Dear Patron of the Arts,

Welcome to The Sharon® L. Morse Performing Arts Center!

Much like the building’s namesake, my grandmother, Sharon L. Morse, we love all varieties of the performing arts here. It is in her memory that I, along with my amazing team of artists and arts administrators, strive to bring many different types of the highest quality entertainment here to The Sharon.

Since opening in 2015, we have strived to establish your trust, that a show at The Sharon is a show worth seeing. Perhaps you find yourself here today to see a concert of one of your favorite musicians, or to take in the national tour of a Broadway show. Either way, we encourage you to consider trying out a new show that perhaps you haven’t heard of before, knowing that it has been intentionally curated by our team.

We welcome you to The Sharon: a place for you to see an old favorite, but also a place to discover your new favorite. I sincerely hope you enjoy the show today, and I look forward to seeing you here again soon!

See You at The Sharon,

W hitney Morse Artistic Director

Dear Friends and supporters,

It is an immense pleasure to introduce this concert series and be able to interpret masterpiece of the greatest composers who ever lived, Mozart died aged just 35. But despite his short life, he wrote some of his most enduring and beloved pieces of classical music. A prodigy who spent much of his childhood touring Europe courting patrons and royalty, Mozart continued to compose music of sublime beauty, wit and skill. His legacy includes three famous operas with librettos by Lorenzo Da Ponte (The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte), 41 symphonies, 27 piano concertos, 26 string quartets... and this before even reaching the piano sonatas and sacred music.

Musically yours, Pasquale Valerio

Concert Sponsor: Steinway Piano Gallery Tampa

W. A. Mozart Symphony N.23 in D major K.181

W. A. Mozart

Piano Concerto N.21 In C major K.467

~ Intermission ~

W. A. Mozart

Symphony N.41 in C Major K.551

Symphony N.23 in D major K.181

The Symphony No. 23 in D major K 181 is a composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, completed in Salzburg on May 19, 1773.

It is one of the “ so called “ Salzburg symphonies, named after Alfred Einstein, who speculated that they were all commissioned by an unknown Italian patron. The others are No. 22, no. 24 and no. 26.

The Symphony No. 23 is sometimes called "Overture", even if the autograph score marks the title "Sinfonia". This is due to the fact that the symphony consists of a single uninterrupted movement made up of 3 different tempos.

Piano Concerto N.21 In C major K.467

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto N.21 was completed on March 1785, four week after the completion of the previous D minor piano concerto K.466. Mozart gave the premieres of most of these “golden dozen” concertos himself, often within days of their completion, and usually at subscription concerts designed for his own benefit. Such was the case with this piece. Its first performance took place, with great success, on March 10, 1785.

. The first movement (marked allegro maestoso) opens with suspended animation. Strings quietly whisper the march-like theme, which grows steadily into a vigorous and majestic subject for the whole orchestra. Another theme from the winds is presented, but does not emerge again until the end, a recluse within the body of the movement. Other themes of short duration also appear before the march is recalled and the orchestra concludes its complex opening. After the introduction, the soloist enters with independent, new ideas unfolding in a delicate beginning. Then the piano spins its own tunes. Together the soloist and orchestra work out a unique relationship in which both forces seem concerned with their own material. “In no other concerto does Mozart carry so far the separation between the two…Mozart has succeeded in making it (the piano) as capable a vehicle of his thought as the orchestra.” (Tovey) The movement ends quietly and is followed by a cadenza.

The second movement is an andante (slow). Its mood is dream-like and elegant. The orchestra opens the scene with muted strings and over their hushed rippling the main emerges. Here is the now familiar “Elvira Madigan” theme. The piano enters with the luxuriant ease and sings its part throughout the movement with steady and controlled presentation, traversing many keys, interlacing with the orchestra, resulting in lavish but subdued color. Tovey concludes; “No richer and more enchanting tints could be drawn from the palette which Mozart had at hand.” The hazy modulating atmosphere and calm triplets create a nocturne feeling reminiscent of the works of Chopin yet to come. At times the music seemed experimental in terms of the harmonies,which the composer used.

Mozart’s father, Leopold, even suggested that perhaps the copyist had made a mistake because of these “wrong sounds.”

The third movement finale, a rondo, re-establishes the original strutting mood. After the fantasy quality of the andante, the sturdy energy comes as a shock. The piano starts off the romp with a little solo, and then the full activity begins using a theme which Mozart borrowed from his concerto for Two Pianos, K. 365. The mood is jolly, holding to an opera buffa attitude. The bounce and saucy attitude continues until the close, offering a flashing conclusion which undoubtedly delighted his aristocratic and unflinching world. Mozart’s father was delighted with this work.

Symphony N.41 in C Major K.551

The Jupiter Symphony is the largest and most complex of Mozart’s symphonies. Although at moments jovial, as if Jupiter himself were laughing heartily in the celebratory key of C Major, the work generally carries a serious spirit especially in the first and fourth movements that hints at the grand Romantic symphonies, which were soon to come with Beethoven. The authoritative opening movement, in sonata form, is followed by a more subdued second movement, with a lyrical mixture of themes in major and minor keys. The third movement is a stately minuet, and the fourth and final movement, again in sonata form, is bold and brisk, with a strident fugal coda that is a hallmark of the piece.

Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony inspired many composers, especially Haydn, who used it as a model for his own Symphony No. 95 and Symphony No. 98. Perhaps the most succinct reflection on the work’s importance is found in the critiques of German composer and journalist Robert Schumann , who in 1835 wrote, “About many things in this world there is simply nothing to be said—for example, about Mozart’s C-Major symphony with the fugue, much of Shakespeare and some of Beethoven.” For Schumann, at least, the Jupiter Symphony secured for Mozart an eternal position within the realm of the masters.

PASQUALE VALERIO, MAESTRO

Pasquale Valerio is the creator nurturer, mentor, and guiding light for the villages Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale.

Pasquale was born in Naples Italy and began his music studies at the age of nine he began studying Trumpet Performance at The N. Piccinni Conservatory of Music, graduating in 1985. His studies were not limited to trumpets but included complimentary piano studies, harmony, and lectures from maestro Filippo Veniero, who was his guide and mentor from 1976 to 1989 period his adult musical career began during his national service as a member of the Carabinieri (Italian Military Police). Fortunately for his musical development, most of this was with the band. After his discharge, he began playing trumpet at the Naples Opera House and he began studying conducting. Pasquale Valerio served as an apprentice under Sir Antonio Pappano for six years period Pasquale followed him around the world from 2006 to 2011 and learned directly from the conductor of the Royal Opera House in London period to that end, Pasquale believes fully in the music of education through music and that children are never too young to start discovering the power of harmony.

In 1996, Pasquale relocated to the United States to continue his conducting studies with Jay Whitney and Gunter Schmidt. In 2004 he became the founder and the musical director of Villages Philharmonic Orchestra where he continues to serve today. Maestro Valerio was the founder of the Lake Sumter Chamber Orchestra and the co-founder and conductor of the Florida Lake Symphony from 2005 to 2006. Pasquale has been regularly invited as a guest conductor at the Orchestra Philharmonic 900’, Teatro Regio, and Viotti International Music festival.

In 2023, Pasquale was appointed as a Conductor Visiting Professor LPMAM for London Performing Academy of Music.