Pictured: Yo-Yo Ma. Photo by Jason Bell.

The Sarasota Concert Association today announced the artists that will be featured in its 2025 Great Performers Series, as well as two Special Events.The 2025 Great Performers Series launches with the acclaimed French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, making his Sarasota Concert Association debut at Riverview Performing Arts Center (January 15, 2025). Thibaudet's performance will include Debussy’s Preludes Books I and II, promising an evening of unparalleled artistry. Audiences will then be treated to the return of the Cleveland Orchestra (January 26, 2025, at Van Wezel), a favorite among Sarasota music lovers. Under the baton of Kahchun Wong with violinist Sayaka Shoji, the orchestra will perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. The Czech National Symphony, with Music Director Steven Mercurio and pianist Maxim Lando (February 13, 2025, at Van Wezel) performs Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Dvorak's popular Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.” A special highlight of the season is the 300th-anniversary celebration of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (March 14, 2025, at Riverview Performing Arts Center). This concert features the local debut of baroque violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and the renowned French ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Concluding the series, the National Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director Gianandrea Noseda with violinist Hilary Hahn, will perform at Van Wezel (March 24, 2025). The evening’s repertoire includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Erich Korngold’s Violin Concerto. In addition to the 5-concert Great Performers Series, the Sarasota Concert Association will present a special holiday concert featuring the male vocal ensemble Chanticleer (December 3, 2024, at the Sarasota Opera House). Legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma presents an evening of music and words at Van Wezel (February 27, 2025). In this one-night-only event, Yo-Yo Ma performs a special selection of his favorite pieces and shares stories about a life dedicated to music.  Five-concert subscriptions to the Great Performers Series and additional tickets to Special Events are available now to current subscribers only. New subscriptions will be on sale beginning on April 10.  Visit www.SCAsarasota.org or call the box office at 941-966-6161 on that date. Three-concert mini subscriptions will go on sale in June, and single tickets will be available in the fall.

Pictured: Yo-Yo Ma. Photo by Jason Bell.