South Bend Symphony and Circus Flora present 'Under the Big Top' at the Morris

Cheryl Morey, South Bend Tribune
YoYo serves as the narrator for Circus Flora, which joins the South Bend Symphony Orchestra for a circus-oriented theatrical concert March 9, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend.
YoYo serves as the narrator for Circus Flora, which joins the South Bend Symphony Orchestra for a circus-oriented theatrical concert March 9, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend.

SOUTH BEND — The South Bend Symphony Orchestra and Circus Flora present “Under the Big Top” at 7:30 p.m. March 9 at the Morris Performing Arts Center, 211 N. Michigan St.

Commissioned by Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti for the Spoleto Festival in 1986, Circus Flora creates circus productions paired with live music and centered around a theatrical narrative.

The Daring Horseman performs with Circus Flora, which joins the South Bend Symphony Orchestra for a circus-oriented theatrical concert March 9, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend.
The Daring Horseman performs with Circus Flora, which joins the South Bend Symphony Orchestra for a circus-oriented theatrical concert March 9, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend.

For “Under the Big Top,” when a prominent player in the orchestra goes missing, with everyone a suspect, the audience is enlisted to help figure out who the culprit is. Was it a juggler, a strongman, an aerialist or even some canine friends?

As the Circus Flora aerialists, acrobatics, jugglers, clowns and more perform, SBSO Music Director Alastair Willis will conduct a program that includes Gould’s Pavanne and “American Salute,” Strauss’ “Blue Danube,” Copland’s Nocturne, Anderson’s Irish Suite, Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” and Vaughan Williams’s March of the Kitchen Utensils and English Folk Song Suite, among other works.

Juggler Roberto Carlos performs with Circus Flora, which joins the South Bend Symphony Orchestra for a circus-oriented theatrical concert March 9, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend.
Juggler Roberto Carlos performs with Circus Flora, which joins the South Bend Symphony Orchestra for a circus-oriented theatrical concert March 9, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend.

Tickets are $99-$19.

For more information, call 574-235-9190 or visit morriscenter.org or southbendsymphony.org.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Symphony pairs with Circus Flora for theatrical concert

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