{"id":21012,"date":"2025-08-05T14:04:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T18:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?post_type=wfsu-news&#038;p=21012"},"modified":"2025-08-05T14:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T18:41:08","slug":"its-a-new-season-of-florida-state-universitys-opening-nights","status":"publish","type":"wfsu-news","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/its-a-new-season-of-florida-state-universitys-opening-nights\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s a new season of Florida State University&#8217;s Opening Nights"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-21012-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/08\/kevin-maynard-web.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/08\/kevin-maynard-web.mp3\">https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/08\/kevin-maynard-web.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>Florida State University is about to launch a new season of its Opening Nights series.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Opening Nights is the professional presentation arm of Florida State University,&#8221; says Opening Nights Executive Director Kevin Maynard. &#8220;So we report to the president&#8217;s office, and our role is to bring in arts and entertainment, not just for FSU but for the Tallahassee community as well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A variety of artists will perform at eight venues around town. Maynard says nearly two dozen acts for the 2025-26 season were carefully curated.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Every act is being brought in for a particular reason, whether that&#8217;s them coming in town and actually spending four or five days with us doing a residency model to reach our public schools or if it&#8217;s just bringing in a big celebrity like a Morgan Freeman, like a Jeff Goldblum,&#8221; Maynard says.<\/p>\n<p>Freeman and Goldblum are movie stars who will be appearing with musical acts in Ruby Diamond Concert Hall.<\/p>\n<p>The theme for the season is <em>Opening Minds<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m new to Tallahassee, so we started talking about things like bringing in some larger names, bringing in some different genres,&#8221; says Maynard, who took over the executive director role last November. &#8220;But we really focused on education as well. We knew that was going to be a key input.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tickets go on sale Thursday for all performances. <a href=\"https:\/\/openingnights.fsu.edu\/tickets\/order\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here<\/a> to see options for ordering tickets. <a href=\"https:\/\/my.openingnights.fsu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here<\/a> for additional information.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Here&#8217;s the lineup<\/em><\/strong><em>:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jeff Goldblum &amp; The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra<\/li>\n<li>James Patterson and Patrick Leddin: Disrupt Everything and Win<\/li>\n<li>Morgan Freeman&#8217;s Symphonic Blues Experience Featuring the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra<\/li>\n<li>Kendell Marvel<\/li>\n<li>Andrew Duhon<\/li>\n<li>Hubby Jenkins<\/li>\n<li>New Jazz Underground<\/li>\n<li>OkCello<\/li>\n<li>Bassel &amp; the Supernaturals<\/li>\n<li>Del Suggs Almost Christmas<\/li>\n<li>Nicole Zuraitis<\/li>\n<li>Andrew Collins Trio<\/li>\n<li>Paragon Ragtime Orchestra<\/li>\n<li>Imani Winds and Boston Brass<\/li>\n<li>Prism<\/li>\n<li>Lover: The Unofficial Eras Tour<\/li>\n<li>VOCES8<\/li>\n<li>Sphinx Virtuosi<\/li>\n<li>Presidents Salon Concert<\/li>\n<li>Shovels &amp; Rope<\/li>\n<li>Songs of the Bulbul<\/li>\n<li>Goitse<\/li>\n<li>A Band Called Honalee<\/li>\n<li>Chain of Parks Featured Artist Noah Verrier<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2025 WFSU<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[],"tags":[1137,1135],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - 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