News: Sarasota Orchestra December Programs Inspire Joy and Discovery for the Holiday Season

Sarasota Orchestra brings joy to the season with favorites including its popular holiday-themed Great Escapes program. Lina González-Granados and Sarah Ioannides, already acclaimed conductors nationally and internationally, make their debuts on the Masterworks and Discoveries series, respectively, presenting inspired programs that include works by musical influencers and young composers alike.

Oxford-trained conductor Sarah Ioannides, music director of Symphony Tacoma, leads a program devoted to musical influencers-and those whom they inspired. Berlioz and Schumann both greatly admired the music of innovative 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc, who battled sexism in music-and won. Liszt got the idea for Christus, an oratorio about the life of Christ, from Handel’s Messiah. In his exuberant Symphony in C Major, Bizet not only emulates, but directly quotes, his teacher Gounod.

Described by The New York Times as a conductor with “unquestionable strength and authority” and as a conductor with “magic,” Sarah Ioannides’ dynamic presence on the podium has won praise from audience and critics internationally.