The arts are at the very core of what Sarasota is all about. The region’s dynamic art and music scene are why it has been heralded as Florida’s Cultural Coast—for as many people enjoy the beautiful beaches and warm Gulf breeze, just as many flock to Sarasota to immerse themselves in fine art galleries, world-class theatrical productions and hair-raising concerts. This season, SRQ Magazine has the inside scoop on all of the region’s premier arts and culture events, from classical operas to symphonic masterpieces, contemporary art, community theater and more.
Tapping Out a Conversation
A fusion of tap dance and classical piano will be on full display this February at the Historic Asolo Theater. One of the headline shows of The Ringling’s Art of Performance season is Caleb Teicher and Conrad Tao: Counterpoint, a collaboration between choreographer and dancer Caleb Teicher and composer and pianist Conrad Tao. “What’s neat about this show is the simplicity of the setup. There is a piano on stage and Caleb has a 16 by 16 foot tap floor that they set up, which makes for a pretty constrained set,” says Elizabeth Doud, the Currie-Kohlman Curator of Performance at The Ringling. “It allows the performance to play out like a conversation.” Tao and Teicher, who first met in 2011 as teenagers, have formed an artistic dialogue with one another over the years. Counterpoint is an evolution of their chemistry—the performance, which includes moments of playfulness and improvisation, weaves together different styles of classical and contemporary music, tap and swing dance, connecting their two artistic practices. “Each of them are very accomplished performers in their own right. For anyone who has any appreciation for classical, rhythmic or chamber piano, Conrad Tao is going to blow their mind,” says Doud. “Caleb as a teacher, choreographer and solo performer is also hitting a point of notoriety in his career. He’s a tap artist in the most conventional sense and then he’s also a swing dancer as well. The fun in this show is really about the conversation between these two—there’s no pretense—they’re both masters of their form, but they’re not formalizing things in any way.” Although the music in Counterpoint is stylistically diverse—the show includes excerpts from Art Tatum’s stride piano, Bach’s Goldberg Variations and George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue—Doud maintains that it is rooted in an American sentimentality. “It feels to me that they’re taking all of these very familiar influences in the world of music, dance and concert presence and they are bringing it down to the ground for us in America. Even though there are pieces from the ‘Old World’ like the Viennese Waltz, tap itself is an expression and celebration of American culture,” says Doud. “I think that audiences are going to be blown away by this show.” Ringling Art of Performance,Historic Asolo Theatre, 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota, 941-360-7399,. ringling.org/visit/venues/historic-asolo-theater/
Janet Echelman: Radical Softness at Sarasota Art Museum
The roots of the Sarasota Art Museum (SAM) run deeper than what one may imagine. Although SAM officially opened its doors in 2019, plans to convert the old Sarasota High School building into an art museum had been formulating since 2003. “When the museum was in its infancy, the team behind it was inviting the community into the building to meet well-known contemporary artists as a proof of concept—the artists could validate what we were trying to do and show the community that a museum was possible,” says SAM’s Executive Director, Virginia Shearer. “Janet Echelman was one of those early artists. She did a talk, raved about the building and said that we need a contemporary museum down here so that artists like me will come and visit you and Sarasota can be part of this larger conversation around where art is today.” Flash forward to 2025 and Echelman—a Tampa Bay native and an award-winning, internationally recognized artist—has followed through on her promise. In November, SAM will unveil Janet Echelman: Radical Softness, an exhibition that will provide a look into the different stages of Echelman’s four-decade-long career. Echelman, a fiber artist and author best known for her massive aerial net sculptures, has long explored themes of interconnectedness by merging timeless fishing knotting techniques with new-age materials. “We’re going to get a window into her studio, which is kind of organized chaos, but is really lovely,” says Shearer. “There will be early works, frame drawings, paintings, textiles, quilts—pieces that could be hung on a wall. Janet’s known for suspending sculptures across football fields and buildings, but she’s also had this fine art practice on a smaller scale and those are the types of netted sculptures we’ll be showing.” Radical Softness will also feature a series of Echelman’s brand-new cyanotypes, a photographic printing process characterized by its blue and white imagery. “Objects are laid out onto a specially prepared, light-sensitive paper before being exposed to a bright light—the exposure creates a ghost of an image on the paper,” says Shearer. “They’ll look like much of the sculptural work that she does if it were to be captured in reverse on the paper, because the paper is blue and the image comes out in white.” Janet Echelman: Radical Softness, November 16-April 26, 2026,Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-309-4300
20 Years of Dance
20 years after founding Sarasota Contemporary Dance, Leymis Bolaños Wilmott is still pinching herself. The founder and artistic director of the company didn’t imagine that her organization would have grown into what it is today—one of the region’s preeminent dance companies—much less have a full season 20 years after its inception. The title of the season, Mi Amor, is fitting then, considering the love she has for Sarasota and the dance community at large. “To be doing it this long and with all of the challenges we’ve faced, it takes a lot of love,” says Wilmott. “It’s a love that fills me and in turn, we pour out into the community.” Amongst the season’s four mainstage performances—before which each will highlight a local dance education program—is Jehanne. The performance, which is inspired by the story of Joan of Arc, features a live musical accompaniment from composer Mark Dancigers, who wrote the score and will play the electric guitar on a loop station. “He makes the music sound so massive,” says Wilmott. “It’s this juxtaposition of this army of women and then this one musician, which highlights his gift of making the sound so expansive.” Wilmott is also drawn to the piece for the challenge it brings as a choreographer. Encapsulating the fearlessness and power Joan of Arc wielded required a certain degree of athleticism and physicality from herself and her dancers. “In this piece, there’s a lot of breath, there’s a lot of grounded movement. I push the Joan of Arc figure to the point of exhaustion, not only physically, but mentally and spiritually in the work. You can hear her gasping for air, but then see these women surround her and support her,” says Wilmott. “By the end, not only are the dancers exhausted, but the audience is as well from going through this journey with them.” Wilmott also pulled inspiration from biblical scripture when choreographing the performance. “There are these specific gestures that come from scripture which I’d never incorporated into dance before,” says Wilmott. “You can see her putting on the breastplate of righteousness and the belt of truth, the different pieces of the armor of God.” Sarasota Contemporary Dance, 1400 Blvd of the Arts Suite 300, Sarasota, 941-260-8485, sarasotacontemporarydance.org
Primary Trust at Asolo Repertory Theatre 
Sometimes, the most beautiful stories are the simplest tales. This season, Asolo Repertory Theatre is exploring that concept with its production of Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust. The play, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2023 and won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, is a “deceptively simple” play about a 38-year-old African-American man in upstate New York. Set in the 1990s, Primary Trust follows Kenneth, a bookstore worker who lives in isolated existence in a small-town. When Kenneth loses his job and finds new employment at the Primary Trust bank, he is forced to face a side of life he’s long avoided. “It’s really a portrait of a 38-year-old man confronting loneliness and the coping mechanisms he’s used to deal with it,” says Peter Rothstein, producing artistic director of Asolo Rep. “It’s very theatrical and funny—over the course of the play it’s revealed that Kenneth’s best friend Bert doesn’t actually exist. He’s kind of an imaginary friend or alter ego.” Through his new job at Primary Trust, Kenneth is exposed to the real world—one that is threatening and scary, but also full of life and possibility. Although set in a time before cell phones and social media, Primary Trust feels distinctly relevant in the digital age, when despite the advent of social media, many struggle to make friends and carve out social connections in adulthood. Within the story, Kenneth is eventually faced with a choice: join the real world and leave the comforts of his imagination behind or stay forever secluded in the safety of his mind. “When someone opens a door for you, not only does that door open, but the entire world opens up,”says Rothstein. “Kenneth is able to see the entire world anew because of human connection, because someone’s found worth in him. The play in some ways is a call to arms of opening the door for people who haven’t been able to walk through the doors you’ve been able to walk through. The simplest gesture of opening a door can feel small to you, but revolutionary to the person who’s invited to walk through it.” Asolo Repertory Theatre, FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N Tamiami Trl, Sarasota, 941-361-8388, asolorep.org
Lifting Up Sarasota
The Living Arts Festival, produced by the non-profit Sarasota Rising, brought together the area’s arts and cultural institutions like never before. It was a week of collaboration, where neighboring arts organizations came together to hold joint performances, concerts and special events. This year, the Living Arts Festival returns from November 2-9, with a renewed perspective and a continued focus on promoting Sarasota’s distinctly rich arts scene. “We pulled back a little bit and asked ourselves, ‘what’s really vital for a festival?’” says Jeffery Kin, executive director of Sarasota Rising. “Of course, the start and finish are critical, but the education and support of children and their love of the arts should be on everyone’s list of things that are of vital importance. The fact is that we’re here to promote everyone else—if you do things correctly all boats rise and that’s where the name came from.” The festival will begin on November 2 with Up, Up and Away, a kick-off party held at Art Ovation Hotel, free to the public replete with the fine art gallery of the hotel, a dance band and appearances from area arts organizations. While programming will be offered throughout the week, special events include Rise and Shine Saturday on November 8 and the closing event, You Raise Me Up on November 9. Rise and Shine, held at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, showcases youth performances from area schools and performing arts organizations. “We have our five by five for five, which is a $5 opportunity for a child to purchase their first piece of art. There’s mask making, improv and dance classes—it’s an entire day of arts immersion, completely free to the public,” says Kin. You Raise Me Up, also held in the Municipal Auditorium, puts a spotlight on the teachers, mentors and instructors in the arts. “I started thinking about how incredible it is that our region has the level of arts education that we have, the reason being that a lot of these teachers are performers themselves,” says Kin. “The idea is that we get these performing instructors back on the stage and let them shine.” Sarasota Rising, 1900 Main Street, Suite 212, Sarasota, 941-230-4567 sarasotarising.org/the-festival
An American Classic
2026 is a special year for the Sarasota Opera. The Opera House, the vision of Sarasota’s first mayor A.B. Edwards, opened its doors in April of 1926. The Opera House, however, is not the only aspect of the Sarasota Opera’s 2025-26 season that is celebrating its 100th birthday. The finale of the Opera’s season will be Carlisle Floyd’s American classic Susannah, a two act opera that first premiered at Florida State University in 1955. Floyd, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday in June 2026, is hailed as one of the most influential figures in American opera, with Susannah his most heralded work. “Floyd was on the faculty at FSU and he lived for a long time in Tallahassee. The early version of our company did Susannah at the Van Wezel with an orchestra and I believe it was the first opera the company ever did with an orchestra,” says Richard Russell. “We actually did another opera of his, Of Mice and Men in 2013, which he attended and said it was one of the best that he’d seen. We have a connection with him, Susannah has a large Florida connection and it’s the anniversary of both his 100th birthday and the opening of the Opera House.” Susannah is a distinctly American opera, set in 1950s rural Tennessee. A dark and tragic re-telling of the Book of Susanna, the opera follows a pretty, innocent teenager who is unfairly characterized as a sinner by the lustful elders in her small, Appalachian mountain town. When the deceitful Reverend Blitch offers her a chance at redemption, Susannah is forced to take action to reclaim her dignity. What defines Susannah as an American classic, however, is not just the setting. The opera’s score is populated with Appalachian folk melodies, Protestant hymns and traditional classical music. Sarasota Opera House,
61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota, 941-328-1300, sarasotaopera.org
The Cake at the Venice Theatre
Since sustaining catastrophic damage during 2022’s Hurricane Ian, the Venice Theatre has been a story of resilience. The largest community theater in the country per capita bounced back just weeks after the storm, despite a near complete decimation of its main building, the Jervey Theatre. While the Venice Theatre has since returned to a full season’s worth of productions, parts of the organization’s typical slate have been lessened over the last couple of years. The company’s Stage 2 series, which features more challenging, lesser-known theatrical material presented in the smaller, more intimate Pinkerton Theatre, will have a full three-show season for the first time since 2022. “You know when you enter into the theater, that it’s a space where you’re going to be dealing with some fine literature and some challenging theater and that we’re going to do it well,” says Murray Chase, Venice Theatre’s interim artistic director and restoration supervisor. “It’s theater that local audiences don’t see as often and have expressed a desire for it to return—we wanted to restore that not only for our audiences, but for our performers who are asking for that challenging material as well.” One of the three shows in Vence Theatre’s Stage 2 season is Bekah Brunstetter’s The Cake, a dramatic comedy that explores what happens when faith and family come to a crossroads. Inspired by the real-life events that led to 2018’s Masterpiece Cakeshop V. Colorado Civil Rights Commission Supreme Court Case, The Cake follows Della, a Southern baker who is asked to bake a cake for her best friend’s daughter’s wedding. When Della realizes that the cake is for a same-sex wedding, she balks, the concept of a lesbian marriage challenging her long-held belief system. Venice Theatre, 140 Tampa Ave West, Venice, 941-488-1115, venicetheatre.org
Lies, Spells and Old Wives’ Tales
In order to look to the future, it is important to remember where one came from. Nate Jacobs, founder and artistic director of West Coast Black Theatre Troupe (WBTT), knows this sentiment well. It’s part of the reason why he titled WBTT’s 2025-26 mainstage season, which features five productions including one world premiere, Soul of a People. “When I first selected the theme, my marketing director asked me, ‘Don’t you mean the Season of Soul?’” says Jacobs. “I said, ‘No, I meant what I said.’ Soul of a People is a saying in the world that refers to the threads of culture, art, food, theology and beliefs that run through a community, a demographic of people. This season delves into the intricacies and uniqueness of people, specifically African-American life in this country.” The final production of WBTT’s 26th season is the world premiere of an original musical comedy, Lies, Spells and Old Wives’ Tales, created by Jacobs and his writing partner and brother, Michael Jacobs. The concept of the show, which had been rattling around Jacobs’ brain for a few years, centers around the stories and sayings he heard from his relatives while growing up. Those aphorisms that his mother and grandmother would tell him have stuck with Jacobs, pieces of his upbringing that will be passed down to his children and grandchildren. “I would hear my grandmother say ‘oh my God, the palm of my hand keeps itching—that means I’m ready to come into some new money’ or ‘the bottom of my feet keep itching—I’m ready to walk on some new ground,’” says Jacobs. “Our culture runs through the history of a people who believe in that stuff. On New Year’s, for instance, I’m supposed to eat collard greens for green money to come into my life in the new year. These threads run intricately through all people’s lives.” Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N Orange Ave, Sarasota, 941-366-1505, westcoastblacktheatre.org.
A Merging of Styles
The Cuban method of ballet, developed by Fernando and Alicia Alonso in the 1930s, is in many ways a reflection of history. The method, known for its explosive athleticism, emotional connection to the music and virtuosic artistry, incorporates parts of the French, Russian, British and Italian methods of ballet to create a singular style of ballet. This season, the Sarasota Cuban Ballet is honoring that legacy with its first performance, Classical + Contemporary 2025. The performance, which features Sarasota Cuban Ballet’s Gulf Coast Studio Company, blends classical ballet works from Russian and Danish traditions with original, contemporary pieces. “Our October show is a reflection of that history,” says Barbara Worth, Administrative Director of the Cuban Ballet. “One of the pieces we’re performing is an excerpt from The Awakening of Flora by Marius Petipa, which is a Russian-style ballet and this particular performance features all women. We will also be performing excerpts from La Sylphide, a Danish ballet, which is a very different style than Russian ballet.” Classical + Contemporary will also feature a special tribute to Donna Maytham, a local dance legend and longtime supporter of the Sarasota Cuban Ballet, who passed away this past summer. The Dying Swan, a piece that was close to Maytham’s heart, will be performed alongside live music. “Most people consider The Dying Swan to be about death. We’re doing an adaptation of it that focuses on hope, love and transition,” says Worth. “This piece was so meaningful to Donna and we want to present it in this beautiful, spiritual representation of the ballet.” Balancing out the classical aspect of the performance are several contemporary pieces, including an original work choreographed by the faculty of the Gulfcoast Studio Company, husband and wife team Rolando Yanes and Monica Isla. “People always associate Cuban ballet with the dramatic, physical aspect of the method—the dancers jump higher, turn faster and move differently than other styles of ballet. At the same time, however, there is a deep emotional connection in regards to how ballet is shared with the audience,” says Worth. Sarasota Cuban Ballet, 4740 Cattlemen Rd, Sarasota, 34233, 941-365-8400, srqcubanballet.org
The Threads of Friendship
Is there an age at which people stop making new friends? Or does the potential for platonic relationships have an expiration date? Such are the questions asked in Florida Studio Theatre’s (FST) upcoming production of A Tailor Near Me, set to open in the organization’s Keating Theatre December 10. The play, written by Michael Tucker, follows Sam, a successful middle-aged novelist and television writer who goes to a small tailor in Manhattan in need of alterations to his suit. The death of his longtime friend Robert is imminent, and the suit Sam needs for the funeral has grown a bit tight over the years. Sam bonds unexpectedly with the tailor, Alfredo, an older man in his eighties, over memories of Greenwich Village in the 1960s and a shared cultural heritage—both Sam and Alfredo are Jewish, with Alredo being a Sephardic Jew who was born in Argentina. “What starts as a simple exchange of getting a suit altered grows into a very rich relationship that neither one of them saw coming,” says Richard Hopkins, producing artistic director and CEO of FST. “We did a reading of it where we brought in about 20 civilians and read it cold with two actors to see how it would play for our audience. What stuck out to me was their singular comment that this was such a great play because we get to see two grown men sharing their deep feelings and emotions with each other—you don’t get to see that much in theater or in film.” That novelty is part of why Hopkins and the team at FST were compelled to bring A Tailor Near Me to Sarasota. FST’s production is just the second time the play has been professionally produced—it made its world premiere at the New Jersey Repertory Theatre in 2023—and will serve as the Southeastern premiere of A Tailor Near Me. “Once I gave the script a read, I fell in love with it,” says Hopkins. “Every now and then you’ll get a script that just pops off the page and this one does.” Florida Studio Theatre, 1241 N Palm Ave., Sarasota, 941-366-9000, floridastudiotheatre.org/
The Holiday Spirit of Key Chorale
Key Chorale, now in its 41st season, is no stranger to collaboration. The organization’s willingness to try new things, to work with other local arts groups such as the Circus Arts Conservatory, Sarasota Orchestra, Venice Orchestra and more, is part of how Key Chorale continues to flourish as one of the preeminent symphonic choruses not only on the Suncoast, but in all of the Southeast. This season, Key Chorale continues on with its tradition of collaboration in Joy & Wonder, which will feature the dancers of Sarasota Ballet’s Studio Company, along with musicians from the Sarasota Orchestra. “I love this production because the combination of music and dance is so powerful,” says Artistic Director Joseph Caulkins. “Rarely do you get a choir and an orchestra with a ballet—we have 100 singers, a 30 or 40 piece orchestra and then we need room for all of these wonderful dancers. When you look at the stage in the Opera House, it’s just covered with performers.” This year’s concert features the world premiere dance of Missa Carolae, a medieval-inspired “parody mass” by James Whitbourn commissioned for the 1400th anniversary of the Rochester Cathedral in England. “It’s a Catholic mass text, but every one of the themes of the various masses are based on a holiday carol that we know. You’re hearing and seeing this sort of Renaissance-style music, but yet there are tunes that you recognize,” says Caulkins. “It’s great writing that is very florid and festive and I just can’t imagine how impressive it’s going to be with the dance element.” Missa Carolae will be juxtaposed with a performance of Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo’s Dreamweaver, a work inspired by a Norwegian folk poem. Lithuanian soprano Lina Dambrauskaite will join Key Chorale as the soloist for Dreamweaver and will also be featured throughout Missa Carolae. “Lina has this sound that just appears to be so effortless and it’s just this flawless vocal quality from top to bottom. There’s just something about when you hear her voice that draws you in,” says Caulkins. “There are not a lot of performers that I would say that about, but she has truly something special about her, that the minute she starts singing, you just sit forward in your seat and listen even harder.” Key Chorale, 1900 Main Street, Suite 211, Sarasota, 34236 941-921-4845, keychorale.org
Misery at Manatee Performing Arts Center
This fall, Producing Artistic Director Rick Kerby and the rest of the team at the Manatee Performing Arts Center are leaning into the Halloween vibes with the organization’s production of Misery. The play, which is making its debut at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, is an adaptation by William Goldman of Stephen King’s 1987 novel of the same name. Misery, set to run from October 16 to November 3, is a masterclass in tension: when celebrated author Paul Sheldon wakes up in an isolated cabin after a devastating car crash, he finds himself in the care of his “number one fan” Annie Wilkes. As time goes on, however, Paul realizes that he is not a patient of Annie’s, but rather a prisoner. “The play is based upon the book, which was also adapted into a very popular movie, so I love the fact that it has title recognition and our audience will come in with some familiarity of the show,” says Kerby. “It’s a disturbing play and to try to interpret that on stage will be a great challenge for us, but one that we’re really excited about.” Misery will be staged in Manatee’s second, smaller theater, the Bradenton Kiwanis Theater, which will lend itself to the visceral nature of the production. All of Misery takes place in Annie’s living room, with Paul held captive. “It’s so intimate that it’s going to be fun for the audience to be right there with the actors—you’re going to feel like you’re in the living room where all of the action is taking place,” says Kerby. Critical to the play is the chemistry between the two actors playing Paul and Annie. Not only the emotional chemistry between captor and captive, but the physicality of the tense situation must be apparent between the actors as well. “90 percent of a good production is getting the right people in the right parts,” says Kerby. “One part of the audition process was trying to pair up people who do have that chemistry, that physicality that stacks up against each other, the right temperament for the roles and ultimately the acting chops to go along with it.” Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Avenue West, Bradenton, 34205, 941-748-5875, manateeperformingartscenter.com
The Origins of Sarasota’s Arts Scene
To form a connection with a place is not just to spend time in it. For those flocking to Sarasota this winter and the full-time residents alike, part of being a true Sarasotan means doing your due diligence on the area’s rich history. The arts, for instance, are one of our region’s calling cards. To fully appreciate the rich arts and cultural scene of Sarasota, however, one has to look back. The exhibition season at the Ringling College Galleries is helping Sarasotan’s form that connection this season. Starting January 20, the Galleries will open Origins: The Sarasota Artist Colony, an exhibition of loaned and archival works that explores Sarasota’s post-World War II arts scene and how it formed what is now known as Florida’s Cultural Coast. From 1945 to ‘65, artists came to Sarasota—some for the sunshine and beaches, others for what was then known as the Ringling School of Arts—creating the foundation for the vibrant arts ecosystem Sarasota has today. “Many of these artists were GI’s and could take classes for free through the GI Bill and a lot of them ended up staying here after the fact,” says Tim Jaeger, director of the Galleries and co-curator of the exhibition. “A lot of them became faculty members at the college, others did everything from opening frame shops to teaching art to the tourists that would come down here. They all started to jell with one another and it became a great circle of supporting artists—they set the bar for art in our community.” The exhibition space itself will be transformed into a time capsule, transporting viewers into mid-20th century Sarasota. Along with the artwork on the walls—which range from plain-air watercolor paintings of historic Sarasota to portraits of circus performers and everything in between—historical artifacts, photos and maps of Sarasota will adorn the space. An LED wall will provide a video narrative from people that help tell the story of the city. “It’s an important historical exhibition because it not only shows the fostering of the creative spirit between all these artists, but it’s also significant due to the amount of development and growth we’ve had in this community,” says Jaeger. “It’s important to preserve our legacy and our heritage in the visual arts and it’s our hope to host an exhibition to remind people of where we came from visually in this community—with more interest in understanding the past, that will hopefully lay the groundwork for better conservation and storytelling.” Ringling College Galleries and Exhibitions, 2700 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 34234, 941-359-7563, ringlingcollege.gallery.
Notes Unspoken at the Sarasota Ballet
The Sarasota Ballet’s fourth program of the season, Notes Unspoken, features a combination of the tenets that Director Iain Webb holds close to his heart: an eye to the future, an appreciation of the past and a willingness to push the boundaries of the medium. Kicking off Notes Unspoken is the world premiere of a new ballet by acclaimed choreographer Gemma Bond. Bond’s latest work, which is currently untitled, is the third world premiere of the season. “The company has a huge reputation of preserving the history of our art form of the ballets, but it’s vital for the dancers to have a new something made on them,” says Webb. “In regards to Gemma, I’ve known her since she was a young dancer in the Royal Ballet and there is just so much inside her that she needs to create that this will be the third commission that she’ll have done for us.” Following Bond’s world premiere, is a dip into the classical, with a performance of Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden. The ballet, which celebrates the 90th anniversary of its world premiere in 2026, is regarded as one of Tudor’s most significant works—set in Edwardian England, Lilac Garden follows Caroline, a soon-to-be bride who is about to enter an arranged marriage to a man she does not love. On the eve of her wedding, at a party in a lilac garden, she attempts to bid farewell to her lover. Not only is the ballet an example of Tudor’s ability to create dramatic tension and portray emotional distress through dance, but it also broke from the tradition of fanciful settings and characters. The characters of Lilac Garden feel real, the situation they find themselves in plausible. Notes Unspoken concludes with Ricardo Graziano’s Valsinhas, which was first choreographed for the Sarasota Ballet in 2013. Valsinhas, Portuguese for Little Waltzes, is a ballet defined by segmentation. 25 waltzes, each less than a minute in length, were extracted from Franz Schubert’s 34 Valses Sentimentales. A stripped down, intimate ballet, the cast features 10 dancers—five male and five female—who perform the same choreography separately. “You see the different dynamics of how a man will go into something and then how a lady will equally go through the same movement,” says Webb. “Visually there is a connection—it’s the same movements, but a very different energy of the male and female dancers.” Sarasota Ballet, 5555 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-359-0099
Variations on America
Change is coming to Sarasota. Specifically, the Sarasota Orchestra, where renowned conductor Giancarlo Guerrero is entering his first full season as the organization’s music director. The 2025-26 season, dubbed The Sound of Change, is not only an announcement of Guerrero’s arrival. In celebration of the United States’ 250th birthday in 2026, the Orchestra’s season will highlight some of the musicians and composers who have made America their home over the centuries. One such program is Variations on America, in the Masterworks series, which will feature guest pianist Clayton Stephenson. Variations on America looks to highlight some of the musical voices that were either marginalized due to social and racial prejudices at the time, such as William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, as well as music that speaks to different eras of the country. “In the 1920s and ‘30s, many of the great conductors of the time who were leading institutions like the Chicago Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra were coming from countries in Europe and dealing with discrimination themselves. When they came to America, they tried to make up for some of that by championing some of the great African-American composers of the time,” says Guerrero. “One of those composers was William Dawson, known mostly as a choral conductor, who was living in Alabama.” Leopold Stokowski, then the conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, heard one of Dawson’s choral concerts and commissioned Dawson to write a piece for the orchestra, despite Dawson having never written orchestral music before. Dawson wrote the Negro Folk Symphony in 1934, a three-movement masterpiece drawing upon the religious folk songs of his childhood. Although Dawson would never write another orchestral piece again due to the rampant racial prejudices at the time, Negro Folk Symphony has lived on through generations of performances. “It’s an absolute shame that he wasn’t able to write more, because in my opinion, this is one of the great American symphonies of the 20th century. I feel in many ways the next generation was robbed of more orchestral pieces by Mr. Dawson,” says Guerrero. “When I found this piece, it was an incredible discovery and is now a part of my regular repertoire. I’m very proud to introduce it to audiences—it’s better late than never to showcase it, and I’m proud to be bringing it to Sarasota, especially during Black History month.” Sarasota Orchestra, 709 N Tamiami Trl, Sarasota, 941-953-4252, sarasotaorchestra.org.
La Musica’s A Carnival of Endangered Wonders
Each year, La Musica Chamber Music Festival brings some of the biggest and brightest stars of classical music to Sarasota. This season, the festival concludes with A Carnival of Endangered Wonders, a program that features both the newly commissioned work of the same name and Saint-Saens The Carnival of the Animals, along with other works from Vivaldi, Golijov and Saint-Saens. In Saint-Saens The Carnival of the Animals, written for two pianos and a chamber ensemble, fantastical depictions of elephants, kangaroos and other exotic creatures come to life through the instrumentation. “It’s one of the most delightful pieces of music,” says acclaimed pianist and Artistic Director Wu Han. “All of the fantasies come true—a big elephant is playing on the double bass, the songs of the swan is an elegant cello solo with pianos—it’s one of those really fun pieces that is always beloved by everyone, including the musicians.” The program will also feature the world premiere of Michael Brown’s A Carnival of Endangered Wonders: A Zoological Fantasy for two pianos and a chamber ensemble. Co-commissioned by La Musica, Brown was inspired to compose the piece in part because of the 10-instrument arrangement of Carnival of Animals. “It’s a very odd instrumentation—you get these 10 players together and you can basically only play that piece,” says Brown. “So I thought to write my own spin-off on that, if you will. I’ve encountered a lot of these endangered species in my travels and wanted to give my own voice to these creatures that are in peril.” The large-scale chamber work depicts 14 endangered species, imagining all of them over the course of one fantastical day, and features animals such as Buff-Cheeked Gibbons, Amur Leopards and Javan Rhinos. Brown made use of different instruments within the ensemble—beefing up the percussion in some instances with instruments such as the lion’s roar and musical saw—to create a through line through the different movements, connecting one animal to another, while using different sonic textures to create individualized “sound worlds” for each animal. “There is a cyclical, hopeful message to this piece. It’s not overly tragic or dire—it’s meant to raise awareness, but also to let these species speak and shine,” says Brown. La Musica, P.O. Box 5442, Sarasota, 941-347-9656
Encore at Azara Ballet
Azara Ballet may be entering into just its third season of productions in 2025-26, but the non-profit professional dance company is already making waves in the region’s vibrant art scene. Azara is more than just a ballet company—founded in 2022 by Kate and Martin Flowers, Azara Ballet was created with the intention of providing an accepting, body-positive professional dance company that would provide neurodivergent and autistic communities the chance to experience the art of ballet. This season will see Azara produce three main productions, starting with Encore on November 14. Encore will feature five works, all favorites of past Azara audiences, including Kodumaa and Lost and Found by Martin Flowers, Symphony by newly appointed artistic director Joshua Stayton, Divine Serenity by Leiland Charles and Olivia Huseonica’s Is This What Love Is. Symphony, which features music by singer-songwriter Cody Fry, is a story ballet with three movements and a finale. “The first piece is titled Photograph and I choreographed that around the idea of an older dancer looking at an old picture of their past and just reminiscing on the time of being a young adolescent, enjoying life and childhood and being with your friends,” says Stayton. “That moves into the Symphony Pas de deux, which I first created for Martin and Kate for their kickoff launch gala to start Azara. It touches on the relationship of the male identifying character—he used to hear such a simple song, but now that he’s met the love of his life, everything is a symphony.” The third movement of Symphony, titled Flying, tells the story of a toxic relationship between a couple where both parties are too in love to leave one another. Stayton’s work then ends in a finale, where all of the characters reprise their stories and perform to a cover of Coldplay’s Fix You. Azara Ballet, 5020 Clark Road, #504, Sarasota, 941-909-8839, azaraballet.org
Yoshida Hiroshi: Journeys Through Light
When it comes to the woodblock prints of 20th-century Japanese artist Yoshida Hiroshi, there is always more than meets the eye. At the Ringling Museum of Art, audiences can explore the work of the highly influential painter and woodblock printer in Yoshida Hiroshi: Journeys Through Light, on view through January 11, 2026. Yoshida, trained formally as a painter in the Yoga or Western style of painting, made his early career as a landscape painter, frequently traveling around Europe and throughout the Japanese Alps for inspiration. After a trip to the United States in 1923, Yoshida realized the high demand for Japanese woodblock prints in the U.S. and switched gears to creating highly detailed woodblock prints reminiscent of his landscape paintings. Journeys Through Light will showcase Yoshida’s betsu-zuri, or separate printings of the same woodblock design with different colors and tonalities. “He was constantly experimenting with the palette, the textures, even if he wasn’t making an explicitly different version of that print, he was always striving to see what he could do and what different kinds of emotional effects he could produce out of ink and carved wooden blocks,” says Rhiannon Paget, The Ringling’s Curator of Asian Art. “People tend to think of woodblock prints as being multiples, just reproductions of themselves, but what this exhibition shows is that every print is unique.” Take for example, two separate prints of Yoshida’s Grand Canyon design. “One of them is quite soft, the colors are muted and it’s very delicate. The other one features colors that are very bright, there’s a bright blue in the shadow of the rocks,” says Paget. “That’s where you get your first taste of this, is the same design, but there’s a completely different sensibility because of the palette and how the colors are printed. One of them, with the colors blurring together, gives you that atmospheric perspective of things fading into the distance, where the other is more bold and graphic and gives the sense of a dry, arid day.” The Ringling Museum of Art, Jun 21, 2025-January 11, 2026, 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota, 941-359-5700, ringling.org
Honoring a Legacy
2026 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Artist Series
Concerts of Sarasota (ASC). For the non-profit organization, which will feature 24 performances across its 2025-26 season lineup, the 30th anniversary of its inception provides it with the chance to celebrate some of the longest-tenured members of Sarasota’s music scene. In Legacy, part of the Artist Series Concerts Soiree Series, the organization will pay tribute to Dr. Joseph Holt, who this past May stepped down as the leader of the Choral Artists of Sarasota and is formerly ASC’s director of artistic programs. “For the 30th anniversary I thought it would be great to include some people that had been with and performed with the organization,” says Daniel Jordan, director of artistic planning at ASC. “This Soiree series pairs Joseph Holt along with myself and cellist Christopher Schnell, who has been with the Sarasota Orchestra for more than 30 years. So you have performers who really have roots in the community, roots with Artist Series Concerts and we’re coming together for a program that explores Russian and Soviet composers.” The program, in which Jordan will play violin, will delve into the works of Sergei Rachaminoff, Dmitry Kabalevsky and Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composers whose work served as a response to Russian and Soviet regimes. “It’s some of the most amazing music that was written during that time. As these composers grappled with how to express their art while having to fit in a very strict society, they did so in different ways,” says Jordan. The concert will be presented at the Fischer/Weisenborne Residence, as are all the Soiree Series concerts, in an intimate music room that accommodates 75 guests and features three large grand pianos, including the 1921 Steinway nine-foot concert grand piano that will be used in Legacy. “It speaks to what I believe Artist Series Concerts are—we’re not performing in concert halls. We’re performing in spaces where I think you can break down the barrier of the stage versus the audience and the audience can really feel like a part of the performance,” says Jordan. “They will hear the musicians speak about every piece they perform.” Fischer/Weisenborne Residence, 7459 Cabbage Palm Court, Sarasota, 941-306-1200, artistseriesconcerts.org
Monsters of American Cinema
There is a question that Summer Wallace, Producing Artistic Director of Urbanite Theatre, asks herself when she comes across a play that strikes her. “I’ll ask, ‘Oh my gosh, how are we going to do that?’” says Wallace ahead of the company’s 12th season. “How are we going to put that on stage?” For Wallace, the question is not one of concern, but rather an opportunity—a chance to make a truly exciting, innovative production. Wallace asked herself that same question when she came across Monsters of the American Cinema by Christian St. Croix, which will open Urbanite’s 2025-26 mainstage season. The play, set outside of a drive-in movie theater, follows Remy Washington, a Black man who recently lost his husband and now has taken on the responsibility of raising his late husband’s teenage son, Pup. Remy and Pup run the drive-in theater together and share a bond over classic American monster movies, but their relationship is tested when Remy discovers that Pup has been tormenting one of his gay classmates. “The play navigates identity and being a parent in this very difficult situation,” says Wallace, who is set to direct the play. “Remy is technically Pup’s stepdad. Pup’s parents were queer. He is not. We’ve never quite done a play with this kind of father-son dynamic before, so I’m looking forward to exploring that in our room.”Part of the challenge of the production is the setting. Urbanite will stage the play in and around the RV that Remy and Pup live in. “We’re imagining that they live on site at the drive-in. We’re using the fact that they can climb onto the roof of the RV and we’ll play with projections to project some old movies into the space,” says Wallace. “There are also moments in the play that ‘leave’ reality where we’re witnessing the monster within Pup—the inner turmoil that he’s going through and the demons that he’s dealing with in his personal life.” Wallace hopes that the play, with its classic Americana setting melded with contemporary themes of fatherhood and treatment of the LGBTQIA community, will resonate with both seasoned and newer theatergoers. “I think older audiences will respond to it with some of the old movie references and being at a drive-in theater, but it’s also extremely exciting and dynamic for perhaps folks in the community that have never seen a play,” says Wallace. “It’s one of those fabulous plays that for people who go to the theater all the time, it’ll blow their minds. If you’ve never been to a play, this is one that can make you go, ‘Wow, I didn’t know theater could be like that.’” Urbanite Theatre, 1487 2nd St, Sarasota, 941-321-1397, urbanitetheatre.com
The Crucible at the Sarasota Players
As the area’s oldest and longest-lasting community theater, the Sarasota Players has a standard to uphold. It is a standard of not only theater-making, but communal creativity that has been upheld since 1936, repeated time and time again in the theater’s productions. This season, the organization’s 96th, features five mainstage productions under the banner Rebels and Dreamers: A Season of Bold Voices. One such production is Arthur Miller’s 1953 classic The Crucible, a dramatized story of the Salem witch trials of the late 1600s. Although The Crucible is traditionally set in Puritan-era Massachusetts, the thematic undertones of the play allow for more flexibility in how the story is told. Written at the height of the “Red Scare,” The Crucible’s depiction of the Salem witch trials serves as an allegory for McCarthyism. “I do think that people get afraid sometimes of classics, because they’ve seen them before, but it’s always exciting to show them in a fresh light and tell the story in a way that more people will grasp and understand,” says Marketing Director Amanda Heisey, who is set to direct the production.Heisey’s vision is to take the story out of the 1600s, making the Players’ production of The Crucible more contemporary and accessible to modern audiences. Heisey maintains that the story’s themes—the power of mass hysteria and the corrosive nature of lies and deceit—are still just as relevant as they were in the 1950s. “Sometimes when we produce something like The Crucible, people think that that’s not something we have to deal with anymore—but that’s not true,” says Heisey. “People forget that it wasn’t literally written about Salem. To put it in a new context where people understand, ‘oh that’s scary, that’s something that could happen’ is more along the lines of what I would rather do.” The Sarasota Players, 1400 Blvd of the Arts, Suite 200, Sarasota, 941-552-8879, theplayers.org/
Dingbat Theatre Project’s Winnie-The-Pooh
Inclusivity and accessibility are at the heart of what Dingbat Theatre Project is all about. Founded in the creative doldrums of 2020, Dingbat Theatre Project enters its sixth season of production in 2025 and its first full season in its Gulf Gate theater, with eight mainstage productions on its slate. Amongst the productions, which range from the R-Rated I’m Gonna Marry You, Tobey Maguire to a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet at a drag bar is an original adaptation of Winnie-The-Pooh, created by Producing Artistic Director and founder Luke Manual. “My passion lies in developing shows for family audiences,” says Manual. “A big part of what we do at Dingbat is trying to make theater as inclusive and accessible for everyone, which includes people with children and children themselves. Since our production of Wizard Of Oz, we’ve had kids in our shows when it’s appropriate and I feel like children’s theater deserves the platform that our other mainstage shows get.” Dingbat’s Winnie-The-Pooh, adapted into a musical directly from A. A. Milne’s 1926 children’s book, features a more modernized take on the story while still featuring all of the classic characters like Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger and Winne-the-Pooh. “We’re building the show around this family that is leaving something behind, particularly a house. It’s about a father reconnecting with his son through playing with the stuffed animals of his childhood and telling him stories that his father, who has now passed on, used to tell him as bedtime stories,” says Manual. Dingbat’s production will make full use of the organization’s Gulf Gate venue, which includes a 70-seat black box theater and separate lobby/performance space. Dingbat’s Winnie-The-Pooh will be split between two areas—the first act will take place in the front lobby area, in Christopher Robbin’s bedroom, before Robbin takes all of the stuffed animals and runs to theater, transformed into the Hundred Acre Wood, to start the second act. Dingbat Theatre Project, 7288 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-451-7706, dingbattheatre.org
The Venice Symphony Presents TV Classics!
Under the guidance of Music Director Troy Quinn, the Venice Symphony has made a name for itself, in part, due to its extensive exploration of Hollywood classics. The Emmy-nominated Quinn, who serves on the faculty of USC Thornton School of Music, has a long-standing connection with the entertainment industry, an aspect of his artistry that has lent itself to the Symphony playing some of the most iconic and powerful film scores to date. This season, Quinn and the Symphony will further that connection with TV Classics! on January 9 and 10, 2026. “Every orchestra does a lot of film concerts,” says Quinn. “They don’t do a lot of television scenes, because number one, they tend to be so short and number two, television scenes now are most often recorded in home studios. There are very few that are full orchestral works from the Golden Age—we’ll be performing a mix of classical pieces that have been used in television and works from great symphonic composers who wrote for television.” Some of the classic symphonic works used in television include Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture, which has long been used as the theme music for The Lone Ranger. The arrangements that the Venice Symphony is set to play spans all genres and formats of television, to the famous Jeopardy! theme song by Merv Griffin to The Flintstones Meet The Jetsons, an arrangement by composer Robert Wendell to NBC’s 1990s NBA theme Roundball Rock by John Tesh. “We’ll have a couple of modern-day classics, such as Hans Zimmer’s main title music from The Crown and Danny Elfman’s iconic The Simpsons Theme,” says Quinn. “These are actually virtuosic pieces, including the original television theme from Star Trek, arranged by Alexander Courage. “It’s a fiendishly difficult three-minute piece, and it has such great orchestration and a thrilling climax finale that you don’t always get to hear. I thought that this was a program of music that deserved to be heard.” Venice Symphony, Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Ave Building 5, Venice, 941-218-3779, veniceperformingartscenter.com
Via Nova Chorale’s Jazz Mass for a New Humanity
Via Nova Chorale is not a new arts organization in Sarasota. The group, initially founded in 2008 by Dr. Robert Parrish under the name Musica Sacra Cantorum, rebranded in 2024 as the Via Nova Chorale. Under the guidance of Artistic Director Steven Phillips, Via Nova—which translates to “new way”—the group, originally devoted to performing sacred masterworks, expanded its repertoire to include music from an array of cultures. This season, Via Nova is undergoing another change, this time in its merging with the Choral Artists of Sarasota. Via Nova’s 16th season, which will include four concerts, is aptly titled: Finding a New Way Together. “It’s an exciting time for us because we’re getting bigger post merger,” says Phillips of Via Nova, which has grown from around 38 singers to 50 since merging with the Choral Artists. “Really, it signals a new growth phase for us and part of that is carrying on the Choral Artists’ legacy. They saw some of what they value happening in Via Nova Chorale, in that it involves creative programming and a high touch in the community of trying to be relevant, excellent and approachable.” Via Nova’s mission, under Phillips, is to inspire new ways of living together as human beings through the power of music. The finale of Via Nova’s season, Jazz Mass for a New Humanity, aims to do just that. An original composition from Phillips, Jazz Mass for a New Humanity uses the language of the Roman Mass in a jazz style and incorporates sacred writing and poetry from other traditions to create a musical dialog. “The deeper question is what are all of these traditions pointing towards? What are they pointing towards for humanity?” says Phillips. “Whether you are religious or not, you can look at the deeper messages that call us together as one human race.” Phillips constructed the work, which currently consists of 11 movements but may be expanded to 12, to use segments of poetry that would speak to what he believes are the themes of Mass: wonder, transcendence and growth. One such poem is Wendell Berry’s Peace of the Wild Things. “One of my favorite movements is a slower ballad based on that poem, it talks about allowing nature to speak to us and give us hope. It truly is forward looking—our potential as human beings is so vast and yet I find our race still quibbling and quarreling and going to war over bits of land and how much territory the other has and who gets the better deal in the trade,” says Phillips. “The Jazz Mass is my way of speaking to these issues and calling humans to come together around the beautiful and wonderful things that we have to celebrate.” Via Nova Chorale, 941-263-2086, vianovachorale.org
A Creative Haven
Out on Manasota Key lies the Hermitage Artist Retreat, a haven for some of the world’s leading creative minds. For years, musicians, playwrights, poets, sculptors and the like have flocked to the Hermitage, spending their time creating chart-topping hits, Pulitzer-winning plays and art that pushes the limits of their respective disciplines. If Sarasota County truly is Florida’s Cultural Coast, then the Hermitage is the lighthouse, calling all kindred artistic spirits home to shore. Last fall, that lighthouse was threatened when the Hermitage’s beachside campus was ravaged by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Although the organization had been unable to host its signature beach programs—held at sunset, artists at the Hermitage present to the public part of their artistry, often a work in progress and speak to their creative process—until this past June, the upcoming season will see the Hermitage back in full swing. Not only will the Hermitage host weekly programs at their beachfront campus, but it also will collaborate with Marie Selby Botanical Gardens for its sixth year of Hermitage Sunsets at Selby Gardens, with four programs at Selby’s Downtown Campus and two at the Historic Spanish Point. “It’s always been a popular series and a good opportunity for introducing new artists to wonderful venues and vice versa,” says Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “Last year when we were hurricane-riddled it became even more meaningful for us because we couldn’t do as much on our own campus—we had wait lists fill up faster than ever before. There was clearly a need and a desire for this kind of creative process exploration that is a little different than anything else.” Last year’s Hermitage Sunsets at Selby Gardens featured a program from Tony-nominated Broadway performer Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, who shared excepts from a new play she was working on. “A lot of the audience, even those who came to see her as a Broadway musical theater star, said their favorite part was hearing her try some of this new work. She’s a brilliant storyteller and in the 11th hour of her residency asked if it would be alright if she shared newer work even though it was a little different than what we had initially planned to show people,” says Sandberg. “I think the audience appreciates the trust that what they’re seeing is not for review and that they are going to be the first people to see this new work.” The Hermitage will also host Hermitage Sunsets at Benderson Park, the first of which will showcase the works of local artists Shawn Allison and Tom Lubben. Allison and Lubben are recipients of the Sarasota Cross Arts Collaborative, an initiative that grants two-week residencies at the Hermitage’s campus to some of the city’s leading local artists. Hermitage Artist Retreat, 6660 Manasota Key Rd, Englewood, 34223, 941-275-2098, hermitageartistretreat.org
Suspended Beauty
For 10 years, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens has held the Jean and Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Series, a series devoted to examining major artists and their relationship to nature. It is a series that invites audiences to look deeper into the lives and works of these artists—from painters such as Andy Warhol and Salvidor Dali to musicians like George Harrison—setting the work within the context of a botanical garden explores art’s inherent connection to nature. This year, the exhibition series will feature the work of renowned American sculptor Alexander Calder in Alexander Calder: The Nature of Movement. Calder, a multi-faceted artist active from the late 1920s until his death in 1976, was best known for two things: monumental public sculptures, often rooted in the abstract, and his kinetic sculptures, or mobiles, which were the first of their kind. “The organic forms that Calder features in his work are all rooted in nature and we will be exploring that aspect of his work,” says Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. “Additionally, there is a wonderful Sarasota connection—when inventing the mobile, Calder first used motors until he studied the Ringling Circus and the trapeze artists which helped him arrive at kinetic movement and balance in his mobiles and other work.” Calder’s mobiles were rooted in his exploration of suspension and equilibrium. When Calder deviated from mechanically powered mobiles to free hanging sculptures that move at the whim of an air current or a person’s touch, he created an aesthetic that embraced chance. It’s an aesthetic that is echoed throughout Selby Gardens’ Display Conservatory and 15-acre Downtown Sarasota Campus—Selby Gardens is the world’s leading center for the study of air plants, or epiphytes. Like Calder’s mobiles, these plants that grow in the tree canopy hang and drape freely, subject to the same laws of equilibrium and suspension Calder explored in his work. The Nature of Movement will feature about 10 works of Calder’s on view in the Gardens’ Museum of Botany & the Arts, along with horticultural installations throughout the Downtown Campus and Display Conservatory. “You can expect to see some horticultural mobiles with our plant collection dangling in the air as would be befitting of a Calder mobile,” says Rominiecki. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Downtown Sarasota Campus, 1534 Mound St., Sarasota, 34236, 941-366-5731, selby.org
