A compelling reading of an important 20th-century organ concerto was a highlight Sunday afternoon (Nov. 23) of the opening concert of the 2025-26 season by The Symphonia, an event that made the most of its strings-only makeup with interesting repertoire choices. The concert, held at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church right behind Mizner Park in Boca Raton, was led by the chamber … [Read more...]
Arts briefs: Symphonia taps Willis as chief conductor
BOCA RATON — Grammy-nominated conductor Alastair Willis has been named principal conductor and artistic adviser of The Symphonia Boca Raton. Willis has been a guest conductor with The Symphonia for the past several seasons. He also served as principal conductor for the orchestra’s “New Directions” concert series in 2019. He also is music director of the South … [Read more...]
Patronizing format gets in the way of good Symphonia performance
By Dennis D. Rooney The Symphonia Boca Raton made its first appearance March 27 in Old School Square’s Crest Theatre, and the orchestra sounded far better there than my two previous encounters with it, both of which were amplified concerts at Mizner Park. There, they could not be fairly or accurately judged due to the distortion of the amplification. Although the Crest’s … [Read more...]
Symphonia’s French program a little over the top
It’s no secret that music education in the public schools is not what it was decades ago, when there was a middlebrow consensus that it was a good thing for an educated person to know the rudiments of music and major figures of the Western classical tradition. In our time, there are few concerts anymore that are not also educational, in which presenters and performers make … [Read more...]