Although live music venues are hosting shows (and The Florida Orchestra marked its socially-distanced grand return at the Mahaffey Theater last weekend), Tampa Bay still has a long road ahead before concerts become part of normal life again.
Thankfully, Clearwater’s Peace Memorial Presbyterian Church really wants to help out in making that happen as quickly as possible. The massive pink church totally feels for those who never thought in a million years that a live music drought was possible.
Enter the Peace Memorial Concert Series. Though the series runs on a one-show-per-month basis, each show generally brings in acts performing classical, jazz, and Broadway favorites. So, you’re not gonna see Alice Cooper unmasked or anything. This month, Italian pianist Pietro Iannotti kicked off the series by bringing a Beethoven tribute show to the church.
On Nov. 8, Palm Harbor resident Johnny Varro, formerly of the Dukes of Dixieland, will put his 90-year old chops to the test by sitting down and pounding out Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington songs on a grand piano. Joining the experienced swing jazzman will be his mainly-brass backing band, Swing 7.
Masks and reservations are required, and each show will run for 60 minutes, without intermission. The rest of the series runs into March of next year, and you can make attendance reservations at peacememorialpresbyterian.org.
Peace Memorial Presbyterian Church Concert Series
- Dec. 13 Suncoast Bronze Ringers will bring their handbells to Peace Memorial to ring out holiday classics
- Jan. 10 Aspen String Trio will kick off 2021 with Mozart’s incredibly difficult “Divertimento” in E-flat Major, K. 563
- Feb. 14 Qol Quartet will bring their impeccable Sarasota vocals together to belt out Broadway tunes for Valentine’s Day.
- March 14 Dexter Kennedy’s Grand Prix d’Interprétation winning fingers pound out an all-Bach set to close out Peace Memorial’s concert series. For now, anyway
Tampa Bay venues and promoters need you to bug Marco Rubio about saving the live music scene.
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This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2020.