Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota Unveils New Family Show, World Premiere by Roger Zare, and Baroque Star Paolo Bordignon for Spring 2026

December 13, 2025 | Suncoast Post Staff | Music

Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota has expanded its Spring 2026 season with three exciting events designed to captivate music lovers of all ages—ranging from a free, family-friendly outdoor performance at The Bay Sarasota to a world-premiere chamber music debut and a special Mother’s Day Baroque celebration featuring a guest harpsichordist from the New York Philharmonic.

**Free Family Concert at The Bay: Beethoven, Beats and Beyond – March 15**

Artist Series Concerts is bringing classical music outdoors with Beethoven, Beats and Beyond on March 15 at 6:00 p.m., a free community concert taking place bayside at The Bay Sarasota.

The performance pairs the Upward Notes classical string ensemble with award-winning educator, DJ, and beatboxer Karim Manning, creating an engaging, multi-genre experience perfect for all ages. Families are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets and enjoy this sunset show along the waterfront.
The event is generously sponsored by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and requires no reservations.

World Premiere by Sarasota Native Composer Roger Zare – April 12

On April 12 at 4:00 p.m., the acclaimed DragonBoot Quartet performs at First Presbyterian Church, presenting the world premiere of Gamma, a new work for string quartet by Sarasota-born composer Roger Zare.

Zare, who began composing at 14 and was the first-ever Artist Series Concerts scholarship winner (2003), has since earned national acclaim. His many awards include the ASCAP Nissim Prize, three BMI Student Composer Awards, an ASCAP Morton Gould Award, and the 2023 International Clarinet Association Composition Competition, among others.

The DragonBoot Quartet—Cate Carson (violin), Katya Moeller (violin), Sydney Whipple (viola), and Lila Holyoke (cello)—is the Grand Prize winner of the Coltman Chamber Music Competition and is currently part of The Juilliard School’s Honors Chamber Music Program.

Their program will also feature:

Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 33, No. 1
Jessie Montgomery’s Voodoo Dolls
Janáček’s String Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters”
Additional repertoire selections

Tickets: $50 general admission | $70 VIP seating.

Mother’s Day Baroque Treasures Featuring Paolo Bordignon – May 10

Celebrate Mother’s Day with a rich Baroque program on May 10 at 4:00 p.m., also at First Presbyterian Church.

The Baroque Treasures concert will highlight the expressive range of oboe and harp, featuring instrumentalists Bobby Nunes and Phoebe Powell performing Handel concertos, supported by chamber ensemble guests including:

Paolo Bordignon, harpsichord (New York Philharmonic)
Katherine Baloff, violin
Leah Latorraca, violin
Stephanie Block, viola
David Bender, cello
John Miller, bass

Bordignon will open the concert with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier and Couperin’s Eighteenth Ordre.
Nunes and Powell will also perform Debussy’s Album of Five Pieces for Oboe and Harp.

Tickets: $50 general admission | $70 VIP seating.