FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: Thursday, March 3, 2016 Contact: (239) Amy Ginsburg at

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1 8290 College Pkwy Suite 103 Ft. Myers, FL The Southwest Florida Symphony presents world premiere rock & roll-classical crossover concert featuring Glen Phillips of 90s indie rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: Thursday, March 3, 2016 Contact: (239) Amy Ginsburg at Fort Myers, FL The Southwest Florida Symphony, Lee County s professional orchestra and one of the oldest symphony orchestras on Florida s gulf coast, presents a world premiere event that promises to put the orchestra on the global cultural map. On Friday, May 6 th at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall at FSW at 8:00pm, the Southwest Florida Symphony performs with Glen Phillips, lead singer and songwriter of the iconic 90s band, Toad the Wet Sprocket. Phillips joins the Southwest Florida Symphony to perform the band s greatest hits, with arrangements commissioned by the Southwest Florida Symphony. This world premiere symphonic rock and roll event features Generation X and Y s best-loved radio rock anthems, Walk On the Ocean, Good Intentions, Something s Always Wrong and Toad s other smash hits along with new solo work by Glen Phillips and classical pieces by Mozart, Vivaldi, Rossini and Strauss that were lauded as the rock and roll anthems of their day. The Southwest Florida Symphony s acting executive director, Amy Ginsburg, partnered the orchestra s internationally renowned music director, Nir Kabaretti, with Phillips and composer-arranger Tim Berens, who has created arrangements for megabands including Rush and Black Sabbath as well as major artists including Eric Clapton and Sara Barielles, for the orchestra to perform with Phillips. Berens has created symphonic arrangements for Toad s biggest hits and some of Phillips new solo work. Additionally, the orchestra will perform classical pieces that were lauded as the indie rock and roll anthems of their day, presenting a world premiere marriage of alternative rock and classical style composition.

2 Tickets range from $35 to $150. $150 tickets include access to a pre-concert VIP party with Phillips, Kabaretti, Berens and some of the Southwest Florida Symphony s musicians. Tickets may be purchased at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall Box Office or at the Southwest Florida Symphony Box Office by calling or visiting in person, online at and at all performance venues. Glen Phillips, Tim Berens, Nir Kabaretti and I are all available for interviews upon request. Please contact me at or aginsburg@swflso.org Glen Phillips Bio Glen Phillips is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and singer based out of California. He is perhaps best known as the front man of Toad the Wet Sprocket, a band he co-founded at the age of 15. Signed to Columbia only three years later, Toad the Wet Sprocket topped charts with tracks including All I Want and Walk on the Ocean. After releasing five albums in the span of a decade with the band, Phillips began a solo career by recording Albulum (2001) with producer Ethan Johns. Collaborations have included Mutual Admiration Society (2004) and Works Progress Administration (2009), both with members of Nickel Creek. Other projects include Plover and RemoteTreeChildren, numerous songwriting collaborations, 7 solo albums and 2 solo EPs. After a 16-year hiatus since the release of their last album, Coil, Toad the Wet Sprocket reunited to record New Constellation (2013). Phillips joined the band on the road opening for Counting Crows, and continues to perform solo dates in support of Options, a collection of solo b-sides and alternate takes. Sgt. Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band is Phillips first collaboration with Art of Time Ensemble. Tim Berens Bio Tim Berens' multi-faceted career gives testament to his lifelong quest to learn, perform and write music. So far, his venture has led him through the worlds of classical guitar, jazz guitar, orchestral guitar, arranging, orchestration, and conducting. During his years as the guitarist for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Tim played guitar, banjo, mandolin and bouzouki on concerts, recordings, television programs, and tours. Beginning in the late 1990's, Tim began arranging for the CPO, eventually becoming the orchestra's principal arranger. His arrangements are regularly performed in venues from Carnegie Hall to the Kennedy Center to the Hollywood Bowl. Tim's arrangements caught the ears of others and he began receiving commissions from many leading conductors and major orchestras. His arrangements are performed hundreds of times per year by orchestras throughout the United States and abroad, in venues from Carnegie Hall to the Kennedy Center to the Hollywood Bowl. Tim's arrangements receive praise from conductors, musicians, librarians, management, and listeners. Conducting the music of master composers enriched his skills as an orchestrator. In 2010, the

3 desire to continue learning led Tim to return to school to study conducting. Two intensive years later, he earned a Masters Degree in Orchestral Conducting. As he conducted the music of great composers like Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich, his studies of their scores enriched his skills as an orchestrator. As a young student studying classical guitar at CCM, Tim took every opportunity to play jazz and other styles. This work prepared him well for the audition for the Cincinnati Pops. Over the following years, other orchestras began hiring Tim, and he performed with more than 20 orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He played thousands of services for conductor Erich Kunzel. Maestro Nir Kabaretti bio Nir Kabaretti spends his second season with the Southwest Florida Symphony this year while he continues to serve as the Santa Barbara Symphony s Music Director in California. He enters his tenth season with Santa Barbara this year. He has been described as a conductor with immense musicality and warm personality by Maestro Zubin Mehta. Kabaretti has earned an impressive reputation across continents for his command of a vast symphonic and operatic repertoire. Upon graduation from the prestigious University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Kabaretti began working as coach and Chorus Master at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival. He later advanced to positions as Assistant to the Music Director at the Teatro Real in Madrid and Personal Assistant to Maestro Zubin Mehta at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy. Nir Kabaretti has worked with some of the world s most sought-after musicians, such as Lang Lang, Placido Domingo, Itzhak Perlman, and Hélène Grimaud. His guest conducting appearances have included the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires, Orquestre National du Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestra del Teatro dell Opera di Roma, Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, La Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, Real Orquesta Sinfònica de Sevilla, La Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria and the Bochumer Symphoniker. He was appointed Principal Conductor of the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra in Israel in 2002, and later as its Music Director till Kabaretti s operatic experience includes productions at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Real in Madrid, The Israeli Opera, Opéra de Lausanne, Avenches Opera Festival in Switzerland, Tokyo New National Theatre and Opera Santa Barbara. He conducted The Diary of Anne Frank, a guest production of the Vienna State Opera performed at both the Bregenz Festival and Expo 2000 in Hannover. In 2005, Kabaretti lead

4 Teatro San Carlo di Napoli on its first tour to Japan, conducting Il Trovatore both in Kyoto and Tokyo. During the season he made his debut at Teatro alla Scala di Milano. In 2007 he was invited again for the ballet production of Mendelssohn's Midsummer night's Dream (broadcasted by Italian television RAI, and released as a commercial DVD). Maestro Kabaretti received the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Grant for Young Conductors. In 1993, he won the Forum Junger Künstler Conducting Competition in Vienna. In 1994 he was among the finalists in the International Competition for Conductors in Douai, France. Southwest Florida Symphony General Information The Southwest Florida Symphony is the only professional orchestra in Lee County and the one of the oldest on Florida s gulf coast. It enters its 55 th season this year, having made its debut as a community orchestra on April 15, Conducted by Arlo Deibler, the Symphony began its life as a community orchestra and its original roster consisted of 24 musicians. It performed in community centers and schools throughout Lee and Collier Counties. It has since grown to become Lee County s only professional symphony orchestra, filling Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall with symphonic music enthusiasts and a roster consisting of more than 65 world-class musicians. The Southwest Florida Symphony s 55th year promises to be a season of continued enthusiasm as internationally acclaimed Maestro Nir Kabaretti leads the symphony into another season of blockbuster performances. Maestro Kabaretti is the fifth music director in the organization s history. His presence and caliber of musicality garnered record setting attendance at many of the symphony s Masterworks Concerts. The Southwest Florida Symphony s mission is to celebrate the joy of music and to inspire audiences with a variety of quality concerts performed by professional musicians that are accessible to all. This season features the Southwest Florida Symphony s signature Masterworks Classical Concert Series, entitled A Symphonic Storybook (November 21, Carmina Burana; January 23, One Thousand and One Nights; February 13, Love Triangle; March 5, A Night at the Opera; and April 2 & 3, The Shakespeare Experience), a special Holiday Pops concert entitled The Holidays in Paradise on December 16 & 17 at Flagler College in St. Augustine, December 19 at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, December 20 at BIG ARTS on Sanibel and December 21 at The Village Church at Shell Point; its Pops Series (Rodgers & Hammerstein Celebration on January 8 & 9; A Night at the Oscars on February 5 & 6; and My Sinatra on April 2 & 3), a chamber series called Small Stage Symphonies, performed at BIG ARTS on Sanibel Island (January 13, February 3 and March 24), Faith Presbyterian Church in Cape Coral (August 12, 2015, January 15 and March 22), The Village Church at Shell Point (August 13, 2015, January 14 and February 4), and at the Sidney & Berne Davis Arts Center (August 14, 2015 and March 23). Southwest Florida Symphony Sponsors

5 The Southwest Florida Symphony s sponsors include The Southwest Florida Symphony s Board of Trustees, The Southwest Florida Symphony Society, The Southwest Florida Community Foundation, The City of Fort Myers, The State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, The Florida Council on Arts & Culture, The Southwest Florida Symphony Endowment Foundation, The L.A.T. Foundation, Uhler & Vertich Financial Planners, Enterprise Rent-a-car, IberiaBank, The Neil Goldberg Dream Foundation, Rev. Gary & Mrs. Christine LaCroix, Mr. Charles B. Munsch, Mr. Don Fjellin, Eric Diefenbach & J.K. Brown, Ernie Fogg & Margot Flinn, Tween Waters Inn, Bailey s General Store, Sanibel Captiva Community Bank, Crowne Plaza, Mastello Ristorante, Advanced Pain Management and Spine Specialists, Alexander & Hoover, LCEC, The Cape Coral Community Foundation, The Friends of the Symphony on Sanibel, Mr. & Mrs. Steve and Charlotte Qua, Pamela Templeton and the Red Lipstick Foundation, Suncoast Schools Credit Union, The Foulds Foundation, Sheeley Architects, Madeleine Taeni and Mark Loren Designs. #### Event: Southwest Florida Symphony World Premiere Event Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket Dates: Friday, May 6, 2016 Location: Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall Time: 8:00PM Tickets: from $35-$150 For tickets and more information, call the box office at or administrative office at or visit