A Season of Music

Anton’s Ensemble

Anton Sikuta, violin

Susan Sikuta, violin

Brice Gerlach, piano

Michele Byrd, soprano

Sunday, February 5, 2023

4 p.m.

Founded in Europe as a group of internationally acclaimed concert musicians, Anton’s Ensemble offers a wonderful selection of exquisite music generally known as “salon music” spanning centuries of musical style from Viennese melodies, light classical and operetta to Broadway musicals and jazz standards.

This captivating music encompasses the lighter side of melody and it flourished in the elegant coffee houses and private residences frequented by European society throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Led by violinist Anton Sikuta, concertmaster of the State Opera Orchestra, Darmstadt, Germany and of the Johann Strauss Orchestra, Wiesbaden, s Ensemble is dedicated to preserving this wonderful salon music tradition.

FGCU Chamber Choir

Dr. Trent Brown, director

The Chamber Choir is a mixed, auditioned ensemble open to all students regardless of major at Florida Gulf Coast University. Recognized for their remarkable versatility, the ensemble performs choral music from the Renaissance to newly commissioned works. The choir was featured at Kaunas Kantat, an international choral festival held in Lithuania, during their 2017 tour of the Baltic States. In 2014 the choir sang as the featured ensemble on a Saturday evening performance at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna as part of the Kunst&Kulturseries. They collaborate regularly with community ensembles including Elijahwith Opera Naples (2013), Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra (2015), Bach’s St.MatthewPassion with Gulfshore Opera (2016) and in 2017 with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra in an all Baroque program. They were invited to perform in festivals and concerts in Rome and Naples, Italy in March 2020.