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A fifth generation Sarasotan was working at the Packinghouse Cafe and Leroy Selmon's Restaurant when she noticed that area musicians needed a place to interact, engage, and learn from each other. After several years of resear...
He walked into Music Theory class at Juilliard on day 1, sat next to the prettiest girl in the room, and they have been making beautiful music together for the past 53 years. In Part II of the Romm Family …
When Rex Willis' son Ryan joined some friends for a "Dumpster Diving" excursion a decade ago, Rex never knew it would lead to him composing his second musical. During the last ten years, Rex's extensive research on homelessne...
Well, if your dad was one of the founding trumpet players in the Canadian Brass and your mother is one of the foremost collaborative pianists on the planet, your destiny maybe laid out for you. Oh, while you're at it, …
From Kentucky, to New York City, to our beloved Florida Suncoast, Rick Kerby, Producing Artistic Director of the Florida Cultural Group, says his whole life has been a rehearsal for this job. Take a listen at how the events o...
Her ancestors came to Manatee County in 1840 and now she works for the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to support arts and culture in her beloved hometown. Hear Aimee Blenker's story of her life, career, passion...
What does a creative, imaginative theatre junkie do during a pandemic? Well, establishes a new theatre company on the Suncoast, of course! Come join the founder of the new Dingbat Theatre Project, Luke McFatrich, and the proj...
For the past 20 years of his 32-year teaching career, Dr. Owen Bradley has been the band director at North Port High School in Sarasota County. Looking back on his career choice, he says he can't remember a time when …
To celebrate its 5th season, the SCF Bradenton Symphony Orchestra brings you Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, Brahm’s Hungarian Dance No. 5, Stamitz’s Clarinet Concerto No. 5 featuring soloist and SCF clarinet instructor Er...
In a brilliant collaborative project, the SCF Theatre students have chosen monologues to act out while the SCF Music student composers have written original compositions to accompany the readings. Listen to composition instru...
The Sarasota Orchestra's upcoming concert, "Mozart and Mendelssohn," features its first guest conductor and soloist since March 12, 2020! Maestro Stephen Mulligan, violin soloist David Coucheron, concertmaster of the Atlanta ...
When Covid shuts down your theatre performances at the State College of Florida, what do you do? You turn to the Greek myths, where mask wearing was the norm, and you allow your students to pick their myths, write their …
From Crossville, Tennessee to Sarasota, Florida, how did Urbanite Theatre's co-founder and artistic director Summer Dawn Wallace land on the Suncoast to bring us cutting edge, ground breaking theatre? And who are the amazing ...
Don’t let the SCF Symphonic Band fool you, this music may be unbelievable, but it is true! Featuring band works such as Godzilla Eats Las Vegas, Voodoo, Snakes, and more, this concert will have you fooled into thinking you ha...
For the past four years, she has been the leader of the visual and performing arts teachers for the the Manatee County School District by helping them devise curricula, working with principals to understand scheduling, and se...
The SCF Guitar Ensemble presents music from all four corners of the earth: east, west, above and below the equator, music inspired by Thailand, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, the Northern Lights of Alaska, who knows ...
On the Suncoast, you've seen her as Queenie in Showboat and as Fannie Lou Hamer in Fannie (both at the Asolo Repertory Theatre), but you may have also seen her as the Narrator in the PBS production of A Christmas …
How has the pandemic affected the Suncoast's most culturally relevant artistic organization? How has Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe's founder Nate Jacobs seen the color barriers of our area's cultural arts offerings change over the past 25 years? What's next for …
Just as using shards of glass and tile to create a whole new image in art, so can individual singers be brought together to create a variety of vocal ensembles from small duos to a large choir. In this concert, …
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 R...
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 V...
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 fo...
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 ...
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 O...
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 stu...
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 le...
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...
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 Kowa...
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 he...
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 …
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 Orch...
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...
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 precis...
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 na...
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 reo...
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. S...
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 …
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 N...
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 ...
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 Symph...
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 pa...
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 w...
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...ju...
She is an actor, director, producer, playwright, and film director who has grown SOURCE Productions from a small group of youth into a large, nationally recognized theatre and film company. KT Curran's films tell the stories ...
In Michigan, she was a middle school band director, high school band director, middle school principal, high school principal, and even school superintendent. Retiring to the Suncoast of Florida meant she, unexpectedly, becam...
How can a little unexpected college degree change your life? Joey Panek, Senior Producer of ABC-7's Suncoast View, tells us how his career as an actor, singer, and dancer suddenly changed when he decided to get a degree in vi...
As if searching for a new conductor and a new home at the same time isn't hard enough, try doing it during a pandemic! Joe McKenna talks to us about his life as the Executive Director of the Sarasota Orchestra, …
From a projected $2 million surplus for the season to a completely dark hall for the next six months, executive director of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Mary Bensel, tells us her story of the Friday the …
From drum major of her high school band to the 6th president of the State College of Florida, Dr. Carol Probstfeld brings an abundance of leadership skills, eye for talent, passion for students, and appreciation for culture t...
What started as a series of small house concerts in a private home on Lido Beach 25 years ago has turned into the successful Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, bringing over 25 world-class musical experiences to the Suncoast...