Florida Orchestra lands rock star Sting for its 50th anniversary gala

Andrew Meacham, Tampa Bay Times, 3rd August 2017

The Florida Orchestra has landed a real rock star.

The orchestra will celebrate its 50th anniversary fundraising gala with a performance from Sting, one of popular music’s biggest icons, the orchestra announced Thursday.

Orchestra leaders were elated to have finalized the booking with the 16-time Grammy winner, who will play for 90 minutes Dec. 9 at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, joined by the orchestra and a three-piece band. Concert tickets for An Intimate Evening with the Florida Orchestra and Sting go on sale to the general public Oct. 2.

Music director Michael Francis, who grew up in England singing along to Roxanne and other hits by the Police, the British rock group Sting led before launching a career as a solo artist, is predicting a watershed musical moment.

“This will be a concert that Tampa Bay will remember for decades,” said Francis, who will conduct the performance with the man he considers a “genuine world music star.”

“To me, I am personally thrilled as a Brit to work with him,” said Francis, who did not personally know Sting. “It’s going to be a tremendous honor for me to share the stage, and for all the musicians — and just for the community to see how important the Florida Orchestra is for the Tampa Bay community, how much we want to communicate with them and to be a fair reflection of the community.”