Redding World-class soloists will join the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and Chorus on Friday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. for a performance of T h e G e r m a n Requiem, hailed as Jo h a n n e s B r a h m s ' g r e a t e s t vocal work and a timehonored masterpiece.

The concert will be performed in the main theater of the Mattie Kelly Fine and Performing Arts Center on Okaloosa-Walton College's Niceville campus. Tickets are available now from the box office. The performance is the final concert of the NFSO's 20th anniversary season.

The NFSO, under the baton of music director and conductor Lois Van Dam, will be joined by guest soloists Jane Redding, soprano, and Timothy Kennedy, baritone, both of the Pensacola Opera, for this event.

The German Requiem is not only Brahms' greatest vocal work, but is also considered the most significant piece of his career. A masterwork for chorus and full orchestra, the Brahms Requiem features texts of hope, comfort, and resurrection. The piece, divided into seven movements, provides moments of tranquility and peace as well as heart-pounding elements of excitement, joy and majesty.

Brahms conceived of this work as a "human" Requiem, choosing his own texts rather than using the traditional Latin texts. Significantly, Brahms avoids all mention of Christ in his selected text, though at times the word "Lord" clearly refers to the Messiah of the New Testament. Tickets are on sale for $22.50 each through the Mattie Kelly Arts Center Box Office, by phone at (850) 729- 6000 or by internet at www.owc.edu/arts. For additional information visit the symphony's website at www.nfsymphony.org.

Shake off the winter blues at Seabreeze Jazz Festival

It's time to shake off those "winter blues" with the 2007 Seabreeze Jazz Festival coming the weekend of April 12-15 at the Gulf Place Outdoor Amphitheater just east of Destin. Over 10,000 people attended last year's festival and this year's lineup represents some of the smooth jazz format's true hitmakers.

Set to appear this year includes: Boney James, the number-one Contemporary Jazz Album "Shine," Rick Braun, Peter White, Jonathon Butler, Gerald Albright, Kirk Whalum, Jeff Golub, Down to the Bone, Eric Darius, Mindi Abair, Tim Bowman, Nick Colionne, Nils Brian Simpson with special guest Jeff Kashiwa, Steve Oliver, Urban Jazz Coalition, The Groove Boutique featuring Rafe Gomez, Jones and Company and Michael J. Thomas.

And to make the event even bigger this year, there will be a "Smooth Jazz Dinner Cruise" on Thursday, April 12 aboard the Solaris Dinner Yatch at Sandestin Resort with a live performance from former Rippington's saxplayer Jeff Kashiwa.

This festival is unique in that proceeds do benefit the local Middle and High School Jazz Band programs for jazz band clinics, instrument purchases, and music scholarships.

For more information, call at (850)-267-3279. Native Songstress returns for PJC concert

Pensacola native Holly Gash returns for a Pensacola Junior College Lyceum performance with accompanist Mary Scott Spry Goode. The concert is 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 14, at the Ashmore Fine Arts Auditorium on the PJC Pensacola campus.

Consistently brilliant performances have firmly established Gash as an international artist and earned her "most favored diva" status in Central America. Gash made her Central America debut in August 2003 and has returned often for a variety of operatic and oratorio engagements. She most recently made her "Beethoven's 9th Symphony" debut with the Guatemala National Symphony.

General admission tickets are $10; seniors, children, non- PJC students, $8;

Senior Club members, PJC staff, faculty, retirees, $6; PJC students, free. VISA, MasterCard, American Express, cash or check are accepted.

Purchase tickets at the Lyceum Box Office in the Ashmore Fine Arts

Auditorium, 1000 College Blvd.For more information, call 484-1847. Cowboy Mouth to perform live at Capt'n Fun

Capt'n Fun Beach Club will present Cowboy Mouth live in concert on April 14 on the eastern end of Quietwater Boardwalk on Pensacola Beach.

For more than 15 years, the members of Cowboy Mouth have embraced, embodied, preached and shouted at the top of their lungs the joys of their hometown, sharing a slice of Mardi Gras heaven with fans around the world on 11 recordings and at their legendary live shows.

Must be 21 to attend the concert event, and door open at 6 p.m. Showtime is 9:30p.m. Gulf coast Chorale presents 'Pleasing music'

"Pleasing Music, and not Wild Uproar," the final concert in The Gulf Coast Chorale's 27th season, will feature beautiful choral music written by several Pensacola composers.

The first performance will be at 7:30, Saturday, April 14 in St. Ann Catholic Church, 100 Daniel Drive (just east of the football stadium) in Gulf Breeze. The second will be at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, April 15 in the University Of West Florida Music Hall.

Tickets are available in advance from any Chorale member at $15 for adults and $5 for students of all ages and will be available at the door for $20 for adults and $7 for students. For more information on purchasing tickets, please call 850 291- 9403.

Works by the following local composers will be performed: Robert Sherwood, retired PJC faculty member; Allen Pote, well known for both his choral publications and his work with the Pensacola Children's Chorus; Don Robinson, Gulf Coast Chorale Member; Matt Fossa, oboist with the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra and faculty member at PJC; and Michael Richardson, Artistic Director and Conductor of The Gulf Coast Chorale. In addition, the Chorale will sing works by David C. Huff, Dr. Coleman Smith, Anna Laura Page, and well known English composer, John Rutter.

Saturday evening Sherwood, Robinson, Fossa and Richardson will be available at a "Meet the Composer" reception for all attendees to be held immediately following the concert in St. Ann's Parish Hall. Symphony Show House dazzles in April

Pensacola Symphony Orchestra presents Symphony

Showhouse 2007, a dazzling showcase of today's top trends in design. The Symphony Showhouse is located at 4120 Menendez. A group of fifteen local professional A.S.I.D. designers and a landscape architect will create a luxurious atmosphere of sophistication, style and grace in this traditional and classic waterfront home on Bayou Texar.

The Showhouse will open to the public for tours April 7 through April 29. Lunch will be served by Norma's Monday thru Saturday. The Showhouse will also feature a gift shop with furnishings, accessories and other specialty items.

To purchase tickets to the Showhouse Tour please call (850)435-2533 or visit www.pcolasymphonyshowhou se.com.

There will be an exclusive premiere party April 6 by reservation only. This elegant evening will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra.

The party will be held at the Showhouse which is located at 4120 Menendez Drive overlooking Bayou Texar.

Tickets are $75 per person and include a chance to win a week's stay at Palacio condominiums in Perdido Key. Reservations are required and are available by calling (850) 435-2533 x 104. Jazz singer gives homecoming

concert

Pensacola jazz singer Gary Fields, local up-and-coming jazz singer, will perform at WSRE's Amos Performance Studio on the Pensacola Junior College campus in a homecoming concert as a thank you to the community. Gary Fields: For My Friends, will support WSRE's community outreach projects and will take place on Friday, April 27at 7 p.m.

Better known locally as Gary Stubblefield, Fields is the son of Al and Mary Lee Stubblefield. Al is the president and CEO of Baptist Health Care.

From an early age, Gary, a native of Pensacola , Florida , knew his true calling. He grew up singing with the First Baptist Church music programs, the Pensacola Children's Chorus and the Washington High School Theater Department. After a move to Nashville to attend Belmont University, Fields began to perform professionally.

Call 850-484-1250 for more information.