[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 134 (Wednesday, October 6, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2044]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. TILLIE K. FOWLER

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 6, 1999

  Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize two significant 
events in the cultural life of my home city of Jacksonville, Florida: 
the 50th Anniversary of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and the 
much-anticipated arrival of the Symphony's new Music Director, Fabio 
Mechetti.
  Mr. Speaker, either of these things would be something to celebrate 
under any circumstance. Coming together as they do, however, they 
represent a unique milestone for the Symphony and for the people of 
Northeast Florida.
  Founded in 1949, the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra has developed 
from what was essentially a pick-up group doing seven or eight concerts 
a year into a full-fledged professional orchestra with a nine-month 
season and a budget of nearly $7 million. In the process, it has become 
one of the finest and most respected orchestras in its class in the 
United States and gained a new home in Jacoby Hall--the only dedicated 
symphony hall in the state of Florida and one of the few in the nation.
  This season, the Symphony will reach more people than ever before, 
with the advent of innovative new education and outreach programs, and 
with performances throughout the state and in Myrtle Beach, South 
Carolina. In addition to the stellar array of programs and guest 
artists including cellist Lynn Harrell, pianist Leon Fleisher, and 
guest conductors like Philippe Entremont and Joseph Silverstein, the 
orchestra will also highlight its own by featuring a number of 
orchestra musicians as soloists, including concertmaster Philip Pan, 
principal trombonist Richard Stout, and the redoubtable Charlotte 
Mabrey, one of the world's few female principal percussionists. In a 
milestone 50th Anniversary Festival, orchestra patrons will be treated 
this year to a look at the Symphony's past and a taste of its future, 
including the sponsorship of the first-ever Florida Composers 
Competition.
  The icing on top of this anniversary cake of great music and great 
community service is the arrival of the Symphony's new Music Director, 
distinguished conductor Fabio Mechetti. Born in Brazil, Maestro 
Mechetti is one of the most respected young conductors in the U.S. 
today, garnering consistent praise from critics and colleagues for his 
artistry and knowledge of the repertoire. Chosen as Music Director in 
1999 after an intensive, two-year search process, he comes to Florida's 
First Coast from the West Coast, where he has been Music Director for 
the Spokane Symphony for 6 years.
  Maestro Mechetti, who just finished a 10-year tenure as Music 
Director of the Syracuse Symphony and was recently appointed as Music 
Director of the Rio de Janeiro Opera, has also served as Resident 
Conductor of the San Diego Symphony and Associate Conductor of the 
National Symphony in Washington, D.C., where his children's programs 
won the National Endowment for the Arts Award for Best Educational 
Programming in the United States in 1985. He has appeared as guest 
conductor with many of our nation's outstanding symphony orchestras, as 
well as with orchestras in Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Denmark and 
Japan, and is gaining acclaim in the opera world as well.
  Mechetti and his wife, Aida Ribeiro--a brilliant concert pianist--
will be making their home in Jacksonville in the near future, deepening 
the ties between the Symphony and its new leader. The advent of the new 
creative partnership between Fabio Mechetti and the Jacksonville 
Symphony Orchestra marks yet another giant step forward for the 
orchestra and for the cultural life of our community.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Maestro 
Fabio Mechetti and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra on a momentous 
50th Anniversary Season and the beginning of a new millennium of great 
music.

                          ____________________