The St. Petersburg Celebration of the Arts

The St. Petersburg Celebration of the Arts is a month-long festival in February that involves diverse musical and theatrical groups as well as museums united around the exploration of a singular theme. Explore the 2024 calendar of events:

Thursday, February 8

• 11 AM The Florida Orchestra Morning Matinee: “Center Stage”
  • Music for the theater - featuring Beethoven, Grieg, Wagner and more, including the Scherzo, Nocturne and Wedding March from Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
  • Mahaffey Theater, 400 First Street South
• 7:30 PM The St. Petersburg Opera Company: "Great Scenes from the Opera"
  • Including pieces from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Puccini's La Bohème and Samuel Barber's A Hand of Bridge. 
  • Mahaffey Theater, 400 First Street South

Saturday, February 10

• 2 PM The St. Petersburg Opera Company: "Great Scenes from the Opera"
  • Mahaffey Theater, 400 First Street South
• 2 PM & 8PM The Florida Orchestra Pops Concert: "From Broadway With Love"
  • Make it date night with your special Valentine! Includes favorites such as My Funny Valentine, Little Girl Blue, My Romance & other love songs from the Broadway and Disney Songbooks.
  • Mahaffey Theater, 400 First Street South 

Tuesday, February 13

• 8 PM Tampa Bay Symphony, Winter Concert: "Music of the Heart"
  • Palladium Theater, 253 Fifth Avenue North 

Saturday, February 17

• 3 PM Professor Sara Munson Deats: "Shakespeare's Cleopatra: Queen of the Infinite Variety”
  • Opera Central, 2145 1st Avenue South
• 8 PM The Florida Orchestra Masterworks Concert: "Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue"
  • Wynton Marsalis: Herald, Holler & Hallelujah: Fanfare for Brass & Percussion
  • Mason Bates:  Alternative Energy
  • Leonard Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from On The Town
  • Igor Stravinsky: Ebony Concerto
  • Shakespearean Mystery Piece
  • George Gershwin: Rhapsody In Blue, with pianist Stewart Goodyear
  • Mahaffey Theater, 400 First Street South. www.themahaffey.com

Sunday, February 18

• 2 PM The Florida Orchestra Masterworks Concert: "Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue"
  • Mahaffey Theater, 400 First Street South. www.themahaffey.com
• 2:30 PM Tampa Bay Symphony, Winter Concert: "Music of the Heart"
  • Palladium Theater, 253 Fifth Avenue North

Tuesday, February 20

• 6 PM Professor Jacquelyn Williamson: “Cleopatra and Fake News”
  • The Cleopatra we know today is a fabrication of what we would call “fake news.” In this talk, Egyptologist Jacquelyn Williamson discusses how Roman propaganda against Cleopatra propelled the unpopular Octavian, later Augustus Caesar, into power. His propaganda became an accepted historic fact, which influenced the play of Shakespeare and later Hollywood scripts, creating the modern image of Cleopatra.
  • In collaboration with the National Arts Club, virtual on the website of the National Arts Club

Friday, February 23

• 11:30 AM St. Petersburg Opera Guild: "Arias fromTurandot"

Saturday, February 24

• 8 PM The Florida Orchestra Masterworks Concert: "Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto"
  • Shakespearean Mystery Piece
  • Ludwig von Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor"
  • Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, “A Hero’s Life"
  • Mahaffey Theater, 400 First Street South. www.themahaffey.com