Jamie Farr plans heavenly appearance with Toledo Symphony

Images of space via NASA's Hubble telescope will flash as Jamie Farr narrates ‘The Planets' with the Toledo Symphony Feb. 27.

Hold on to your hats! Despite this nagging recession, area presenters from the busy, busy Toledo Symphony to small but determined groups like Sono Novo and Masterworks Chorale have stood up to direct financial hits and planned smashing seasons.

Take the symphony, now entering its 66th season with a stroke of programming genius that will bring none other than Jamie Farr, Toledo's fave celeb, to the Peristyle in February for a must-see production on Feb. 27.

While the Toledo symphony performs Gustav Holst's "The Planets," Farr will narrate amid images from space flashing on the big screen, courtesy of NASA's Hubble Telescope.

Still, that is months away and, checking the schedule, it's clear that the music season will achieve lift-off today, with several important traditions launching this afternoon and evening. Among them are the TSO's Blade Chamber Series, Bowling Green State University's expanded Festival Series, and the huge University Musical Society season.

September is all about new starts, and the rest of the month will bring a return by the Toledo Museum of Art to its beloved free public recitals in the gorgeous Great Gallery; the first concert of the TSO's flagship Classics Series in the Peristyle, and the Dorothy MacKenzie Price Piano Recital series at the University of Toledo Center for the Performing Arts.

October is no slouch either. There's the TSO Mozart and More and Pops series openers, a tribute to Toledo's gift to jazz — Art Tatum, born a century ago this year — in a special appearance by Stanley Cowell at Owens Community College Center for the Performing Arts, and a rare visit by sitarist extraordinaire Ravi Shankar at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor.

Also on tap next month will be BGSU's time-honored New Music Festival, the first concert by the Toledo Youth Orchestra, and the Rosary Cathedral Music Series.

In quick order, what lies beyond October includes a Canadian Brass Christmas, Masterworks annual holiday program, multiple Messiah productions, Viennese-style holiday celebrations, and, what else? Tuba Christmas.

The party continues into the New Year, with Bruckner's Symphony No. 6, Chanticleer, the Farr-out event, more new music in BGSU and UT, and original music and choreography in a new collaboration by Sono Novo and Ballet Theatre of Toledo.

Contact Sally Vallongo at:

svallongo@theblade.com