Rock Concert Series Page 1 NEWS RELEASE RELEASE DATE: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2015 CONTACT: Sherry Powell, Chief Marketing Officer 727.362.5540 or Henry Adams, Director of Marketing & Communications - 727.362.5441 The Florida Orchestra Announces 2015/2016 Season Rock Concert Series Three Symphonic Rock Tributes: Led Zeppelin, U2 and The Police Featuring New Lower Prices ST. PETERSBURG, FL The Florida Orchestra (TFO) has announced that the 2015/2016 season s symphonic Rock Concert series showcases the music of Led Zeppelin (Oct. 16, 2015), U2 (Jan 29, 2016), and The Police (May 6, 2016). All three concerts will be on Friday evenings at the Mahaffey Theater at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts in St. Petersburg. As part of the orchestra s on-going accessibility initiative, it has lowered the ticket prices on two of the three seat sections, which represents a $10 reduction at the top price and a $5 reduction in the mid-price. Series package prices for premium seats will be $150 and $195 per person based on seat locations (down from the current season price of $165 and $225). Subscriptions to the 3-concert package are now on sale. Single tickets will be $35, $50 and $65 (currently at $35, $55 and $75). Single tickets go on sale August 10, 2015. For tickets, call The Florida Orchestra ticket center at 727.892.3337 or 1.800.662.7286, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 pm., or buy online at In recent seasons, TFO has performed a variety of successful symphonic rock concerts in collaboration with specialist rock tribute musicians showcasing the music of Simon and Garfunkel, Michael Jackson, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones and Queen, among others. The positive community response to those concerts encouraged the orchestra to add the Rock Concert series to its varied concert menu to reach a wider audience and to better serve the broad musical interests of the Tampa Bay community.
Rock Concert Series Page 2 The Music of Led Zeppelin Friday, October 16, 2015, at 8 p.m. With retina-dazzling rock concert lighting, The Florida Orchestra amps up the concert hall joining forces with a full rock band for a dazzling night of some of Led Zeppelin s greatest hits, including Kashmir, Black Dog, Good Times, Bad Times, All of My Love, Stairway to Heaven and more. The featured vocalist is Randy Jackson, the lead singer of the band Zebra, and arranger and conductor Brent Havens will lead The Florida Orchestra. This concert is Friday, October 16, 2016, at 8 p.m. at the Mahaffey Theater at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts in St. Petersburg. Subscriptions to the Rock Concert series are now on sales, and single tickets go on sale August 10, 2015. For tickets, call The Florida Orchestra ticket center at 727.892.3337 or 1.800.662.7286, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 pm., or buy online at Lead Singer & Guitarist Randy Jackson: Randy Jackson s first foray into recording success began with the selftitled Zebra debut album, released on Atlantic Records in 1983. Critically acclaimed for its lush rock sounds, due in large part to Jackson s searing lead vocals and soaring guitar leads, the album sold 75,000 copies the first week. Who s Behind the Door and Tell Me What You Want, written by Jackson, received serious notice in the press and helped to form legions of Zebra fans almost instantly. Randy Jackson is the lead singer of Zebra, and produced and engineered their latest album, Zebra IV. He has also toured as keyboardist, guitarist and backing vocalist with the original, reunited Jefferson Airplane and works extensively in the area of musical software and hardware development. Jackson has been the featured vocalist on other symphonic rock concerts in past seasons with The Florida Orchestra, including The Music of Pink Floyd, The Music of Led Zeppelin and The Music of The Doors. Conductor & Arranger Brent Havens: In addition to arranging the music for The Music of Led Zeppelin and The Music of U2 for rock band and orchestra, Brent Havens has also produced individual symphonic rock shows of the music of The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Queen, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Haven s concept for all of these shows has been to remain as true to the original recordings as possible while making the orchestra sound like another instrument within the band. And to add to the spirit of the original music and the times in which it was created, the concerts are performed to retinaburning rock show lighting.
Rock Concert Series Page 3 Havens musical experience as a composer and arranger extends beyond the world of symphonic rock. This Berklee-trained musician has written music for orchestra, feature films and a great variety of television programs, which includes music for ABC, CBS, ESPN and ABC Family Channel Network. In 2013, he worked with the Baltimore Symphony and the NFL's Baltimore Ravens to arrange and produce the music for the Thanksgiving Day halftime show between the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, adapting both classical music and rock songs. In addition to several rock tribute engagements with TFO over several seasons now, Brent Havens has performed his various symphonic rock shows with orchestras around the country, including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and San Diego Symphony, among others. The Music of U2 Friday, January 29, 2016, at 8 p.m. It s a rockin tribute to the soaring sounds of the all-time Grammy-winning rock band U2 with such top-of-the chart tunes as With or Without You, One, Beautiful Day, So Cruel, Pride (In the Name of Love), Sunday Bloody Sunday and Bad, among others. The lead vocalist is Brody Dolyniuk, who sang for 14 years with the classic rock band Yellow Brick Road and is a featured vocalist on the mega-hit video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Arranger and conductor Brent Havens leads the orchestra. The concert is Friday, January 29, 2016, at 8 p.m. at the Mahaffey Theater at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts in St. Petersburg. Subscriptions to the Rock Concert series are now on sales, and single tickets go on sale August 10, 2015. For tickets, call The Florida Orchestra ticket center at 727.892.3337 or 1.800.662.7286, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 pm., or buy online at Conductor & Arranger Brent Havens: see bio above under The Music of Led Zeppelin Vocalist Brody Dolyniuk: Brody Dolyniuk remembers mimicking voices even as a child, listening to old records and tapes. He is a gifted, self-taught musician, capable of playing several instruments, with a particular knack for capturing the voices and mannerisms of classic characters from music, TV, and movies. His first professional gigs were at piano bars in several U.S. cities, where he learned to charm audiences and expand his musical repertoire. With a longing to perform the music of the many rock bands that inspired him,
Rock Concert Series Page 4 Dolyniuk assembled Yellow Brick Road (YBR), unquestionably Las Vegas' most successful classic rock band, having won Las Vegas Review-Journal s annual Best of Las Vegas award three times. Since 1997, YBR has been reshaping the casino entertainment scene by bringing a rock concert atmosphere to showrooms previously reserved for Top-40-style lounge acts. Along the way, Brody Dolyniuk has made numerous radio and TV appearances, earned a spot in the finals of two national singing competitions, and even self-produced several large rock production-style shows utilizing multimedia, lasers, comedy and special effects. In 2007, Dolyniuk lent his vocal talents by singing several tracks on the mega-hit video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and has already done several more for the new Konami game Rock Revolution. Brody Dolyniuk appeared with The Florida Orchestra in past season s Rock Concerts, which include The Music of Queen and The Music of The Rolling Stones. On May 8, 2015, he is also the vocal soloist with the orchestra for The Music of The Who on the orchestra s current season. The Police Experience Friday, May 6, 2016, at 8 p.m. Immerse yourself in a high-energy celebration with The Florida Orchestra and the tribute band The Police Experience in a night of sizzling hits by The Police Driven to Tears, Roxanne, Walking on the Moon, Every Breath You Take, Message in a Bottle, Don t Stand So Close to Me and many more. Among the band s reviews, Examiner.com calls the band a thrilling tribute to Sting and The Police as close as you can get to the real thing, and former Police drummer Stewart Copeland hails the group for nailing The Police sound, every nuance, all the drum parts, and the singer has Sting down to a tee. The Police Experience band members include Mike Nieland on drums and vocals, Jimbo Head on guitars and vocals, and David Rasner on bass, keyboards and vocals. This concert is Friday, May 6, 2016, at 8 p.m. at the Mahaffey Theater at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts in St. Petersburg. Subscriptions to the Rock Concert series are now on sales, and single tickets go on sale August 10, 2015. For tickets, call The Florida Orchestra ticket center at 727.892.3337 or 1.800.662.7286, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 pm., or buy online at # # #
Rock Concert Series Page 5 The Florida Orchestra presents the 14-concert Tampa Bay Times Masterworks Series and the 9-concert Raymond James Pops Series, both of which are performed in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Other concert series include the 8- concert morning Coffee Concert series in St. Petersburg, the newly expanded 4-concert morning Coffee Concert series in Clearwater and the 3-concert Rock series in St. Petersburg. The orchestra also offers a variety of free Pops in the Park concerts around Tampa Bay, including the annual Ashley for the Arts Pops in the Park concert at St. Petersburg s Vinoy Park. Furthermore, the orchestra presents a variety of Family Concerts, Youth Concerts and other educational and community engagement activities serving thousands of school children and adults throughout the Tampa Bay area annually.