About 100 musicians will take the stage of Ferguson Hall at Tampa's Straz Center on Thursday for the Florida Orchestra's inaugural "Play Out Tampa Bay."
Half of them will be amateur musicians from the community.
The Florida Orchestra's Michelle Kim-Painter said she was talking to Music Director Michael Francis about this, and it was a natural progression. Because not everyone sings and can't be a part of "Sing Out Tampa Bay," which the orchestra has been doing for a few years.
That endeavor was the brainchild of Francis.
Community musicians who registered to participate had to be at least 18 or a high school senior. They also had to be able to read music and play a standard orchestral instrument.
The registration deadline was March 20. But when WUSF spoke to Kim-Painter early that month, only about two of the spots were left unfilled.
Kim-Painter will be on the stage for this performance.
"It's an exciting thing for me, personally. I'm a violinist by trade, right? So it's like, I don't get to play as much. And we have several musicians on staff, for example, that don't get to play as much. And everybody knows somebody who plays something, right ?" she said.
Kim-Painter says that, along with youth music education and developing "the next generation of music advocates," this is another way to reach out to the community.
"The understanding that we have to invest into our community and be true partners for our community, because that's what we're here for. That is the essence of what music-making is, and so why not manifest that in as many iterations as possible?" she said.
Michael Francis will conduct a concert of favorites like "Somewhere" from "West Side Story" and Copland's "Hoe-down."
It's May 21 at The Straz Center's Ferguson Hall, and it's "pay as you wish."
You can get details at The Florida Orchestra website.
