Milestones and Magic: From ArtStrings to Legendary Performances

Our special anniversary series Behind the Baton: Looking Back on 20 Years of

Memories, Milestones and Magical Moments continues. Enjoy!

By Zandra Wolfgram

Q: What milestone moments come to mind as you celebrate 20 years?

DF: For our 5th anniversary, we launched the amazing ArtStrings violin exhibit. That was

the first real ‘aha’ moment on a large scale, because of the compilation of everything it took

to get to that point. When the community came together, it was a great melding of art,

music and continuity of support. It took us to the next level. There are so many more:

Roberta Flack, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams, Patti LuPone,

Kristin Chenoweth have graced the Sinfonia stage. Our most important work, however,

lives in the classrooms and with our after-school string programs and Sinfonia Youth

Orchestra.

Q: You’ve experimented with creating novel experiences.

DF: Yes. Mary Wilson of the Supremes was the first Seagar’s cabaret event. We were trying

for a Carlyle Café vibe, and it worked. That set the stage for the Seagar’s Cabaret series. I

think everybody was blown away. Not everything has been incredible, but what we’ve done

well is tailored our programming to our audience.

Q: What are some of your personal standout performance moments?

DF: Artistically, Kristin Chenoweth was a huge success any which way you slice it. But, to

this day, my favorite concert gala was Roberta Flack in 2008. She was extraordinary. She

remains the most standout gala musician. She didn’t miss a beat, literally; she was on it.

Q: You surely have a lot of ‘backstage’ stories.

DF: Most people have no idea what happens behind the scenes. The first season, we were

presenting a gospel choir as part of our holiday concert called Too Hot to Handel. We had to

find a B-3 Hammond organ; the closest one we could find was in Tampa. We had to drive a

rented U-Haul to Tampa to pick it up. The night of the show, the gospel choir was MIA!

They took a wrong turn somewhere, and two tires on the bus exploded. They arrived one

minute before the performance started.