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Porgy and Bess, the great American opera, supplies much of the music for the opening program of the Florida Orchestra's pops season. Gershwin songs such as Summertime, I Got Plenty 'O Nuttin' and My Man's Gone Now will be performed by mezzo-soprano Carmella Jones and baritone Nmon Ford, along with the USF Chamber Singers and the orchestra, conducted by Richard Kaufman. Gershwin's portrait of the residents of Catfish Row in Charleston, S.C., can also be experienced in a touring production that plays Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center Nov. 15-16.
The orchestra concerts, which also have music from Girl Crazy, Strike Up the Band and other Gershwin musicals, are at 8 p.m. Friday in TBPAC's Morsani Hall and 8 p.m. Saturday in Mahaffey Theater. $21-$45. 813 286-2403, toll-free 1-800-662-7286 or www.floridaorchestra.org
- JOHN FLEMING, Times performing arts critic
Renaissance man
John Robison presents a typically adventurous program of Renaissance music this weekend at the University of South Florida. Robison, a professor in the music school, plays the lute, viola da gamba and other early string instruments, as well as recorder and double reeds. He will perform lute music by 16th and 17th century composers such as Vincenzo Capirola, Francesco da Milano, Pietro Paolo Borrono, Anthony Holborne and others. The program is at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Music Recital Hall on the Tampa campus. $4, $8. (813) 974-2323.
- JOHN FLEMING, Times performing arts critic