Extraordinary repertoire performed in

intimate, elegant surroundings

Anne Frank's Tree

March 20, 7:30pm

First Presbyterian Church

George Maxman, violin

Alexa Scharf, narrator

Here's a closer look at the music and performers on our closing concert. Get your tickets today, and join us on March 20 for the concert and at the free post-concert reception for the musicians and the audience. And, there are also special offers for our ticket holders for this concert (see below).

A free bus ride is available from Venice to the concert! Seats available for advance ticket buyers only, and limited seating is available. Call 219-928-8665 for information.

Erich Korngold's "Much Ado About Nothing Suite" is drawn from incidental music he wrote for a German production of Shakespeare’s play. Korngold was a very popular young composer in 1920. His opera “Die tote Stadt” premiered in Vienna that year to international acclaim and represented the zenith of his European years. Korngold at 23 was still a maturing prodigy. The Vienna Burgtheater commissioned incidental music from him in 1918. After the production was revived in 1920, Korngold extracted a concert suite for chamber orchestra from the score.

Korngold became one of the "banned composers" when the Nazis came to power. He then fled to the United States where he had a successful career in Hollywood as a leading film composer.

The gorgeous and often humorous suite is the opening work on the Chamber Orchestra's March 20 concert.

Pictured in the graphic (L to R, top) are: scene from "Much Ado", Erich Korngold at age 20, Korngold and his wife, actress Luzi Sonnenthal Korngold, (bottom) William Shakespeare, Max Reinhardt, who directed the "Much Ado" production in 1918 for which Korngold wrote the music. Reinhardt later brought Korngold to Hollywood.

Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto is one of the most beloved symphonic works ever written. The concerto was a gift of friendship to a musician particularly close to Mendelssohn’s heart: violinist Ferdinand David, who was the concertmaster of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. The first sketches of the concerto were made in 1838, but the work was not completed until 1844, and was one of the last works Mendelssohn completed.

Our soloist, violinist George Maxman, was born in Moscow, Russia. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory, completing his study in violin performance under the tutelage of David Oistrakh. His international career has included Artist-in-Residence at the University of Sydney, Acting Assistant Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony, concertmaster and assistant conductor of the Symphony Nova Scotia, and a career as violinist and teacher in Shanghai. His spectacular performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto in A Major last season drew a standing ovation and an invitation to return to perform with the Chamber Orchestra. 

The narrator for the Chamber Orchestra’s performance of Anne Frank's Tree will be Booker High School senior Alexa Scharf, who was selected from a field of eight auditionees to portray Anne Frank.

“I auditioned for Anne Frank’s Tree because it felt like a great chance to dive into a complex character and really challenge myself,” Alexa says. “The whole experience has been really rewarding—it’s pushed me both as an actor and as a person, helping me grow in ways I didn’t expect."

Anne Frank's words about the chestnut tree were selected by Victoria Bond for her composition "Anne Frank's Tree". Ms. Bond selected the quotation from the Book of Job to be the words to introduce the final section of the work.

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors

Anne Frank's Tree is sponsored by Ling Z. and Michael C. Markowitz, Leigh and Harvey Cohen, Barbara Bankoff and Robert Crandall, The Raymund Foundation, B. Aline Blanchard and Arthur Siciliano, Susan and Pieter Kohnstam, Debby and Arthur Brown, Judy and Lowell Seyburn, The Exchange Foundation, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, and paid for in part by the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax.

The Chamber Orchestra gratefully acknowledges their generous support and encourages you to join them in supporting our concerts and extraordinary musicians.