Maestro's On Air

This December we reflect on two recent concerts and interview four singers scheduled to perform at the upcoming Broadway concert series in early January, featuring Amy Cofield, Mary Anne Kruger, Shawn Jesseman, and Andrew LeJeune.

This time on the show Bill is missing in action, but Eric and Jeremy speak with Frank Wosar, principal trombonist for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Director of Jazz Bands at Valencia College, and oh, did we mention, the new Director of the Space Coast Symphony Jazz Orchestra. If you’ve been to any of our Jazz concerts over the last few years, no doubt you’ve seen Frank front and center playing trombone and sometimes conducting. On the show he discusses his thoughts on maintaining a music career, and talks about the upcoming Jazz Jam concert this weekend and his expectations for the Jazz Orchestra under his watch.

After far too long a break, Maestro’s On Air returns for a new season, just as your Space Coast Symphony’s new season kicks off — a season which will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the SCSO. Of course, with milestones often come change, and on this episode, Eric, Bill and Jeremy discuss some of the recent changes occurring within the Symphony, and look ahead at upcoming events. I

This time on the show Bill is missing, but we are joined by Maestro Aaron Collins for a look ahead at the entire new 2017-2018 season -- the 9th season for the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra -- plus a discussion of the first few concerts of the season already performed, since it took us a minute to get around to scheduling this recording.

After a long hiatus the show is back.  During the break between performance seasons, Jeremy, Eric, Bill and Aaron discuss the season what was.  This retrospective on SCSO’s 2016-2017 season includes several performance recordings, and a look back at some of the special people that made the year, and the SCSO, what it has been. 

This time on the show we speak with SCSO member and jazz trombone player Andrea Rowlison about a career in music and the many famous musicians and entertainers she’s played with. We also listen to a couple of music clips from the recent tribute to James Horner, and discuss the upcoming Veteran’s Day concert, Honoring Our Heroes:  A Big Band Tribute.

This time on the show we travel to the final practice of this session for Quartet Movement as they get ready for their concert this weekend and interview the founder Carey Moorman, who is also SCSO Concert Master.   We also talk about other upcoming concerts, and listen to a clip from the recent Grand Canyon Suite concert, a section from Rhapsody in Blue.   

Dr. Patrick Hennessey This time we are joined on the show for the second time by Dr. Patrick Hennessey, Director of the Space Coast Jazz Orchestra.Of primary focus is the upcoming second annual Big Band Bash concert with Dr. Hennessey at the helm.  Join us for the hour to hear a recap of the recent Music of the Olympics concert, as well as a preview of the Big Band Bash, plus discussion of Dr. Hennessey's other roles of Music Director and Instructor at Stetson University School of Music. “The Space Coast Symphony presents the Space Coast Jazz Orchestra in a swinging summer concert featuring music of the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s. Under the direction of Stetson University’s Dr. Patrick Hennessey, the JAZZ Orchestra will perform big band favorites featuring music from the 1920’s through the 1970’s. Central Florida’s finest jazz musicians will perform works by Woody Herman, Count Basie, Henry Mancini, Glenn Miller, John Williams and other greats. Singing alongside the musicians will be world renown jazz vocalist and music educator, Dr. Lisanne Lyons. Lyons, who toured worldwide with the U.S. Air Force as a vocalist, is currently director and founder of the jazz vocal program at Florida International University. She will be spotlighted during the second half of the program with classics such as “Our Love is Here to Stay,” “What’s New,” “It’s a Wonderful World” and more.” — http://spacecoastsymphony.org/event/big-band-bash/

This time on the show Jeremy Hickman sits down with the Maestro himself, Aaron Collins, in the River House, the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra headquarters in Cocoa, Florida.  On the agenda is a discussion of the recent season announcement and a run-down of all concerts currently scheduled, including discussion of the planning process and music samples from the upcoming 2016-2017 performance season.

Michael Hall, Music Director, Kennett Symphony and SCSO Guest Conductor This time on the show we leave the studio and record our first episode on the stage at the Scott Center in Melbourne during setup for the recent Bach, Hyden & Mozart concert.Jeremy Hickman has a one-on-one interview with Guest Conductor Michael Hall, music director of  the Kennett Symphony in Pennsylvania.Also featured are recorded segments of Bach, Mozart & Hyden from that day's concert.

This time on the show we have Nick Toohill in the studio.  Nick is in charge of facility rentals at the Scott Center in Melbourne, one of the main performance venues used by the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra.Topics discussed include facility enhancements at the Scott Center, microphone considerations, and the new Game of Mugs. 

John Ryther This time on the show someone is missing in action.  We interview composer, musician and SCSO member John Ryther.  Also, we play portions of recently performed pieces from the concert featuring Bruch's beautiful Violin Concerto and Danny Elfman's exciting Serenada Schizophrenia.Plus a rare performance of an original composition by Aaron Collins conducting his own work.

This time we answer the question of the week, talk about upcoming concerts, and speak with the Julian Drucker of the Yale Whiffenpoofs about their Spring Tour.  

After our winter hiatus, Maestro’s On Air is back with the first episode of Season 2, and includes discussion of our recent Three Kings concert and a look at the few performances left before next year’s calendar is announced.

This time on the show we sit down with Yaniv Cohen, named earlier this year as Personnel Director for the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra. In addition to that key position, he also teaches, performs and maintains a business as a luthier specializing in heritage American-made instruments.

This week in Maestro’s Café we welcome an international musician who has performed and lived on multiple continents.  Born in Ecuador and residing in Madrid, Spain, Francisco Villa grew up on the Space Coast, learning to play Cello in Florida and graduating from Eau Galle High School.    Francisco is back in Brevard for the month of August for multiple events, including teaching a master class for local high school cello students, and a duet performance of Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces Op. 73.  Listen to this episode for Francisco’s take on music education, and cultural differences among concert attendees around the world.

For the first time this week in the Café we get a chance to speak with Colleen Lee, who in addition to professing some affiliation with one of our hosts, also manages much of the day to day operations of the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra.

Marion Speake's Art This week in the Café, we’d have asked our guests if they’d like to check in, but remembered that they’d always been here.   Or at least their art has been hanging on the wall.  Another precedent is broken as we focus on the visual arts.  Marion Speake, in addition to working in the Café, primarily paints abstract still-life in vibrant colored acrylic or charcoal drawing.  Maria Rachiele's Art Maria Rachiele is the creative behind Doodle Dog Studio specializing in life-size and realistic paintings of dogs and other commissioned works featuring pets of the client.  See Maria’s work at www.LiveFreeArtStudio.com  or Marion’s work at www.DoodleDogStudio.com, and make sure to peruse their art on the wall next time you visit Maestro’s Café.  North wall of Maestro's Cafe

   Don Staples playing Trombone on   The Lawrence Welk Show This week in the Café we have as our special guest Don Staples who, among other things, was part of the Lawrence Welk Show, from when it first went color until it stopped production in 1982, including a long stint as Principal Trombonist.     Also, it's time for the First Friday Fizz Quiz.  Be sure to submit your answers here.

Maestro's On Air #26 – Michael Fee Michael Fee, SCSO Principal Trumpet The week's show features Aaron Collins' interview with Michael Fee, Principal Trumpet player for the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra.Also, with summer in full swing, many are taking some time off.  We caught Jeff Thompson on vacation from his job of Director of Library Services, yet still patronizing Maestro's Café. Of course we grabbed an extra microphone and forced him to sit with us and provide a few foreshadowing tidbits about his alter ego as a documentarian. We look forward to having Jeff back on a future episode for the entire hour.