Florida Southern Festival of Fine Arts

“I hope our local community will step up and support these groups by attending events, purchasing memberships, making donations, and increasing volunteer hours,” Ward said. “It’s important that now, more than ever, we work towards getting this funding restored at the legislative level as well as doing our part at the local level to assist our arts and cultural organizations.”

Polk Arts Groups Scramble After DeSantis Cuts $32 Million in Grants Lakeland organizations including the Florida Children's Museum and Polk Theatre lost more than $618,000 in funding.

2025 State Budget Concerns Arts and Cultural Organizations

The recently-signed 2025 State of Florida Budget contains no funding for arts and cultural grants. Polk County's arts and cultural organizations will lose nearly $1.3 million in anticipated funds. Organizations impacted by this decision include The Polk Museum of Art, Bok Tower Gardens, The Lakeland Symphony, The Lake Wales Arts Council, The Florida Children's Museum, Theatre Winter Haven, and Lakeland Community Theatre among others.

Daryl Ward, Executive Director for the Polk Arts & Cultural Alliance, encourages those who value arts and cultural experiences to be prepared to assist our local organizations. “I hope our local community will step up and support these groups by attending events, purchasing memberships, making donations, and increasing volunteer hours,” Ward said. “It’s important now more than ever that we work towards getting this funding restored at the legislative level as well as doing our part at the local level to assist our arts and cultural organizations.”

Ward also noted that "local support for arts and culture is robust. The Polk Board of County Commissioners and many local municipalities do offer both grant and direct funding opportunities for arts and cultural nonprofits,” he said. “We’re fortunate that they appreciate how arts and cultural experiences enhance Polk’s quality of life," Ward added.

Read PACA's full press release here:https://polkarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/PR_SoF_2025-Budget.pdf

Visit https://www.lkldsymphony.org to purchase your tickets!

Did you know we have an amazing concert coming up this Tuesday? Get your tickets now.

Urinetown opens this weekend! What a great way to spend the valentines weekend! Run! Don’t walk. Get your tickets now!

Don’t forget to come join us tomorrow! Tickets are free!!

Just look at these stunning photos of our final dress rehearsal! Make sure to get your tickets! One night only!

Don't miss Toni Marie Palmertree as Madama Butterfly this Saturday, January 20th at 7pm at Branscomb Auditorium at Florida Southern College.

Soprano Toni Marie Palmertree is rapidly becoming recognized as one of America’s most riveting performers of Puccini and Verdi heroines. She has recently been heard on the stage of San Francisco Opera in the title role of Madama Butterfly; of her performance, Janos Gereben from San Francisco Classical Voice wrote: “The young soprano not only met the challenge, but she claimed her place among the finest vocal interpreters of the role heard here recently.”

Other roles at San Francisco Opera include Nedda in Pagliacci and Liù in Turandot. She also made her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in the 2019-20 season, stepping into the title role of Luisa Miller. In the current season, she returns to the role of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, both with West Bay Opera and with Lakeland Opera. She will also join the Arizona Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni.

In the 2022-23 season, she sang the role of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly at Palm Beach Opera and the title role of Tosca at Florida Grand Opera. At the Metropolitan Opera, she performed the role of Voce dal ciel and covered the role of Elisabeth de Valois in Verdi’s Don Carlo, and covered the title role of Cherubini’s Medea. Further recent performances include Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Delaware, Nedda in Pagliacci in her return to Festival Opera New Zealand, Carmina Burana with Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Reno Philharmonic.

In the 2018-2019 season sang in The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductor’s concert and made debuts in the title role of Tosca with the Reading Symphony Orchestra and in Verdi’s Requiem with New Mexico Symphony and Allentown Symphony. Additionally, she joined the Sacramento Philharmonic for a concert of operatic debuts with tenor Dimitri Pittas and covered the title role of Tosca for The Philadelphia Orchestra under Music Director Yannick Nézét-Seguin.

Other recent performances include Giorgetta in Il tabarro and the title role in Suor Angelica for West Bay Opera’s production of Puccini’s Il trittico, and a recital performance with pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg in Berkeley, CA. A 2015 participant of the Merola Opera Program, Ms. Palmertree is also a recent recipient of the The Richard F. Gold Career Grant by the Shoshana Foundation. She is proud to hold many awards including winner of The Metropolitan Opera National Council District Awards, finalist in The International Moniuszko Voice Competion, and The Classical Singer Voice competition. She took First place in the Long Leaf Opera of North Carolina voice competition, The Kennett Square Symphony Voice Competition, and The Marcella Sembrich competition. She was awarded third place in the National Opera Association Voice Competition, the James Parkinson Opera Competition and was second place winner of the Sylvia Green Voice Competition. Ms. Palmertree is a graduate of the Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera.

Saturday, Jan 20th, 2024 7pm! Get your tickets now! Visit https://www.lkldsymphony.org to get your tickets! You wouldn’t want to miss this one!

Happy Holidays everybody! Share with us what your holiday traditions are.

Congratulations to all the graduates graduating today! You did it!