THE SHOW GOES ON
For the first time in thirty years,
my wife Mary K and I will not
be performing for the New
York Yankees/Steinbrenner
family holiday concerts with The
Florida Orchestra, as we transition
into audience members. We have
wonderful memories of doing
these concerts, which were started
by the late George Steinbrenner
in the 1980s for thousands of
Pinellas and Hillsborough County
school children from socio-economically
deprived families and neighborhoods.
Steinbrenner wanted these students to
be exposed to the great music performed
by The Florida Orchestra at the Straz
Center in Tampa, Ruth Eckerd Hall in
Clearwater and the Mahaffey Theater in
St. Petersburg.
Various celebrities and Yankee greats
have taken part in these concerts, including
Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Derek Jeter,
CC Sabathia, Tino Martinez, Dwight
“Doc” Goodin, New York Yankees’ coach
Billy Martin and the late WTVT sports
reporter Andy Hardy. Ballet selections
from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite were
performed by professionals including
Dr. Carla Ledoux, who may be the only
medical doctor in the country who is
also a stunning ballerina. One year we
performed a full version of the “Twelve
Days Of Christmas” with local actors. At
these concerts, Mary K and I performed a
By John Wilson
variety of holiday music selections, and
the students joined in sing-alongs with
wonderful excitement, especially during
“Feliz Navidad.”
Most people didn’t know it, but
Steinbrenner played piano, produced
a Broadway musical, and had a
granddaughter who became a popular
Broadway singer and actress. During my
first phone call with him, Steinbrenner
asked if I knew about Leonard Bernstein’s
special concerts with the New York
Philharmonic Orchestra. He wanted us to
organize similar concerts for youngsters
who were struggling to stay in school.
“I want you and your wife to make this
concert something they will never forget,”
he said.
In the decades that followed, many
grown-ups told me that they were
among the youngsters who’d attended
one of these concerts and how important
getting to do that was for them at that
144 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019
time. Steinbrenner’s goal was to
encourage struggling children to
stay in school, graduate and develop
careers, hoping that some of them
might become music teachers
themselves. The Steinbrenner family
carries on this great tradition, and
more than 5,000 children see these
concerts every year. Over the years,
they have given us incredible joy,
even when Mary K and I had to
perform with seasonal sore throats,
colds, coughs and many hairdos. It has
been a real inspiration for us to perform
with our great symphony orchestra and
conductors such as Jahja Ling, Edward
Cumming, Tom Wilkins, Richard Zelinski
and Robert Romanski.
New orchestra concerts will continue
without us, enhanced with talented
choral groups from both Pinellas and
Hillsborough County schools. It’s an
exciting time for us. We are overjoyed
that our son Mark Wilson, who is also a
musician and the TV news anchor who
replaced me on Fox 13, is taking over
my role as a performing emcee with The
Florida Orchestra for these concerts. Mom
and Dad will now sit with the audience
to watch and listen. So it’s on with the
show! 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: John Wilson, who retired
from Fox TV in 2014, worked more than 50 years
in radio and television news broadcasting.
COMMAERNTTARY
John Wilson