FOMA mourns sudden loss of Marvin Hamlisch
August 8, 2012
The Musicians of the Florida Orchestra were shocked to hear that Marvin Hamlisch passed away suddenly on Monday at the age of 68. Mr. Hamlisch was a longtime associate of The Florida Orchestra, having performed with the orchestra to sold out houses on countless occassions, the first being in 1990 and the most recent being only a couple years ago. Mr. Hamlisch was a both multi-talented performer and a real joy to work with. Conductor, composer, singer, arranger--you name it, he's probably won an award for it! Always convivial and professional, he both respected the musicians with whom he worked and demanded the best from them as well.
I remember the last concerts he played with us. At one performance, he struck up a conversation with a young boy in the front row during the concert; from the stage you could tell the boy was beside himself with both excitement and embarrassment. At another performance he invited one of our ushers to join him on stage--she sat right next to him on the piano bench!!--while he sang her a personalized love song. It was so much fun! When I got home the night of the first performance I called my mother just to tell her how great the concert was. I had a smile on my face the entire weekend.
To read more about Mr. Hamlisch's extensive and impressive career, check out his website here. You can also click here to read the New York Times article about his passing.
-Ginny Respess
The Musicians of the Florida Orchestra were shocked to hear that Marvin Hamlisch passed away suddenly on Monday at the age of 68. Mr. Hamlisch was a longtime associate of The Florida Orchestra, having performed with the orchestra to sold out houses on countless occassions, the first being in 1990 and the most recent being only a couple years ago. Mr. Hamlisch was a both multi-talented performer and a real joy to work with. Conductor, composer, singer, arranger--you name it, he's probably won an award for it! Always convivial and professional, he both respected the musicians with whom he worked and demanded the best from them as well.
I remember the last concerts he played with us. At one performance, he struck up a conversation with a young boy in the front row during the concert; from the stage you could tell the boy was beside himself with both excitement and embarrassment. At another performance he invited one of our ushers to join him on stage--she sat right next to him on the piano bench!!--while he sang her a personalized love song. It was so much fun! When I got home the night of the first performance I called my mother just to tell her how great the concert was. I had a smile on my face the entire weekend.
To read more about Mr. Hamlisch's extensive and impressive career, check out his website here. You can also click here to read the New York Times article about his passing.
-Ginny Respess
As the FOMA website grows, this Media page will be where we post important information about FOMA and TFO as well as links to news articles, TV spots and online information.
In September of 2011, The Florida Orchestra spent a day recording the new theme song of the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team. It was great fun, especially when the Boltz hockey players joined in! They played timpani and percussion and even ran the sound board! Their coach, Guy Boucher, tried his hand at conducting for a while. It was an afternoon of laughs!
December, 2011: The whole Florida Orchestra family wishes you a happy holiday and very merry new year!
Every Christmas The Florida Orchestra plays a Christmas concert for at-risk youth. The concert has been generously sponsored by The Steinbrenner family for over 20 years!
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