Panama City Symphony Shines in 2025: A Star-Studded Season of Music, Cinema, and Broadway Magic

PANAMA CITY, FL – The Panama City Symphony bursts into 2025 with four final performances for the 2024-25 Season. Conductor Sergey Bogza’s passion for entertaining, engaging and inspiring his audiences is evident in the exuberant and varied themes he has created for these four shows. All concerts take place at The Barbara W. Nelson Fine Arts Center at Bay High School, 1200 Harrison Avenue, Panama City, FL 32401; tickets may be purchased at PanamaCitySymphony.org. 

On Saturday, January 11-12 the Symphony rolls out the red carpet to welcome back piano virtuoso Ilya Yakushev for a masterful performance of Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2. in Rachmaninoff and The Golden Age of Cinema. Discover the Golden Age of Cinema in a journey through some of Hollywood’s most memorable movie scores including themes from Doctor Zhivago and Ben Hur. It’s an evening of drama, adventure, and sweeping melodies worthy of an Oscar! This musical outing is perfect for the entire family; it’s an experience the kids will love too. The Saturday evening show begins at 7:00 PM, and the Sunday matinée begins at 2:30 PM.

Join the Symphony on February 8 for a Tribute to Tchaikovsky featuring Victor Shlyakhtenko, College Division Grand Prize Winner of Panama City Symphony’s Emerging Artist Competition, and the full force of the orchestra. Memorable melodies are contrasted with powerful themes of fate and struggle in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. After making his concerto debut in 2014, Victor collaborated with orchestras in concerti by Beethoven, Chopin, Grieg, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Clara Schumann. Victor was a recipient of the U.S. National Chopin Foundation Scholarship from 2016-2019 and a Young Scholar of the Lang International Music Foundation from 2018-2020. The Saturday evening show begins at 7:00 PM.

On March 15, come celebrate the 80th anniversary of My Favorite Things: Music of Rodgers and Hammerstein – a musical collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Take a symphonic journey from Oklahoma! to South Pacific and experience the melodies of some of America’s most beloved Broadway music. This will be an evening of entertainment that will strike a chord with the young – as well as the young at heart! The Saturday evening show begins at 7:00 PM.

And to conclude the 2024-25 Season, on April 12 enjoy Music of the Cosmos, a celestial adventure featuring fascinating projections and our Emerging Artists Competition Grand Prize Winner (High School Division) Didi Stone. The stage is set for an unforgettable stellar evening among the galaxies, stars, nebulas, and planets. Croft (Didi) Stone is a freshman at the Schwob School of Music; his passion for orchestra led him to the GMEA All-State orchestra, Emory Junior Chamber Orchestra, Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. The Saturday evening show begins at 7:00 PM.