The Venice Symphony has grown and changed a lot since it started in 1974 as a community orchestra with volunteer musicians.

 Much of that growth has happened in the last decade, since Chris Kasten joined the organization as CEO after a year as a consultant. That period also included the hiring of Troy Quinn as the ensemble’s fifth music director.

While Kasten will take some credit for bringing financial stability to the symphony, she points to Quinn as the transformative figure who helped expand programming and attendance.

Each of the organization’s eight main concert programs is a mix of classical and pops music, and the caliber of the musicians has grown because it has moved beyond volunteer musicians. “It’s the most full-time part-time group I know of,” Quinn says. “We’re not limited anymore in what we can do. This orchestra can play anything. I’ve never seen any orchestra grow so significantly as Venice.”

And the audience has grown with the musicians because it likes the kind of mix he presents, for example, combing Richard Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration in the Halloween concert “A Ghoulish Gathering,” with themes from such films and stage shows as The Witches of Eastwick, The Phantom of the Opera and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

“Our audience here is sort of two-fold,” says Quinn. “A mixture of very cultured folks who come from other parts of the area and love hearing music in big metropolitan cities and want that same level of entertainment and artistic quality. The other half is the local population. Some have been coming for decades and some are new patrons. Our job is to engage them so our music is enjoyed by everyone.”

The musicians are “very adept and trained in all these genres,” he says. “If it’s a Broadway overture, a Big Band tune, a Gershwin tune, we have the style and the knowledge to bring it to life.”

Venice is just one of several positions Quinn holds simultaneously. Just before he joined Venice Symphony, he became music director of the Owensboro Symphony in Kentucky. And he is the Pops conductor of both the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Santa Rosa Symphony in California. He led the Boston Pops in Tanglewood last summer, and made his Boston Symphony debut with a New Year’s Eve concert.

“I do lament that the old school way of a music director leading one orchestra that was your baby, and you lived there and worked there isn’t the way anymore," Quinn says. "We’re a very global society and being present in other places is actually an advantage. I have people from New England coming to see me in Venice. It’s good for national recognition.”

 And even though he maintains a home in Los Angeles, where he is on the faculty of the University of Southern California Thornton conducting program, “I’m on the phone every day. I’m involved in every facet of the Venice Symphony," he says. "My goal is to have everybody know, not just in the city of Venice, what a gem of an orchestra we have here and what artistry is here on a national level.”

As the orchestra grows, so does the number of and prominence of soloists attracted to the concerts Quinn leads. He discovered singer Andrea Lykke, who will be featured in the Valentine’s concert “Romantic Rendezvous” on Feb. 5-6, on YouTube in the musical The Bodyguard. “She’s touring with Andrea Bocelli and she sang with the Danish National Symphony," he says. "I was floored by her talent. She’s going to be a major superstar.”

Indonesian-American pianist Janice Carissa, who will perform Rachmaninoff’s "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” “blew me away with her sensitivity and power,” he said. The symphony’s principal horn player, Joseph Lovinsky, will be featured  in a November concert, and the holiday season concert will feature “viral sensation” singer Colin Eaton.

 The response to initial programs by the Venice Symphony Big Band prompted a return for three more, and there will be three chamber concerts at the Venice Community Center. All the other programs will be presented in the Venice Performing Arts Center at Venice High School. 

Here is a look at the programs Quinn has planned for the 2026-27 season.

The Venice Symphony Season 

A Ghoulish Gathering

Oct. 9-10, 2026

Features Strauss’s Death and Transfiguration, and themes from The Witches of Eastwick, The Phantom of the Opera and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Strauss and Surprises

Nov. 20-21, 2026

Features soloist Joseph Lovinsky, principal horn of The Venice Symphony, and performances of Strauss’s Die Fledermaus Overture and Emperor Waltz, Ardeshir Farah’s Gypsy Earring and Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 in C Major (Surprise). 

A Holiday Celebration

Dec. 18-20, 2026

Features vocalist Colin Easton and a program of holiday favorites, including “Chanukah Suit,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Yes, Virginia! There Is a Santa Claus” and “The Twelve Gifts of Christmas.”

Mancini and the Movie Masters

Jan. 8-9, 2027

Henry Mancini’s The Pink Panther and music from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, John Barry’s theme to Goldfinger and Nino Rota’s theme to The Godfather.

Romantic Rendezvous

Feb. 5-6, 2027

Vocalist Andrea Lykke is featured in a program that includes James Horner’s “My Heart Will Go On” and Stephen Schwartz’s “Defying Gravity,” along with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture and George Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1.

New World Journey: Songs from the Homeland

Feb. 26-27, 2027

Pianist Janice Carissa performs Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in a program that also includes Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (New World), Aaron Copland’s Down a Country Lane and Bedrich Smetana’s “The Moldau” from My Homeland.

Heroes and Titans

March 19-20, 2027

Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. in D major (Titan), John Williams’ Summon the Heroes, Patrick Doyle’s theme from Thor, Richard Wagner’s “Rie of Valkyries” from Die Walkure.

Untamed

April 23-24, 2027

Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite, John Williams’ theme from Jurassic Park, Amilcare Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours

Soundscapes Chamber Series 

From Dawn to Dusk 

3:30 p.m., Jan. 17

Saxappeal: The Language of Love

3:30 p.m., Feb. 14

Once Upon a Wind

3:30 p.m., April 11

Venice Symphony Big Band

New Voice of the Great American Songbook

3:30 p.m. Nov. 14., 2026

Jazz pianist, singer and bandleader Danny Sinoff joins the Venice Symphony Big Band for swinging classics.

Wayne Bergeron: Plays Well With Others 

3:30 p.m., Jan. 23, 2026

Trumpeter Wayne Bergeron, who performed with Maynard Ferguson and played on more than 500 film and TV soundtracks, joins the Big Band.

An Afternoon with Veronica Swift and Javier Nero

3:30 p.m., March 6, 2027

Singer Veronica Swift joins music arranger and trombonist Javier Nero and the Big Band.

For more information and tickets: thevenicesymphony.org; (941) 207-8822