Join us for this episode of the Suncoast Culture Club. Come along and join the club! • Natalie Helm Websit...

For the second performance of its 2020-21 season, Sarasota Contemporary Dance will reprise a popular collaboration with renowned harpist Ann Hobson Pilot called SCD + Piazzolla. Performances are November 19-22 at the Historic Asolo Theater, available both in-person (socially distanced, limited capacity seating) and online through the company’s Digital Theater, a professional multi-angle immersive experience. There will be four performances: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at...

How does one fulfill the will of the world's most famous circus leader and art collector, John Ringling? Just ask Steven High, Executive Director of the John and Mable Ringling Museum Art, he can tell you how exact and precise that will states the art collection must be preserved and shared. At the Ringling, every day is different, every piece of art tells a story, and every Monday is free. Listen to Steven's story and experience the passion he has for the Ringling Museum of Art (and his secret ...

This episode welcomes Lisa Goss from the SCF Veterans Service Department, Tenesia Pinkney, a flute player in the SCF Symphonic Band and a US Navy Veteran, and Garrett Height, an actor in the SCF Theatre Program who will be narrating two pieces on this program. Learn how the SCF Veterans Service Department helps our students transition from service life to student life to career life, and how the music on this program embodies the military and American spirit. If you are a member of the SCF famil...

She moved to the Suncoast from Tucson, Arizona to open the much anticipated Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College at the repurposed Sarasota High School on 41. Three months later, it closed due to Covid. Now that it has reopened to the public, executive director, Anne-Marie Russell , wants you to know about this "third space" and how it can enhance your life. Every object has a story, the creation of art allowed us to become human, art tells the truth, art helps me have a conversation with mys...

The SCF Musical Theatre Program is proud to offer the 2020 Fall Musical Children of Eden through a pre-recorded scheduled content viewing experience available on Saturday, November 7, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, November 8, 2:00 p.m. Sunday, November 8, 7:30 p.m. Stephen Schwartz and John Caird’s musical, Children of Eden, casts the beloved biblical stories of Genesis through the personal lens of family. This epic musical starts with the very beginning: the creation of the universe. Father breathes life i...

How does one go from owning a medical sales company in Atlanta, Georgia to being the Executive Director of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County? Jim Shirley is here to tell us. As our area's number one lobbying group for the arts, Jim's organization oversees hotel tax dollars designated for our arts organizations, provides office and meeting space for various arts entities, and even coordinates the tour guide program at Patriot Plaza at Sarasota's National Cemetery. That's just the ...

He's a percussionist and she's a violinist. Together, they might just rule the world one day, but for now, they want to make the best and highest level of music they can. George Nickson and Samantha Bennett founded Ensemble New SRQ to forge their love of performing new chamber music and to bring the Suncoast combinations of sounds it has never heard before. Check out their upcoming season, "Reimagined & Recomposed," right here on the Suncoast Culture Club podcast. Come along and join the club! •...

So you say you want to start a theatre company that produces thought provoking, deeply moving, audience engaging, can't wait to come back for more content? That's just what Brendan Ragan has done with Urbanite Theatre. Along with Summer Dawn Wallace and Harry Lipstein, he has set downtown Sarasota a buzz with theatre that will, literally, change your life and make your world bigger. Wanna hear how? Come along and join the club! • Urbanite Theatre Website & Facebook & Instagram & YouTube • Asolo ...

On Thursday, October 15 at 7:30 p.m., the SCF Bradenton Symphony Orchestra celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with a fantastic lineup of Latin/Spanish inspired music and solo violinist Felicia Brunelle performing Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole . Get ready for a fiesta of fun from Carmen to Malagueña. Listen to our guest soloist talk about the music she will be performing with us and then join us on the SCF Music Facebook page to experience the concert live-streamed. Come along and join the club! • S...

As a multimedia artist on the Suncoast who specializes in painting conceptual pop art, Mark Mitchell has spent his career honing his visual and communication skills, always in pursuit of the big idea. Whether his medium is painting, photography, design, music, spoken word, or video, Mark has used these skills in his life path to sell everything from beer to bestsellers, cable TV, and miracle drugs and we want you to know about him and his art. Come along a join the club! • Mark Mitchell Studios ...

On Thursday, October 8 at 7:30 PM, join the SCF Music Program on our Facebook Page for our first concert of the season. “Stronger Together” celebrates the unique power of people in the aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic and will feature the SCF Symphonic Band, Big Band, Jazz Combo, Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, and Guitar Ensemble. Listen to conductors Dr. Pete Carney, Rex Willis, Melodie Dickerson, and Dr. Robyn Bell as they talk about the selections on this concert, rehearsal procedures SCF Mu...

What's it like to go from living in New York City working as an actor, writer, director, and Tony Award winning producer one day to living on the beaches of Manasota Key running the Hermitage Artist Retreat the next? And...just what in the world IS the Hermitage Artist Retreat?? Andy Sandberg knows. He is the new Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Hermitage Artist Retreat and he is here to tell us all about his life, his passions, one of the coolest arts organizations in our ar...