News

The art of conductivity: Maestro Michael Francis of the Florida Orchestra

Bill DeYoung, St. Pete Cataylst, 15th January 2019

Suave, erudite and comfortable in a tuxedo, native Londoner Michael Francis could very well be Tampa Bay’s James Bond – if, that is, 007 had wavy red hair, a baby face and an overwhelming obsession with symphonic music.

Michael Francis prefers listeners be stirred, not […]

Francis is enthusiastic about the Staatsphilharmonie

Stefan M. Dettlinger, Mannheimer Morgen, 7th December 2018

He will commute between Florida and Ludwigshafen, says Michael Francis in an interview with this newspaper. The new Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz is in fact head of the Florida orchestra. Francis is the absolute favorite candidate of the Ludwigshafener Orchester.

Michael Francis takes over for the anniversary

Stefan M. Dettlinger, Mannheimer Morgen, 7th December 2018

The praise is exuberant. And it comes not only from the heart, but also from all sides. From the minister. From the director. And, which is by no means self-evident, the orchestra, notably Daniel Kroh, who warmly welcomes the new Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie in […]

Michael Francis new chief conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz

SWR2, 6th December 2018

Michael Francis will be the new chief conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season. This season is also celebrating the 100th anniversary of the orchestra.

The team player

Frank Pommer, Die Rheinpfalz, 6th December 2018

Ludwigshafen: Francis presented as the new chief conductor of the Staatsphilharmonie

Palatinate Ticker, Die Rheinpfalz, 6th December 2018

Born in 1976, British conductor Michael Francis was introduced on Thursday at the Ludwigshafen Philharmonic as the new chief conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. He succeeds Karl-Heinz Steffens and from September 2019 will take over the musical responsibility of the most important Rhineland-Palatinate orchestra – in time […]

Review: A vivid evocation of London highlights a mostly British program by the SLSO

Chuck Lavazzi, KDHX, 25th November 2018

“It has been a few years since my wife and I have been to London, but I feel like we took another visit there Friday night (November 23) with that wonderfully evocative performance of Vaughan Williams’s “A London Symphony” by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under the baton […]

Concert review

Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 24th November 2018

“Francis made a masterful case for [Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 2, “A London Symphony,”], aided by the orchestra.”

Florida Orchestra, Holocaust Museum collaborate in a stirring A Child of Our Time

Andrew Meacham, Tampa Bay Times, 9th November 2018

“[T]he Florida Orchestra and the Florida Holocaust Museum collaborate to remember Kristallnacht, the ‘night of broken glass,’ and uplift its victims. This weekend’s concert series, A Child of Our Time, opened Friday at the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts. British composer Michael Tippett, […]

In a new season, Florida Orchestra expands reach, new top soloists

Andrew Meacham, Tampa Bay Times, 5th September 2018

The Florida Orchestra has prepared a 51st season with a wide range of grand masters and newer work, an increased visibility for minorities and women and more collaborations with museums and other artistic institutions.

Masterworks highlights include the opening, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 (the first time […]