Introduction

GCO Presents Celestial Celebrations Friday

GCO Presents Celestial Celebrations Friday

Music combined with stunning NASA images – student tickets just $10

The Gainesville Chamber Orchestra is presenting a special concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 7 at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

The concert features Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” along with NASA photographs to add a visual element to the musical performance. The Houston Symphony recently performed this concert to rave reviews; see a video here. Both the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Harn Museum of Art have extended their hours for this gala event. Enjoy a pre-concert dinner at the Camellia Court Café. In addition, the UF Astronomy Club will have telescopes trained on the planets for all ages to enjoy after the concert.

Tickets are $10 for students, $25 for seniors, and $35 for adults.

This will be the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra’s final concert of the 2009-2010 season. Gustav Holst, British, wrote his orchestral suite in 1917-1918. It was first performed in 1920 by the London Sympathy Orchestra. There are seven movements, one for each of the then-known planets. (Pluto had not yet been observed and Earth was not included.)

Founded by a group of local musicians in 1983, the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra is now a professional organization in its 27th year. “The Planets” concert is jointly sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration with support from the City of Gainesville, Alachua County, and the State of Florida.