Festival of the Arts

Walt Disney World’s Festival of the Arts at Epcot upped the game at its concert series this year. The musical arrangements seemed more dynamic, even though the use of recorded background vocals cheapens the Broadway feel.

But the lineup couldn’t be beat: New performers this year included James Monroe Iglehart, who won a Tony Award for his exuberant turn as Genie in “Aladdin,” and not one but two original Broadway princesses: Sierra Boggess, the original Ariel in “The Little Mermaid,” and Susan Egan, the first Belle in the long-running “Beauty and the Beast.”

They joined returning favorites such as Josh Strickland, the premier title character in “Tarzan,” Ashley Brown, who debuted the title character in “Mary Poppins,” and Central Floridians Kissy Simmons and Michael James Scott.

Speaking of “B&B,” Disney did a special concert devoted entirely to that title — a marketing move, no doubt, as a new national tour of the show is underway (it will arrive in Orlando next spring). Still, it was enchanting to be surprised with a special appearance by Kyra Belle Johnson, who will be starring in that tour.

Bravo, Disney, bravo.

Winter Park Arts Weekend

In another concert, Central Floridian turned Broadway star Jasmine Forsberg headlined the Winter Park Arts Weekend in February. Ooh, it was a chilly night — but Forsberg got a deservedly warm reception.

Central Florida Vocal Arts staged the concert, which featured a snappy combo fronted by piano man Julian Bond, dancers from Emotions Dance and singer AJ Morales, who joined Forsberg onstage.

Orlando’s Jasmine Forsberg rules the stage in hit musical ‘Six’

“This place is where my love of performing began,” Forsberg told the crowd, pointing out she celebrated her high-school graduation just down Park Avenue at Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine restaurant.

Forsberg performed showtune standards (“On My Own” from “Les Misérables” and, appropriately, “Home” from “The Wiz”), a Disney medley and a delightfully country-tinged song she wrote, titled “Go Down This Road.” She learned, as many a performer in Central Park has, that the nearby Amtrak train is going to blast its horn at the worst possible time — in this case, during “Heart of Stone,” her signature song from Broadway’s “Six.”

Speaking of that hit show, you can catch Forsberg in the cast of “Six” on Broadway.

Rhapsody

In a concert of a different sort, acclaimed pianist Yuja Wang headlined the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual Rhapsody gala.

Wang, known for her theatrical style, technical prowess and signature sparkly dresses, returned to Orlando, where she first memorably performed outdoors in frigid temperatures on the Exploria Stadium field during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Philharmonic, conducted by music director Eric Jacobsen, handled some beloved tunes on its own: Brahms’ whirling Hungarian Dance No. 5; Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” which even in its loudest moments remained pleasingly tender; Barber’s cinematic overture to “The School for Scandal” and Copland’s bold and brassy “Fanfare for the Common Man.”

Itzhak Perlman headlines Orlando Philharmonic 2026-27 season

Wang starred in Barber’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, creating a feeling of surprise with her interludes in the first movement and then projecting a haunted air over the more sedate second movement.

The third movement crackled with energy, but perhaps Wang and Jacobsen weren’t completely satisfied? Among the five — yes, five — encores, Wang and the orchestra repeated the concerto’s entire third movement, to the delight of the crowd.

By the way, congratulations to the Philharmonic for raising $650,000 at the event.

‘Anne & Emmett’

Turning to theater, I was able to take in a special performance of the Bridge Theater’s “Anne & Emmett” for students from local high schools. It was thrilling to see how engaged the young theatergoers were; you could have heard a pin drop at times. And they asked insightful questions at a post-show talkback led by director Karen J. Rugerio.

Written by Janet  Langhart Cohen, “Anne & Emmett” imagines a meeting of Anne Frank and Emmett Till in the afterlife. The two learn they have much in common: Both were murdered as youths, both the victims of senseless bigotry and hate.

In ‘Anne and Emmett,’ Arts at the J looks at lives cut short by hate

It’s a powerful play, and here’s some good news: The Bridge Theater, which was established in 2024 to instill empathy and mutual respect among young people, is reviving the production.

With Wayne Brady as executive producer, “Anne & Emmett” will feature an additional student performance, as well as a public show, at East Ridge High, 13322 Excalibur Road in Clermont. Showtime for the general public is at 7 p.m. April 16. Get more information at thebridgetheatre.org.

Pargh Event Center

I saw “Anne & Emmett” at the new Pargh Event Center at the Rosen Jewish Community Center in southwest Orlando. That is the home of the new Arts at the J program, and the spiffy space was formally dedicated Feb. 12 with a ribbon-cutting and the unveiling of new signage across its facade.

Rosen JCC executive director Ofira Bondorowsky called the opening of the center, named after a $1 million donation from Andy Pargh in honor of his parents, “an incredible milestone.”

The Arts at the J program, which hosted a Central Florida Community Arts jazz concert last week,  will continue this spring with the “Comedy for Peace” tour on April 23. Go to rosenjcc.org/arts-at-the-j for more information.

Refreshed venue, new JCC program aim for more arts in southwest Orlando

“This is a remarkable new chapter for southwest Orlando and Central Florida as a whole,” said Frank Santos, CEO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts, at the official opening. He pledged the center would be a place where “the arts are given room to breathe, grow and inspire.”

Pargh, who cut the ribbon with members of his family, said he learned about philanthropy from his parents — and he gave the idea of “giving until it hurts” a fresh twist.

“Give till it feels good,” he said. “And tonight it feels really good.”

Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter.

He’ll be starring in both halves of the operatic double bill from Central Florida Vocal Arts’ Opera del Sol. The Winter Park nonprofit is presenting an evening of two one-acts, Leonard Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti” and Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s “Susanna’s Secret.”

In both operas, Mumbert plays a husband. Make that an embattled husband. Make that a husband who’s embattled because of his own assumptions and actions. The two characters aren’t exactly what you’d call role models for how to sustain a relationship.

“They are equally terrible in their own right,” says Mumbert with a laugh. “Neither one has figured things out.”

In “Susanna’s Secret,” or “Il segreto di Susanna” in the original Italian, Mumbert plays a count named Gil who returns home to discover the smell of cigarette smoke in the air — and immediately jumps to the conclusion his wife is cheating on him.

“There’s only one reason in his mind: She has a lover who smokes,” says Mumbert, a Central Florida native. “It never crosses his mind that it could be anything else.”

The opera premiered in 1909, when it was unusual for women to smoke, and the scenario is played for laughs.

“It’s a whole big misunderstanding in an ‘opera buffo’ kind of way, where everyone in the end is like, ‘it was just a misunderstanding, and we’re OK.'”

On the other hand, “Trouble in Tahiti” takes a much more serious tack. Composed by Leonard Bernstein, it skewers the perception of 1950s domestic bliss. In the show, Sam and Dinah struggle with their foundering marriage.

“This is a broken relationship,” Mumbert says. “It’s at the point where they’ve stopped communicating.”

On the whole, Mumbert thinks Gil makes a better impression than Sam.

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“Gil is mad with rage, but he’s equally quick to forgive. He just can’t seem to see how ridiculous he’s being,” Mumbert says. Sam, on the other hand, “You look at him and think there’s nobody who could love this man. It makes me almost shiver to play him.”

An unusual feature of “Trouble in Tahiti” is the insertion of a trio of jazz singers into the story. They pop up now and then to provide context and counterpoint to the marital travails.

“It’s odd, but that’s what makes it fun,” says Mumbert, explaining the couple’s situation is “almost too real at times, and the jazz trio breaks us away from that. In the midst of a fight, the trio comes in like a Greek chorus.”

Orlando hosts new puppy-centric musical that helps children cope with grief

If you’re a music fan, you likely will recognize Mumbert, a baritone who teaches music at Rollins College and Stetson University. Locally, he has performed with such organizations as Opera Orlando, the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park and Orlando Sings. Worldwide, he has more than 40 roles and 50 soloist appearances under his belt.

This is his first time working with Central Florida Vocal Arts, which he calls “a wonderful organization. I’m so glad they’re here to bring in these smaller works.”

Joining Mumbert in the cast are Caitlin Mohr as Dinah, Marilyn Sharp as Susanna, AJ Morales and Daniel Silva. Eric Pinder is the stage director, and Victoria Wells is the music director.

Performing in a two-person or small-cast opera comes with challenges — including the fact that a singer rarely gets a break: “It’s relentless,” Mumbert says. “It becomes a stamina thing.”

But Mumbert faced another challenge: Relating to his characters. In real life, he has been happily married for 16 years. He laughs as he recalls his initial reaction to Sam’s lyrics: “I would never say any of this to my wife.”

Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter.

Opera double bill

• What: Central Florida Vocal Arts’ Opera del Sol presents “Susanna’s Secret” and “Trouble in Tahiti.”

• When: 8 p.m. March 7, 3 p.m. March 8

• Where: Goldman Theater at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 E. Rollins St. in Orlando

• Cost: Tickets from $36.70

• Info: centralfloridavocalarts.org

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Perlman, 80, first rose to fame as a teenager in the 1950s through appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The virtuoso violinist has since been acclaimed worldwide for his skill and performed at countless significant occasions, such as the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama.

He has won 16 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and four Emmys. In 2015, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Philharmonic’s 2026-27 season also will feature a holiday concert featuring Broadway performer Michael James Scott, who hails from Central Florida; a screening of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” with the orchestra playing the score; a performance of Handel’s “Messiah”; a collaboration with Opera Orlando on a production of “Show Boat,” the groundbreaking musical; the return of Brooklyn Rider, the string quartet that introduced Philharmonic music director Eric Jacobsen to Orlando; and a special to salute to Beethoven, marking 200 years since his death.

For more information and to subscribe to the orchestra’s various series, go to orlandophil.org, email boxoffice@orlandophil.org or call 407-770-0071.

Here’s a chronological look, by series, at the Philharmonic season.

Classics series

Concerts are in Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando.

OPENING NIGHT: Sept. 19-20. Jacobsen conducts Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” works by Stravinsky and Ravel and Duke Ellington’s “New World A-Comin’.”

RESONATE: Nov. 5-8. The orchestra’s annual festival will salute Beethoven, who died in 1827.  Among its concerts, Jacobsen will conduct Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7, and Symphony No. 6 at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 8. The famed Symphony No. 5, Beethoven chamber music and a family concert also will be scheduled during the festival.

TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO. 4: Jan. 9-10, 2027. Jacobsen conducts. Concertmaster Rimma Bergeron-Langlois will solo on Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major.

MOZART’S ‘JUPITER’ SYMPHONY: Feb. 27-28, 2027. Cosette Justo Valdez conducts “Jupiter,” the last and longest of Mozart’s symphonies. Guest violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins solos on Jeff Beal’s “Body in Motion,” which he wrote specifically for her.

JACOBSEN CONDUCTS RACHMANINOFF: March 13-14, 2027. Jacobsen leads Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2. Brooklyn Rider, the quartet that Jacobsen co-founded before departing in 2016 to concentrate on conducting, will be the guest artists on the program.

MAHLER’S ‘TRAGIC’ SYMPHONY NO. 6: May 22-23, 2027. Jacobsen conducts the program, which also includes works by Respighi and Ravel.

Pops series

Pops concerts also take place at Steinmetz Hall.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: Nov. 28. Broadway star Michael James Scott (“Aladdin,” “The Book of Mormon”) performs “A Fierce Holiday” to ring in the season.

BROADWAY KNIGHTS: Feb. 6, 2027. Music from three British composers awarded knighthoods: Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.

THE MAGICAL MUSIC OF HARRY POTTER: March 27, 2027. Conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez uses the symphonic music to recall the memorable characters and magical creatures from the beloved film franchise.

‘INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK’: May 1, 2027. The Harrison Ford epic adventure film is screened as the orchestra plays the score.

Focus series

These smaller concerts take place at The Plaza Live, 425 N. Bumby Ave. in Orlando.

BRASS AND BREWS: Oct. 7. Lyman Brodie will conduct.

AMERICA AT 250: Nov. 18. Mauricio Céspedes Rivero will conduct.

SCHUBERT’S 5TH: Feb. 10, 2027. Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante is also on the program.

RIMMA & FRIENDS: April 7, 2027. Led by Bergeron-Langlois, the program will include Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 and Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings.”

Young People’s Concerts

These performances take place at noon in the Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center.

BACH TO THE FUTURE: Sept. 23, Oct. 28 and Nov. 11.

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Symphony Storytime

These programs, designed to introduce the orchestra’s instruments to young children, take place at The Plaza Live on weekend mornings.

SPOOKY SERENADES: Oct. 10-11. String quartet.

PETER AND THE WOLF: Nov. 21-22. Woodwind quintet.

TUNJI AND THE GIANT: Jan. 30-31, 2027. Strings and clarinet.

CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS: April 10-11, 2027. Brass quintet.

Special events

HANDEL’S ‘MESSIAH’: Dec. 16 at First United Methodist Church, 142 E. Jackson St. in Orlando, and Dec. 17 at Celebration Church, 501 Celebration Place in Celebration.

RHAPSODY GALA: March 23, 2027, in Steinmetz Hall with Perlman.

‘SHOW BOAT’: May 14-16, 2027. The orchestra and Opera Orlando celebrate the centennial of the landmark 1927 musical about love, racial prejudice and life on a Mississippi steamboat with a production in Steinmetz Hall.

mpalm@orlandosentinel.com

PARIS (AP) — He is known as the French Banksy — or simply JR. Now the artist popular across France for large-scale projects, from photographs to graffiti and street art, wants Parisians to do something unusual on the city’s arguably most famous bridge: stop.

In June, he plans to transform the bustling Pont Neuf that dates back to the 17th century into a walk-through “cave” — a temporary, monumental public artwork that will cover the stone arches with a rocky illusion and invite visitors to cross the River Seine through a tunnel, complete with sound and digitally augmented reality.

He says it’s possibly the “largest immersive installation ever made” and — one that will be accessible around the clock and offer a “totally different approach” to the bridge.

“We’re about to leave something pretty incredible in the middle of Paris,” JR told The Associated Press at his studio in eastern Paris, wearing his trademark hat and shades.

His project, the Pont Neuf Cavern is to run June 6-28, spanning 120 meters (yards) in length and over 17 meters in height.

A tribute — and a gamble

The installation is a nod to a Paris legend: the late artistic duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude who in 1985 wrapped Pont Neuf — and its streetlamps — in a pale golden fabric. The project, which took years of negotiations with the authorities, helped define the genre of monumental public art in modern cities across the world.

To JR, the homage is both aesthetic and personal.

“I had the chance to meet Christo along the years,” he said. “We had big respect for each other’s work.”

While walking recently on the street with an AP crew, an older woman stopped JR — now, a household name in his country — to share her memories of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapping. She told him she was excited to see the bridge transformed again.

Still, JR — a pseudonym stemming from first name, Jean-René — acknowledges the weight of following in the iconic pair’s footsteps.

“It’s pretty hard to go after them,” he said, “but I’m doing it in a very different style, in my own way.”

His idea is about “bringing back mineral and nature” to the heart of Paris.

From the outside, his installation will make Pont Neuf look “as if it has been overtaken by a prehistoric outcrop,” a structure visible along the banks of the Seine — a rocky mass that is “literally going to break the landscape,” he said.

Two experiences: the city, then the cave

JR said there will be two main ways for people to experience his installation. From the outside, those heading to Pont Neuf will see the giant installation hundreds of meters away.

And from the inside, once visitors enter the “cave” on Pont Neuf, they will be able to walk through a long tunnel-like structure, having a feeling of “total immersion,” he said.

The cave will allow no daylight in and once inside, visitors “will lose track of time,” JR said.

A key collaborator on the project is Thomas Bangalter, a former member of French rock band Daft Punk who is creating the sound to accompany the installation — “something you’ll only hear from the inside,” JR said.

Snap’s AR studio in Paris is developing the augmented reality technology. Visitors will be able to use their smartphones to “experience and see things that you can’t see with your eyes,” JR said.

He is intentionally mysterious about what that is — keeping it a surprise until closer to the opening.

JR’s team conducted extensive engineering studies, including tests in a hangar at Paris’ Orly airport, to understand how the structure behaves, especially in an emergency when the electricity that fuels the cave’s air supply cuts off. Tests show the structure stays the same. There is also the security question — the bridge is a busy zone, especially during Paris’ tourist-packed early summer.

JR said visitor numbers will be limited at any given time, and that his team is consulting with authorities on that. During the three weeks of the exhibition, the installation will be continuously monitored.

A cave, and a metaphor

JR is best known for his large-scale art — enormous portraits pasted on buildings, border walls and rooftops. Because of his origins in graffiti and street art he has inevitably drawn comparison with Banksy, the elusive U.K.-based artist famous for his huge murals and activism.

JR’s installation will not have any massive faces, but the theme is still human, he says: gathering, connection, and what people project onto a shared space.

He says his installation is also an allusion to Plato’s allegory of the cave in which chained men interpret shadows on the cave wall as reality, ignorant of the real world outside — and compares that to the fake reality created by the visual world of our social media platforms.

“What are our caves today is our phone,” JR said, “because we … believe that … our algorithm on social media … is the reality.”

During the installation, which will coincide with June’s Paris Fashion Week and World Music Day, the bridge will close to traffic.

PARIS (AP) — The home of the “Mona Lisa” is getting a new boss. Art historian Christophe Leribault, a veteran museum director, is taking over at the Louvre, shouldering the challenge of getting the world’s largest museum out of crisis after the brazen heist in October of the French crown jewels.

French government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon announced Wednesday that Leribault is taking over from outgoing Louvre director Laurence des Cars, who resigned Tuesday.

The difficulties he inherits are formidable.

The daylight robbery — among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory — exposed alarming security holes at the Paris landmark.

The former royal palace has also suffered a broad array of other problems that have presented a picture of a treasured national institution spiraling out of control.

They include a burst pipe near the “Mona Lisa,” water leaks that damaged priceless books, aging buildings, staff walkouts over overcrowding, understaffing and ticket price hikes for most non-European visitors.

Pressure for new leadership deepened in recent weeks when authorities revealed a suspected decade-long ticket fraud operation linked to the museum that investigators say may have cost the Louvre $11.8 million.

Leribault brings a proven track record. He has been running another world-renowned French landmark and tourist attraction, the Versailles Palace, overseeing an annual budget of about $200 million. The former palace for French royalty west of Paris was the venue for Olympic equestrian sports when Paris hosted the summer games in 2024.

Leribault also is a previous head of Paris’ Orsay Museum.

“He will be tasked with leading important projects that are crucial for the institution’s future,” Bregeon said as she announced Leribault’s appointment at the Louvre.

They include security and modernization upgrades and the pursuit of a sweeping overhaul plan, branded “Louvre New Renaissance,” that President Emmanuel Macron is championing.

Unveiled by Macron in January 2025, the renovation, which could take up to a decade, aims to modernize a museum widely seen as overstretched and physically worn down by mass tourism.

The plan includes a new entrance near the Seine River to ease pressure on I.M. Pei’s pyramid, new underground spaces and a dedicated room for the “Mona Lisa” with timed access — all intended to improve crowd flow and reduce the daily crush of visitors that has become a symbol of the Louvre’s success and its dysfunction.

The project is expected to cost about $1.35 billion according to a recent report from France’s court of auditors. It will be partly funded by ticket revenue, state support, donations and income from the Louvre branch in Abu Dhabi.

Bregeon described Leribault as “very solid, trusted” and said he’s expected to provide “vision” and “calm” to the museum.

In a statement, the Culture Ministry highlighted “his extensive experience at the helm of major institutions” and said Leribault will prioritize strengthening the security and safety of the Louvre’s buildings, its collections and visitors and staff, and “restoring a climate of trust.”

It’s a good thing she has conquered it because her co-stars in “The Secret River” include a bear and an alligator — and that’s enough to make anyone a little nervous.

OK, the animals will actually be puppets when Opera Orlando revives “The Secret River,” a family-friendly 65-minute chamber opera, March 6 and 7 at Mead Botanical Garden. The production is special to the opera company as it was the first work it ever commissioned; the revival is in honor of Opera Orlando’s 10th anniversary.

Langlois, who grew up in Port St. Lucie, is honored to be part of it.

“It is so exciting to present this beautiful story in front of Orlando audiences,” says the 26-year-old in a phone conversation from Los Angeles, where she’s now based.

Based on the children’s book by acclaimed Florida author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, with a libretto by Mark Campbell, “The Secret River” tells the story of Calpurnia, a young Florida girl whose family is faced with a crisis: A food shortage. So she does something about it, discovering the titular waterway in her adventures.

“She’s a very smart young girl,” Langlois says. “She’s able to bring all this fish back and save her family.”

Calpurnia is braver than Langlois was at her age. Like many, she started singing in church. But when she had to solo, she could only do it with moral support.

“My mom would have to stand with me in front,” she says with a laugh. “It was bad. It was like pulling teeth.”

She conquered her stage fright — mostly — singing in her high school’s choir.

“I slowly gained confidence,” she says. “Even now, I still get nervous, but I have a certain command over it.”

Langlois came to the attention of Opera Orlando when she auditioned for the company’s studio-artist program a few years ago. She wasn’t chosen then, “a testament to everything not being linear,” she says, but she still impressed.

“When we first heard Sabrina as an applicant to our studio-artist program, we were most impressed by the beauty of her voice and the sincerity of her acting and presence,” says Opera Orlando general director Gabriel Preisser. “While the repertoire that was to be assigned to our studio-artist soprano was not the right fit for her, we knew this specific role would be, and we were thrilled that she could accept the offer to join us for this remount of our first commissioned opera.”

Preisser can’t wait for audiences to see Langlois as Calpurnia.

“We knew she would be a perfect fit for the role and capture the youthfulness, curiosity and joy of that character,” he says. “She is going to be wonderful and endear herself to the young audience that we are expecting to have in attendance at Mead Garden.”

That’s right: Mead Botanical Garden. “The Secret River” will be staged on its outdoor Grove Stage to reinforce the natural elements of the story. The “animals,” crafted by MicheLee Puppets in Orlando for the world premiere in 2021, will venture out into the audience during the opera and will also interact with the viewers post-show.

There will be trappings of traditional opera, as well: An orchestra will play composer Stella Sung’s score, dancers from Inez Patricia School of Dance will take the stage, and, rest assured, chairs will be provided for the audience. But, Preisser said, operagoers are also welcome to bring their own lawn chairs or picnic blankets if they choose. In deference to the outdoors, a bottle of water is also included with each ticket.

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Langlois is happy about the unconventional setting: “You’ll feel you’re brought into the story that way,” she says. And she’s thrilled to be part of a new work in the opera repertoire.

New works and those rarely performed have a special interest for her; she recently starred as Zerlina, a comedic role, in a new production of “Fra Diavolo” — an 1830 opera that almost never gets staged today — for Pacific Opera Project in Los Angeles.

“It was really funny,” she says. She enjoyed introducing that character to a new generation of operagoers. “There’s so much freedom to be the first person they see in a role.”

Among her other roles in new or innovative operas are Penelope in Kay Rhie’s “Quake,” Dr. Veronica Vera in the workshop production of “The Grand Hotel Tartarus” by Grammy Award-winning composer Richard Danielpou, and a soprano soloist in “Omar’s Journey,” by Rhiannon Giddens, at the Ojai Music Festival in California.

Orlando’s support and talent bring ‘The Secret River’ to life

A graduate of the University of Miami, where she received a degree in music education, and UCLA, where she earned a master’s degree in music performance, Langlois also has performed more traditional roles such as Despina in “Così fan tutte,” Anne Trulove in “The Rake’s Progress” and Adina in “L’elisir d’amore.”

She also keeps busy with concerts and educational work, including a recent stint with Des Moines Metro Opera in Iowa, giving community and student performances.

“Every opportunity has been such a blessing,” she says.

Performing in “The Secret River” will offer the young soprano a couple of significant firsts: Her first professional engagement in her home state and the first time family and friends will see her in a professional setting.

Langlois can’t wait to share Calpurnia’s story.

“She takes it upon herself, so brave and courageous, to seek a solution to her family’s situation,” she says. “I’m sure so many children will be inspired.”

Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter.

‘The Secret River’

• Where: Mead Botanical Garden, 1300 S. Denning Drive in Winter Park

• When: 7:30 p.m. March 6-7

• Cost: $31.59 general admission; VIP seats, with pre-show reception, are $125

• Info: operaorlando.org/river26

I don’t mean just finding talented artists or picking great music; I’m thinking about the carefully considered order in which he places works on a program. That’s an art unto itself.

The “Concertos by Candlelight” concert on Friday night, part of the 91st Bach Festival, is a prime example. Sinclair had picked three concertos, designed to showcase virtuoso performers on virtuoso pieces of music, as he told the crowd at Knowles Memorial Chapel on the Rollins College campus.

But the order in which the three were presented made the experience even richer.

(The “Concertos by Candlelight” program, by the way, is repeated tonight — Saturday, Feb. 21. Get details at bachfestivalflorida.org.)

Opening this embarrassment of riches was Niccolo Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 2. It’s notoriously difficult, but Routa Kroumovitch-Gomez exuded serenity — even as her instrument threatened to burst into flame. She was unflappable as she captured the drama of the difficult double-stops and produced high notes that felt at the edge of human hearing.

The unique physicality of the piece requires the violin to both weep and whistle, and Kroumovitch-Gomez’s instrument did just that.

The famed “La Campanella,” the third movement, perfectly captured the playfulness of Paganini’s idea, with the orchestra, the violin and the glockenspiel all playing a charming game of “peek-a-boo, I see you” around bell tones.

This was a performance that set the bar for the rest of the evening. It awakened and energized the senses of its listeners.

Next up: Byeol Kim, soloing on Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. If the violin concerto was all technical brilliance, the Rachmaninoff was an exploration of emotion. That’s not a slight against Kim’s technical work, by the way. Far from it.

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But you could feel the pain in the opening bass chords, a heaviness lay over the instrument as if to question if the music could even move forward. In Kim’s more than capable and super dextrous hands, of course it did.

She held her own against the entire orchestra, in the melancholy second movement making her sharply felt, single notes droplets of rain against a drizzle of strings. One sequence — a dramatic tremolo, then a sudden stillness, then a return to the heavy bass — seemed to run the entire gamut of human emotions in just a moment or two.

After such an emotionally draining journey, the final concerto provided the perfect bracing restorative. Felix-Alexandre Guilmant’s Symphony No. 1 for Orchestra and Organ found Paul Jacobs at the keys. Oh, it got off to a grandiose start: A sense of order and decorum and harmony,  reassuring us that everything would be all right.

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With majestic grace, the organ deftly handed the melody over the orchestra, and then took it back again.

The second movement began with the kind of organ flourish that makes you pop out of your seat, in the best possible way. And, impossibly, the sense of moving toward something bigger and better than we could imagine kept growing until the triumphant finale.

Afterward, as the audience caught its collective breath in the flickering candlelight, Jacobs added a solo organ encore. His fingers flew through what is usually a violin solo, the Prelude from Bach’s Partita No. 3, with a joyful mix of precision and passion. It was the exhilarating icing on a three-layer cake that was perfectly baked.

Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter.

Still to come

• What: The 91st Bach Festival continues

• Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart: The Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra present “The Age of Enlightenment,” featuring cellist David Bjella on Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1. Also on the program: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 and Mozart’s Mass in C Major. 3 p.m. Feb. 22 in Knowles Memorial Chapel at Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave. in Winter Park. $25 and up.

• Fuoco Obbligato: The Paris-based period-instrument chamber ensemble performs a program of opera, cantata, oratorio and art songs at 3 p.m. Feb. 28  in Tiedtke Concert Hall at Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave. in Winter Park. $25 and up.

• Bach’s Passion According to St. John: With choir, orchestra, soloists. 3 p.m. March 1 in Knowles Memorial Chapel. $25 and up.

• Info: bachfestivalflorida.org 

And even if you can’t hum the whole oratorio, the famed “Hallelujah Chorus” is a holiday tradition for many.

Now Orlando Sings will present “El Mesías,” a rarely performed Spanish-language translation of the piece. The concert — which will feature English supertitles — is part of the nonprofit’s fifth-anniversary season, which has the theme of “Tapestry: The Music of US.” It’s also one of the ways Orlando Sings is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States.

“This project sits at the intersection of artistic excellence and cultural truth,” says Andrew
Minear, Orlando Sings artistic director and conductor. “’Messiah’ has always spoken powerfully to the human condition — to suffering, hope and redemption — and those themes resonate deeply across cultures and languages.”

Featuring the Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus, the Solaria Players orchestra and guest soloists, “El Mesías” aims to give audiences a fresh way to experience one of the most beloved works in classical music.

Minear points out that the relationship between the “Messiah” and language isn’t a straightforward one. Composer George Frideric Handel was a native German speaker. He spent much of his career in England, though, and set the libretto of “Messiah” in English to appeal to that country’s music fans.

“This isn’t about changing ‘Messiah,’” Minear says of performing the Spanish translation. “It’s about revealing it in a new way — allowing its message to speak clearly to the community we serve. Handel himself was not a native English speaker, and at times the original English text fits the music somewhat awkwardly.”

The singers themselves were struck by how the work resonates when sung in another language.

“The Spanish translation used for ‘El Mesías’ is beautifully crafted, aligning the language naturally and expressively with the music,” Minear says. “In rehearsals, we’ve been surprised and delighted by how powerful and how natural it feels.”

The concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in Steinmetz Hall, at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando. Tickets, from $52.81, are on sale at drphillipscenter.org.

For Bronx-born Linda Collazo, who has Ecuadorian and Puerto Rican heritage, the project has personal meaning.

“Growing up, I heard ‘Messiah’ everywhere, but never in my own language,” says Collazo, the concert’s mezzo-soprano soloist. “Singing this music in Spanish is incredibly moving; it feels like a bridge between my cultural heritage and the classical tradition I love.”

Other soloists include soprano Maria Brea, tenor Michael Anthony Rodriguez and bass-baritone Miguel Pedroza.

Collazo thinks the performance may introduce the oratorio to new audiences.

“It’s powerful to know that families who may have never attended ‘Messiah’ before will finally hear this masterpiece in a language that feels like home,” she says.

That’s the hope of Minear, who thinks the region’s cultural diversity makes it the perfect place to perform “El Mesías.”

“Here in Central Florida, where Spanish is not a foreign language but part of everyday life, presenting ‘Messiah’ in Spanish feels both timely and deeply natural. This performance reflects who our community truly is: multilingual, multicultural and connected through music,” he says. “It opens the door for longtime listeners to hear this masterpiece with fresh ears, and for Spanish-speaking audiences to experience it in the language of their hearts.”

Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter.

‘El Mesías’

• When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26

• Where: Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando

• Cost: $52.81 and up

• Info: drphillipscenter.org

That will be especially true this weekend when the Lake Nona Art Festival returns for its second annual event, heralding the talents and creations of 100 fine artists from Florida and beyond. The event lands at Lake Nona Town Center Saturday and Sunday with fine art including ceramics, photography, paintings and jewelry.

Tavistock Development Company, the primary developer behind Lake Nona, approached festival organizers Brian Young and Janet Gamache about organizing an event in Lake Nona after hearing their reputation with events in Orlando, Mount Dora and beyond.

“They said, ‘Why don’t we have an art festival in Lake Nona?'” Young said, noting the company’s owners’ personal interest in collecting fine art. “We wanted to keep it small so that every artist would have a chance to win a prize. They put up $30,000 in prizes for artists to compete for. That made it easier to attract artists.”

Prior to the inaugural event last year, Young and Gamache flew around the country to talk with high-caliber fine artists in the hopes of enticing them to join the brand-new event.

“We invited some really top-notch people, and they came,” Young said.

This year, the marketing team at Tavistock has also made a more concerted effort to reach high-dollar collectors in Windermere, Winter Park and beyond.

Event sponsor AdventHealth introduces a new purchase award for the 2026 event. “The Artist of Wholeness Award” will honor an artist whose work reflects “healing, hope and the connection between body, mind and spirit.”

While Lake Nona’s artsy ethos made it a prime candidate to host an art festival, the community also features plenty of parking and ample food options in Lake Nona Town Center.

Visitors can browse tents of artists along Tavistock Lakes Boulevard, perhaps popping into an eatery for refreshments. The festival also features a food court near the Wave Hotel, where art lovers can browse the array of outdoor art in the nearby sculpture garden.

In addition to art, food and drink, festival patrons can enjoy live entertainment and see a sand sculpture at Boxi Park.

For a second year, Gamache and Young strive to create a high-end event in collaboration with Lake Nona that works for artists and collectors alike.

“When you go to Lake Nona, you feel like you’re in an outdoor art gallery,” Young said.

Find me @PConnPie on Instagram or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com. Stay up to date with our latest travel, arts and events coverage by subscribing to our newsletters at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

If you go

The Lake Nona Art Festival is from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Feb. 21 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 22 at 6900 Tavistock Lakes Blvd. in Lake Nona. The festival is family-friendly and pet-friendly. For more information, including parking details, visit lakenonaartfestival.com.

PARIS (AP) — For the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, it is “statistically inevitable” that fraud would come up at some point, the museum’s No. 2 said in the wake of a decade-long, $11.8 million suspected ticket-fraud scheme revealed last week.

Kim Pham, the Louvre’s general administrator, told The Associated Press that the museum’s unique scale makes it particularly vulnerable. However, pressed to name other institutions with similar problems, he declined to single out peers.

“Which museum in the world, with this level of attendance, would not at certain moments have some issues of fraud,” wondered Pham, who oversees day-to-day operations, including administration and internal management.

And that’s no easy task, with 86,000 square meters of space presenting 35,000 works of art to 9 million visitors a year.

A complex web of problems

Last week, Paris prosecutors said that nine people were being detained in connection with the ticket scheme. The nine have been formally charged and brought before investigating judges.

Among the suspects are two Chinese tour guides accused of bringing groups of tourists into the museum by fraudulently reusing the same tickets multiple times for different visitors, allegedly with the help of Louvre employees.

The Louvre had filed a complaint back in December 2024, prosecutors said. Investigators estimate losses of more than $11.8 million over a decade, with the alleged criminal network suspected of bringing in up to 20 guided groups a day.

With the judicial investigation ongoing, Pham declined to confirm those figures.

Prosecutors said that along with repeatedly reusing tickets, the tour guides sometimes split groups to avoid paying a required “speaking fee” — a sort of commission paid to the museum to allow them to operate.

In the last year alone, the Louvre has faced the October 2025 high-profile theft of the French Crown Jewels from the Apollo Gallery, water leaks that damaged priceless books, multiple staff walkouts and a wildcat strike last summer over poor conditions, mass tourism and understaffing.

Pressed on whether the latest case feeds a narrative of a Louvre out of control, Pham pushed back.

“Quite simply, the Louvre is the biggest museum in the world,” he said.

‘Many historical layers’

Pham described the Louvre as “a historic building that began to emerge at the start of the 13th century and has had many historical layers up to the 20th century.”

“It is normal that in this complexity we have difficulties,” he added, though he acknowledged shortcomings in the museum’s defenses.

“I won’t tell you that we do everything very well and that we did everything well,” he said. “What I’m telling you is that the fight against fraud is an action of every moment.”

But Pham stressed that it was the museum who alerted police about the case — not the other way around.

He rejected the idea that understaffing — which has been one of the reasons for multiple staff strikes in the last year — contributed to the alleged ticket reuse. “Staffing is at the right level for those functions,” he said.

He framed the broader problem as increasingly digital. “Ninety percent of tickets today are bought online, on the web,” he said. “So that is where major fraud takes place.”

He cited “fraudulent purchases with stolen cards” — “massively, we had that in 2023,” he said — as well as the “siphoning of free tickets” for resale and the use of fake tickets.

Pham argued that visitor caps introduced after the pandemic can create scarcity that draws scammers.

“When you limit the number of people who can enter a museum each day, you increase the scarcity of the ticket and that brings fraudsters,” he said, “It was like for a concert with a star — it’s when places are limited that it creates even more fraud.”

The fraud case has landed as the Louvre is still dealing with the fallout from the crisis that drew worldwide attention — then October crown jewels theft in which a team of four people broke in through a window during visiting hours and fled with an estimated $104 million worth of treasures.

Authorities have arrested several suspects in that case, but the stolen items remain missing.

Pham said the Louvre tightened how many times a ticket can be validated at its multiple checkpoints.

Individual tickets are now limited to two scans and group tickets to one, he said, a change meant to prevent guides from reusing the same ticket to bring in additional visitors. The museum has multiple access points into its wings, and prosecutors allege guides exploited ticket validation to reuse the same tickets to bring in additional groups.

“For several months — and we did not wait for this moment of the investigation and the recent arrests — we carry out checks before the checkpoint,” he said, adding that checks also take place “once inside the museum galleries.”

Pham said two Louvre employees questioned in the case have been told not to return to their jobs during the investigation, while also underscoring their presumption of innocence until the investigation and proceedings are completed.