Marianne Hayes, 83 Degrees, 17th November 2015
The Florida Orchestra recently kicked off its latest season with a packed house at the Straz Center in downtown Tampa. New music director Michael Francis may have something to do with all the buzz.
“There’s a tremendous increase in excitement; a new energy on stage that you can feel […]
Tom Aldridge, Nuvo, 19th October 2015
“[Michael] Francis, with crisp, exacting baton work, got corresponding playing from his orchestra: perfect phrasing, excellent dynamic shaping, continuous precision. After experiencing that opener [Mendelssohn’s Overture to Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, Op. 27], I expected and got similar finesse in the Tchaikovsky, and especially in the big closing […]
Jay Harvey, Jay Harvey Upstage, 17th October 2015
“Francis and the ISO caught the becalmed mood of the first part of “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage” perfectly, which made the transition to the energetic second half of the piece all the more exciting. The ensemble exhilaration was well-maintained right through to the triumph of […]
Andrew Meacham, Tampa Bay Times, 5th October 2015
The Florida Orchestra will give free concerts this week for patients and staff at Hillsborough County hospitals, part of an ongoing effort to reach the sick and the elderly.
The orchestra will perform at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the atrium of St. Joseph’s Hospital-North in Lutz. The program […]
Andrew Meacham, Tampa Bay Times, 23rd September 2015
The new maestro of the Florida Orchestra walks into his empty office, sets down his briefcase and gestures to the empty bookshelves lining one wall.
“You can see I haven’t really done much with decor,” says Michael Francis, 39, who is about to debut as the fourth music […]
18th September 2015
The Tampa Bay Rays invited Michael Francis to throw the ceremonial first pitch as the new Music Director of The Florida Orchestra for their game against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, September 17th 2015.
Photograph by Michael Pastreich
Andrew Meacham, Tampa Bay Times, 16th September 2015
The Florida Orchestra is entering a new season with four new musicians, hand-picked from across the country.
Filling the positions is one of music director Michael Francis’s first major moves in shaping the orchestra. Francis is only the fourth person to hold the position in nearly 50 years…
Gil French, American Record Guide, September/October 2015
“Francis conducted a truly triumphant concert…What an entertainment Mozart’s Serenata Notturna was! The orchestra had bite, the Viennese string quartet (violin, viola, cello, and string bass) was sweet, the timpani was boisterous, and all the strings were crisp and pungent with facetious pizzicatos. The quartet’s solos in the […]
Geoffrey Newman, Seen and Heard International, 13th August 2015
For a long time, I was suspicious of how good national youth orchestras could be. This all changed about 20 years ago when I heard Christopher Seaman put the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain through its paces at the Barbican and bring an unforgettable freshness […]
Charles Pope Jr., Concerto.net, 30th July 2015
Canada’s National Youth Orchestra again gave a stunning summer performance in Ottawa during late July. As always, the orchestra comprised the cream of top young players, most of them already well launched on careers as orchestral musicians and future teachers. A good deal of the credit this year […]
