Community Concert Association Announces Series Underwriter; Elects New Board Member

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Nov. 9, 2016 - PRLog -- The Fort Myers Community Concert Association Board of Directors announced Sunday that Alexandra Bremner and her mother Eunice Bremner have agreed to be the underwriters of the entire 2017 concert season.

Alexandra and Eunice are the niece and sister of the late Berne Davis, who was the series underwriter for many years prior to her death earlier this year.

"Berne was a program sponsor every year for the past 18 years and a member of the Community Concert Association for 68 years," said Community Concert Association President Mary Lee Mann. "This gracious gesture by her sister and niece ensure that Berne's memory will live on and make possible the continuation of the association for many years to come and we are eternally grateful to them."

Alexandra Bremner was elected as the newest member of the board of directors.

The announcements were made at the fall meeting of the Community Concert Association November 6 at FineMark National Bank & Trust Co.

Mann also announced that Madeleine Taeni of Cape Coral will sponsor "Carmen"to be performed February 16 by Teatro Lirico D'Europa as well as the ballet "Swan Lake," performed  by the Moscow Festival Ballet February 27.

Other sponsors include Pamela Templeton of Fort Myers who will sponsor men's vocal ensemble Cantus March 5; Rob and Ruth Diefenbach of Fort Myers who will sponsor the March 20 performance by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; and Friends of the late Barbara B. Mann who will sponsor the National Symphony of the Ukraine January 18.

The Community Concert Association also confirmed officers for 2017.  They are:

●  Mary Lee Mann, President (Alva) – community leader and long-time officer of the Community Concert Association;

●  Ian Mann, Vice-President (Fort Myers) – attorney

●  Kay Higgins, Secretary (Fort Myers)– community volunteer; and

●  David Hall, Treasurer (East Fort Myers)– Sanibel-Captiva Bank.

Other board members in addition to Bremner are:

●  Frank Mann, Sr. (Alva)– Lee County Commissioner;

●  lan Mann (Fort Myers) - attorney;

●  Wiley Parker (Fort Myers) – architect with Parker/Mudgett/Smith Architects;

●  Barbara Shafer (Fort Myers) whose late husband, Judge Robert Shafer, was a long-time board member; and

●  Bobbi Stage (Fort Myers) – administrative staff of Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School.

Mary Lee Mann reported to the Board that few tickets remain for this year's 68^th Concert Series that begins in January with five concerts:

●          National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine  – January 18, 2017.  Founded in 1918, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is considered to be one of the finest symphony orchestras in Eastern Europe. The orchestra will present Verdi's Overture to LaForzza del Destino, Stankovych's Symphony No. 5 and Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto No. 2.

●          Teatro Lirico D'Europa performing G. Bizet' s Carmen – February 16, 2017.    Carmen tells the story of a peasant girl and her on-again off-again love for soldier Don Jose. Teatro Lirico D'Europa is the most successful opera touring company in Europe and the U.S. and travels with a full orchestra of 47 to 50 members and a chorus of 40 singers.

●          Moscow Festival Ballet  –February 27, 2017.  The Moscow Festival Ballet will perform the classical ballet Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. Since its founding in 1989, the Moscow Festival Ballet has completed two tours of Europe, two tours of the United Kingdom and extensive tours of the United States.

●          Cantus – March 5, 2017 – This premier men's vocal ensemble will honor the men and women who have answered the call to arms during the inspiring tribute, No Greater Love Than This.

Cantus performs more than 60 concerts each year both in national and international touring, including performances at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, and has released 17 albums.

●          Royal Scottish National Orchestra  – March 20, 2017. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is celebrating 125 years of bringing the best in classical music to audiences  around the world.  The orchestra will present Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and featuring violinist Nicola Benedetti in Brahms' Violin Concerto, D Major and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.

All performances will be at the Barbara B. Mann Hall on the Florida SouthWestern College campus in Fort Myers.  All five concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. and are included in one ticket price, which ranges from $155 for orchestra seats, $85 for lower balcony seating and just $65 for upper balcony.  Mezzanine seating already is sold out, Mann said.

For tickets and membership information, visit www.fortmyerscommunityconcerts.org or call 239-489-4171.

About the Fort Myers Community Concert Association

The Fort Myers Community Concert Association is an all-volunteer not-for-profit organization founded by the late Barbara B. Mann in 1949 to bring world-class entertainment to Southwest Florida at affordable prices.  The association consists of more than 1,700 members, underwriters and sponsors. Performers brought to Fort Myers in the past by the association include The Israel Ballet, The Boston Brass, Minnesota Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Vienna Boys Choir, Violinist Itzhak Perlman, Flutist James Galway, Pianist Andre Watts, Violinist Joshua Bell with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and many others.