The Williamsburg Symphonia is offering a glitzy night out this weekend with an evening of Cabaret & Cocktails.
With its own talent and a long lineup of guest performers, the Symphonia will present a program of pop and jazz standards from the 1920s through the 1950s along with some original pieces Saturday night at the Williamsburg Lodge.
The evening begins with a cash bar at 7 p.m., and doors open at 7:15 p.m. for the 8 p.m. performance.
Mike Monoghan, a longtime saxophonist with the renowned Boston Pops, will join the orchestra on stage, as will Virginia musicians Harris Simon Trio — with namesake Harris Simon, Keith Willingham and Terry Burrell — Liz Montgomery, Bobby Jasinski and Tempy Barbru.
The concept for the show came together when Carolyn Keurajian, executive director of the Williamsburg Symphonia, and Kendall Kirby of Seasons of Williamsburg, were reminiscing at a cocktail party about a piano bar they both separately visited in New York City.
“Everyone just stands around the piano and sings all these familiar songs. It was an incredible bonding experience with complete strangers,” Keurajian said of the piano bar. “… As we were talking, the conversation just evolved into what we’re putting on Saturday night.”
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Want to Go?
The Williamsburg Symphonia will present Cabaret & Cocktails at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Williamsburg Lodge.
Click here to buy $25 or $45 tickets for theater seating.
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Seasons of Williamsburg is one of the sponsors, along with Riverside Performing Arts Medicine, Tolbert Interiors and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Anonymous donors, known as Two Friends of Music, also contributed to the funding of the show.
Cabaret & Cocktails is the first of its kind for the Williamsburg Symphonia, and will likely be a one-time only affair for the orchestra, Keurajian said. The most expensive tickets for the program — table seats — are all sold out, with about 500 of the 675 tickets already sold. Theater seats are available for $25 or $45.
Raffle tickets will be sold at the event, offering an opportunity to win two season subscriptions to the Williamsburg Symphonia’s Masterwork Series.
“It’s a really special event that has taken a lot of effort from really dedicated people to put together,” Keurajian said. “We’ll probably break even in the end, but the Williamsburg Symphonia provides a great service to the community. These are all skilled, professional musicians and it’s really a special thing for a town of this size to have an orchestra of this caliber.”
