SOUTHWEST FLORIDA SYMPHONY NEWS

Mark your calendars for May 10 and 12. Those are the

dates of two

vastly different but equally special musical performances.

Magical moments and memories of childhood abound when the Southwest Florida Symphony Children's presents "Fairy Tales & Pixie Dust" Sunday, May 10, at 4 p.m. at Faith Presbyterian Church in Cape Coral. Catherine Truesdale conducts this delightful concert featuring music from your favorite musicals and a special visit from the Pied Piper based on the Robert Browning text and music by Jonathan Willcocks.

"This is a wonderful way to celebrate Mother's Day," said Truesdale. "The children's voices bring such a sweet sound to the favorite songs and poems of childhood and a few more recent offerings really jazz up the concert. There is something everyone will recognize, a song that will reawaken childhood for everyone."

Tickets are available at www.swflso.org or by calling the Symphony Box Office at 418-1500. Tickets may be available at the door the day of the concert.

The Southwest Florida Symphony Children's Chorus is the area's premier children's chorus, an auditioned group of almost 50 children, ages 8 to 14 from Lee and surrounding counties. Emphasis is placed on good vocal production, dynamic and rhythmic unity, and personal growth and confidence building. The Children's Chorus performs with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra for the annual Holiday Pops Concert, the Stained Glass Concert Series and throughout the community.

Maestro Caulkins Avoid the expense of a trip to Italy and be the first to hear the combined choruses of the Southwest Florida Symphony and the Sarasota Key Chorale present their European concert tour May 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Faith United Methodist Church in Fort Myers. More than 200 voices will present "Euro Tour Part Two: Celebrating American Music in Italy," conducted by Joseph Caulkins, associate conductor and director of choruses.

The two choirs will be departing July 6 on an 11-day European tour of France and Italy performing together as Florida's Symphonic Choruses. Concerts in France include Chamonix at the Eglise St. Michel (a return engagement from their 2006 European tour) and the 17th century Cathedral of Nice. In Italy, the choruses will perform at the Cathedrals in Asolo, Bresso (Milan), and a mass at Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice.

COURTESY PHOTOS The Southwest Florida Symphony Chorus. "This is a rare opportunity to hear two fine choruses on the same stage performing music that is truly divine. With 200 voices singing together, the sound is absolutely amazing," said Maestro Caulkins, who has conducted the Symphony Chorus eight seasons and Key Chorale two seasons.

The first half of the concert features the Southwest Florida Symphony Chorus performing pieces they will sing at mass at the historic Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice along with encores of well-known hymns and spirituals the choruses will perform on their tour. Keyboardists Charles Heard and Virginia Bray will accompany the choruses.

The second half of the program features Morten Lauridsen's "Lux Aeterna" (Light Eternal), composed in 1997. Luminous, lush and captivating, it has been recorded twice, each time receiving a Grammy nomination. Lauridsen sets to music timeless and wondrous words about light, a universal symbol of illumination at all levels — spiritual, artistic, and intellectual.

Tickets are on sale now. Call the symphony box office at 418-1500 or visit www. swflso.org. Tickets may be available at the door the day of the concert, but to guarantee your seat, should be purchased prior to the event.

The concert will also be performed in Sarasota on May 11 at Church of the Palms Presbyterian Church at 7:30 pm. Tickets for the Sarasota concert may be purchased by calling (941) 921-4845 or visit www.keychorale.org.