On Friday and Saturday, March 8 and 9, we presented Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in the University of West Florida Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

The thrilling 20th-century musical juggernaut was performed by a 160-voice chorus comprising the Choral Society of Pensacola and the University of West Florida Singers, with soprano Sheila Dunn, tenor Christian Sanders, and baritone Jack Chandler, all under the direction of Peter Steenblik. Pianists Hyunjoo Kim and Meredith Stemen performed on two nine-foot Steinways, and six percussionists rounded out the forces for the most spectacular concert of our season, presented in association with the University of West Florida Dr. Grier Williams School of Music.

Graphic: John Medzerian, including an illustration from the “Carmina Burana” manuscript featuring Fortune, Empress of the World, at her wheel.