October has been a good month for the Palladium. Our building is under renovation, but the work we’ve done together continues to earn some welcome recognition.
On Oct. 2, the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance honored the Palladium Chamber Series and our series artistic director, Jeffrey Multer, with the MUSE Performing Arts Award at the Museum of Fine Arts.
We were in wonderful company that night, with fellow honorees Babs Reingold, Lorielle J. Hollaway, Kevin Hohl, Steve & Marie Beaty, Liz Dimmitt, and Leslie Curran. The annual MUSE celebration is a chance to catch up with friends and celebrate the people who make St. Pete such a great arts town. My thanks to Executive Director Helen French and the Arts Alliance team for bringing us together – and for their year-round work supporting artists and advocating for the arts in our community.
The award recognizes what our audiences have known for years: Jeff brings exceptional musicians to St. Petersburg, and together they make our Chamber Series something special.
Jeff, who has also served as the concertmaster of The Florida Orchestra since 2006, was busy that evening as TFO was opening its 2026-27 season down the street at the Mahaffey Theater. Jesse Turtle, St. Petersburg College’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the St. Petersburg College Foundation, accepted the award on his behalf. The Foundation is our Chamber Series title sponsor this season.
I was the MC of the program and talked about how Jeff came to me with the idea of a world-class chamber series 14 years ago. Together, and with a lot of help, we made it happen.
In remarks prepared for the occasion, Jeff described himself as “just a small part of this wonderful St. Petersburg success story.” He thanked our staff, the SPC Foundation, and our series manager, Laurel Borden, for her “tireless commitment to the continued success of this artistic treasure.”
He also made a point of thanking our audience members: “Without their constant support these last 14 incredible seasons would not have been possible.”
He’s right. Our musicians, staff, sponsors, donors, and audience members have all had a hand in building this series.
This season, we’re keeping that connection going with five concerts at the Music Center on SPC’s Gibbs campus. With just under 300 seats in the hall, I wouldn’t wait too long to reserve yours – we are on our way to sell-out crowds. Explore the season and get tickets by following this link.
Creative Loafing also released their Best of the Bay awards, and I was honored to find my name attached to two of them. The Best of the Bay party was at the Coliseum in downtown St. Pete on Oct. 7.
In a brand-new “all-stars” section, I was named “Best Champion for the Scene.” Former CL editor David Warner wrote about my years in Tampa Bay’s cultural scene, from the Artists and Writers Balls in 1970s Ybor, though my time at the Times and Tribune and as “Arts Czar” at Tampa City Hall, to my work now at the Palladium. Seeing those years gathered together was a reminder of how fortunate I’ve been to work with people who care about the arts and this community.
My new novel received a Best of the Bay award, too – “Best Gangster Resurrection: Paul Wilborn’s The Everlasting Life of Charlie Wall.” It was a good week.
But being a champion for the scene is something a lot of people do here. I see it in the artists who bring us new ideas through Palladium Creative Fellowships and other programming, the audiences who take a chance on someone they haven’t heard before, and the donors who help us make room for both.
That’s what we’ve been building at the Palladium: a place where artists can develop their work and audiences can discover something wonderful, at a price that makes it possible to come back. The Chamber Series is part of that story. So are the jazz and blues nights in the Side Door, BEACON dance, and our Creative Fellowships.
These awards give us a chance to celebrate that work – and to thank the people who make it possible.
They also come at a time when your support means a great deal. While construction continues, our staff is keeping the Chamber Series going offsite and getting ready to welcome you home next fall. That includes professional development, planning for our reopening, and working on new initiatives to make your Palladium experience even better – from a new website to a membership program and more. There is plenty happening behind the scenes, and your support helps us carry that work forward.
If you’d like to be part of it, please consider a gift to Friends of the Palladium, our annual fund. Your contribution supports the programming and day-to-day work that keep the Palladium moving forward during our renovation and beyond.
Give today to Friends of the Palladium. Choose “friends of the Palladium” when making your gift.
You can also leave a lasting mark through Name a Seat, dedicating one of the new seats in Hough Hall to someone you love, a special memory, or your own commitment to the arts.
I’m grateful for the recognition. I’m even more grateful for the musicians, audiences, staff, and friends who have given us something worth recognizing.
Thank you for being part of the Palladium. There’s more ahead, and I hope you’ll help us get there.
