NOTE: September 20, 2026 marks the 69th Anniversary of Jean Sibelius' death in 1957. We mark this date with a discussion of his last symphony - No. 7 - that we performed at our final concert of the 2025 Season in April of that year. Sixty-nine years ago this Sunday, Jean Sibelius died at his home in Järvenpää, Finland. Two days earlier, on his morning walk, he'd watched a flock of cranes cross the sky above the house — birds he told his daughter he hadn't seen in years. "Th

Sunday, September 13th, is Clara Wieck Schumann's birthday. It's also the day, back in 1841, that her husband gave her a symphony. Robert Schumann had spent the summer sketching a new work in D minor, and by September 13 he had enough of it finished to hand Clara the manuscript as a birthday gift. The timing carried a second layer neither of them could have planned any better: that same day, the couple had their first child, a baby girl named Marie, baptized. One afternoon, o

This December, Naples Community Orchestra brings back something it hasn't put on its own stage in years: a holiday concert. Holiday Pops — our seasonal celebration and biggest fundraiser of the year — returns Saturday, December 12, at 3:00 PM, at Moorings Presbyterian Church, with guest conductor David Bernard on the podium and vocalist Heather Ivy at the mic. We sat down with both of them to talk about the season, the music, and what an afternoon of Tchaikovsky, Bach, and Sl

Pianist and NCO Soloist, Aristo Sham, prior to winning the first prize at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. On June 7, 2025, a jury in Fort Worth, Texas handed pianist Aristo Sham the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal — first prize at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, one of the most closely watched proving grounds in classical music. The 2022 edition had drawn some 60 million livestream views across 177 countries; this one wasn't far behind

August 25, 2026 And a look ahead to 2027 A few weeks ago, we promised to take you into Respighi's Rome before the first note of our 2027 Season is ever played. So let's start there — and then let's go further. Each of the four programs in Echoes of the Human Spirit is built around a question, and once you know the question, the music tends to answer it in ways you don't expect. We've also put together a full page for the season, with details on every piece and every soloist

On the night of October 11, 1830, Warsaw's National Theatre was packed for a concert nobody in the room wanted to think too hard about. Twenty-year-old Fryderyk Chopin sat down to play a piano concerto he had just finished, in front of his teachers, his family, and most of musical Warsaw, knowing he was leaving the country in three weeks. He didn't say so publicly. He just played. Three weeks later he boarded a coach for Vienna, and — as the story has come down to us — friend

When Ottorino Respighi's Pines of Rome premiered in December 1924 at Rome's Teatro Augusteo — a concert hall built, fittingly, right on top of the mausoleum of the Emperor Augustus — a fair portion of the audience did not care for it. The first movement turns the sound of children playing into something jagged and dissonant, mimicking kids playacting at soldiers and battles, and people hissed. A few minutes later, when a phonograph recording of a nightingale drifted out over

July 27, 2026 Thank You for a Wonderful Season! And a look ahead to 2027 Before we begin looking ahead, I want to thank everyone who made our 2026 season possible—our musicians, volunteers, donors and community partners, and especially the audiences who filled the hall. The 2026 Season marked not only a Season of artistic achievement, but continued record audiences! I also want to thank Jan Jack for her dedicated leadership as NCO’s President. In May, I was elected to suc

August 13, 1876, marks the first complete performance of Richard Wagner's epic Ring of the Nibelung. Love him or loathe him, there’s no denying that Wagner’s music has shaped the landscape of classical music like few others. His sweeping melodies, powerful orchestration, and bold innovations continue to spark passion and debate among audiences and musicians alike. This season, the Naples Community Orchestra invites you to experience the drama and grandeur of Wagner firsthan

On August 4th, 1782, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart married Constanze Weber in a small but deeply emotional ceremony at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. This union was marked by love, devotion, and occasional drama. Before their wedding, Mozart’s courtship was anything but ordinary. The Beginnings of Their Romance 1. He Fell for Her Sister First Mozart originally pursued Aloysia Weber, Constanze’s older sister, who was a talented soprano. When she rejected him, he left Mannheim he

What can these three possibly have in common? Well, keep reading to find out! Clockwise from upper left: Gustav Mahler, Jesse James, Richard Wagner, and..... a train robber! Did you know that while Jesse James was busy robbing a train in Missouri on July 7, 1875, Austrian composer Gustav Mahler was half a world away celebrating his 15th birthday? Mahler was embarking on something far more positive than relieving passengers of their valuables. He was preparing to begin his mus

Today, we celebrate the birth of the great composer, Robert Schumann. We will be performing Schumann's 4th Symphony on March 21st in our 3rd Concert of the 2026 Season, Germanfest. Tickets are now on sale from our website.