Indoor shows return for Firelands Symphony Orchestra

SANDUSKY — Firelands Symphony Orchestra is back. Back to doing indoor concerts. Back to performing an annual holiday show in December. Back to playing classical music concerts, along with its pops shows. But it's not back at the Sandusky State Theatre, which is still being rebuilt. So in announcing its new 2021-2022 concert season, the orchestra also announced that it will play shows at Cedar Point Sports Center, Sandusky High School and two local churches as it waits to move back into its old home in downtown Sandusky. Tickets have gone on sale for the first show, a "Holidays Are Here Again!" pops concert scheduled for 4 p.m. Dec. 5 at Cedar Point Sports Center, 2701 Cleveland Road West, featuring guest vocalist Barbara Knight. Tickets can be purchased at firelandssymphony.com/tickets or by calling the FSO office at 419.621.4800, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Also new for the 2021-2022 season are rules to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Audience members must either show proof of vaccination and a photo ID, or present proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test, also with a photo ID. Cedar Point Sports Center wasn't available for other concerts, and Tricia Applegate, executive director of the orchestra, spent considerable time figuring out other locations for the orchestra's return to indoor shows. During the first half of next year, the orchestra will perform four concerts at the Sandusky High School auditorium. In addition, the Firelands Symphony Chorale will play two shows with a chamber orchestra, one at St. Mary's Catholic Church, and one at Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church, both in Sandusky. Sandusky High Schools was one of the few possible alternate locations that had a big enough stage and a large enough seating capacity. The stage at the high school is actually bigger than the old stage at Sandusky State Theatre and the seating capacity is about the same, about 1,500 seats at both locations, Applegate said. Setting up the concerts at Sandusky High School took awhile because the orchestra dates had to avoid important events at the school, Applegate said. "It was a very long process because of all of the coordination," she said. In addition, the Firelands Chorale will do a Beethoven Concert on March 13 at St. Mary's Catholic Church and a "Songs of Hope" concert at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, at a date that hasn't been announced yet. At each concert, these policies will be in place to protect concertgoers from COVID-19: Each attendee must present proof of vaccination or must present proof of a negative test for COVID-19, from a test completed within 72 hours of the performance. In addition, all people attending the concert will be required to wear a face covering. Anyone who refuses to comply with the policies won't get a refund. The policy on dealing with COVID-19 is almost identical to the Cleveland Orchestra's policy and also fits with policies adopted by many members of the League of American Orchestras, Applegate said. The orchestra's last indoor concert was in February 2020. The Firelands Chorale was preparing a March 2020 concert in honor of Beethoven's 250th anniversary when the pandemic hit; that show will finally be presented next year. With indoor shows discouraged because of the pandemic, the Firelands Symphony Orchestra instead played a series of free outdoors pops concerts in Sandusky, Norwalk and other area locations during summer 2021. The first concert at Sandusky High School will be a "Portraits of American Heroism" show on Jan. 16, honoring the Tuskegee Airmen. Full details on the 2021-2022 concert season are available at www.firelandssymphony.com.