Philharmonic Presents Final Concert of the 16/17 Season

Frakes close up

Featuring Guest Narrator Jonathan Frakes

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra presents the final concert in the 2016/17 Season, The Final Frontier on Saturday, April 15, conducted by guest conductor Jack Everly. Performances will be at Bob Carr Theater, 401 W. Livingston Street, Orlando, Florida at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

This concert will feature the Philharmonic performing the greatest in sci-fi and space-themed music as they journey through space and time. Featured selections will include works from E.T., Star Wars, Star Trek, Superman, 2001: A Space Odyssey and more!

Jonathan Frakes, who starred as Commander William T. Riker on Star Trek, will be a special guest narrator on this concert. Kristen Plumely is the featured soprano soloist, the University of Central Florida Chamber Chorus will perform on several of the selections and Mike Runyan will play synthesizer providing sci-fi and space effects on the concert.

Single tickets are available online at orlandophil.org, by calling 407.770.0071, or in person at the Box Office, located at The Plaza Live (425 N. Bumby Avenue, Orlando). The Box Office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Ticket prices subject to change.)

To purchase tickets, click here.

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Artists

Jack Everly is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Indianapolis and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). He has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and appears regularly with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center. This season Maestro Everly will conduct over 90 performances in more than 20 North American cities.

As Music Director of the National Memorial Day Concert and A Capital Fourth on PBS, Maestro Everly proudly leads the National Symphony Orchestra in these patriotic celebrations on the National Mall attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees on the lawn and reaching millions of viewers annually.

Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mr. Everly was conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, where he served as Music Director. In addition to his ABT tenure, he teamed with Marvin Hamlisch on Broadway shows that Mr. Hamlisch scored. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions.

Maestro Everly, a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, is a recipient of the 2015 Indiana Historical Society Living Legends Award and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Franklin College in his home state of Indiana. He is a proud resident of the Indianapolis community for over 14 years and when not on the podium you can find Maestro Everly at home with his family which includes Max the wonder dog.

Jonathan Frakes Actor, author and accomplished director, Jonathan Frakes is a man of many hats. Perhaps best known to Star Trek fans as Commander William T. Riker on seven season and three motion pictures in the Star Trek: The Next Generation franchise, Frakes has carved out a distinctive niche for himself as a versatile talent in Hollywood.

Following several guest appearances on television series such as Fantasy Island, Charlie’s Angels, Days of Our Linves and Eight is Enough early on his career, Frakes landed the role of Commander Riker on the long running television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. As second in command to Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Frakes’ portrayal of William Riker lead the Starship Enterprise through seven seasons and three films. His characterization endeared Riker to fans young and old, making him one of the most beloved characters in the Trek pantheon.

In addition to live action, Jonathan Frakes has also lent his voice to animated projects, including the cult favorite Disney animated series Gargoyles as the character David Xanatos and Adventure Time. Frakes’ also landed appearances in Matt Groening’s Futurama and Seth McFarlane’s Family Guy, playing versions of himself on each series.

Jonathan Frakes holds a unique distinction among Star Trek actors being one of only two regulars to appear on four different television series, from Star Trek: The Next Generation to Star Trek Enterprise. Beyond acting, Frakes is also a veteran director, having helmed several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. Jonathan Frakes.

Frakes can currently be heard as the narrator on the animated series “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” as well as voices on “Future-Worm!” and “Miles from Tomorrowland.”

Kristen Plumley  Connecticut native Kristen Plumley has performed with many opera companies throughout the country, including New York City Opera (Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro), Virginia Opera (Norina in Don Pasquale and Zerlina in Don Giovanni), Chautauqua Opera (Sophie in Werther), Lyric Opera of Cleveland (Despina in Così fan Tutte), Amarillo Opera (Musetta in La Bohème), Greensboro Opera (Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore and Gilda in Rigoletto), Opera Festival of New Jersey (Nannetta in Falstaff and Amor in Orfeo ed Euridice,  Boheme Opera (NJ) (Adele in Die Fledermaus), L’Opéra Français de New York (the Sultan of Egypt in Glück’s Les Pelerins de la Mecque), Opera Memphis (Yum-Yum in The Mikado) and Nevada Opera (Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore).  On the concert stage Kristen has performed a broad spectrum of works, including Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Haydn’s Mass in Time of War at Carnegie Hall, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Elgar’s For the Fallen, Bach’s Coffee Cantata, and Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity, Basically Bernstein with Opera Tampa, and An Evening of Gilbert and Sullivan with the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, Richmond, Memphis and Minnesota.  Her favorite concert is An Evening of Sci-Fi Favorites (music from science fiction movies and television shows, conducted by Maestro Jack Everly), which she has performed with the Cleveland, Indianapolis, Seattle, Baltimore, Edmonton and Ottawa Symphonies, among others.  In 2011 Kristen performed in the North American premiere of Handel’s first opera, Almira, with operamission in New York.  In 2015 she created the role of Ruth Draper, the romantic interest of Lauro DeBosis, an Italian American freedom fighter during WWII, in Icarus Rising, a new dance opera, with Verlezza Dance.

Mike Runyan has been making music as a composer, arranger, performer, and conductor for many years. He was born in San Diego and raised in Denver, where he began piano lessons at age six and started playing trumpet and horn in grade school.

During high school, Michael began composing and arranging, a discipline he pursued at Brigham Young University and the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati, ultimately receiving a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He has created hundreds of compositions and arrangements (many in collaboration with his wife Pamela), contributing to the orchestral and choral repertoires.

Runyan also has an active career as a harmonica soloist, specializing in classical and theme-based performances with orchestras.

University of Central Florida Chamber Chorus The choral organizations at UCF offer students an opportunity to study and perform a variety of choral music of many styles, contexts and cultures, including classical masterworks with orchestra, and art, folk and popular music of many traditions. The University and Women’s Choruses present local concerts throughout the academic year and have performed regionally, nationally and internationally for professional music conferences and festivals, including events at Carnegie Hall, Canterbury Cathedral and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.  They have partnered with the Orlando Philharmonic in concerts of Beethoven, Mahler, Verdi, Puccini, Copland, Vivaldi, Monteverdi and Bach.