Phoenix Symphony News Releases

Phoenix Symphony Tickets On Sale August 1

The Phoenix Symphony — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:17:08 GMT

Phoenix Symphony Tickets On Sale August 1

2010/11 Season brings festivals to the Valley and launches Rediscovered Masters series

PHOENIX – Individual tickets for The Phoenix Symphony’s 2010/11 Season will go on sale Sunday, August 1 and can be purchased through the Phoenix Symphony Box Office by phone at 602-495-1999 from 10 am to 2 pm or online at www.phoenixsymphony.org beginning at midnight. This exciting season includes the US Airways Classics, APS Pops and Target Family Series with more than 200 concerts and presentations in downtown Phoenix and throughout the Valley.

The season will feature collaborations such as the semi-staged co-production “The Music Man” (September 10 - 12) with Phoenix Theatre and “Elijah” (February 3 - 5) with the Phoenix Art Museum. Other season highlights include “Boléro” (September 23 - 25), “Handel’s Messiah” (December 9 – 19), “Brandenburg Festival” (January 14 – 17), “Cirque de la Symphonie” (February 25 - 27), the two-week “World’s Greatest Piano Concerto Festival” (May 5 - 14) and “The Red Violin” (May 19 and 21) featuring Concertmaster Steven Moeckel.

Guest artists include pianist Benedetto Lupo, violinists Augustin Hadelich and Jennifer Frautschi and organist Paul Jacobs. Guest conductors include Mei-Ann Chen, Christian Lindberg, Joel Revzen, Jack Everly, Michael Krajewski, Robert Moody, and James Sedares.

During the Holocaust, the works of numerous composers were banned and entire schools of composition were eradicated while small pockets of music thrived in concentration camps across Eastern Europe. Throughout the 2010/11 Season, The Phoenix Symphony will explore and perform many of these works for the first time in its series “Rediscovered Masters.” These composers include such masters as Pavel Haas, Mieczyslaw Weinberg, Hans Krása, Erwin Schuloff, Marcel Tyberg and Kurt Weill. Throughout the season, The Phoenix Symphony and the Arizona State University Center for Jewish Studies, in conjunction with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will present a series of lectures, films and discussions around the Valley, linking the musical presentations to the cultural and historical themes of assimilation, modernization, destruction and remembrance.

More information about the upcoming 2010/11 Season can be found at www.phoenixsymphony.org and a free concert guide detailing the 2010/11 Season is available by calling the Box Office at 602-495-1999.

About The Phoenix Symphony: The Phoenix Symphony has been proudly serving the citizens of the Phoenix metropolitan area and Arizona since 1947. What began as an occasional group of musicians performing a handful of concerts each year (in a city of fewer than 100,000 people) today serves more than 300,000 people annually, with almost 200 concerts and presentations throughout the greater Phoenix area and beyond.

Under the artistic leadership of Michael Christie as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director and administrative leadership of President Maryellen H. Gleason, the orchestra is overseen by the non-profit Phoenix Symphony Association under Board Chairman C.A. Howlett.

The Phoenix Symphony presents an annual season from September through the beginning of June, featuring full-length classical and pops concerts at Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix, as well as concerts in Scottsdale, Mesa, Prescott and throughout central Arizona. The Symphony performs for more than 80,000 students and children, helping to introduce music to new generations through a variety of education and youth-engagement programs.

The Phoenix Symphony Appoints New Assistant Conductor

The Phoenix Symphony — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:36:29 GMT

The Phoenix Symphony Appoints

New Assistant Conductor

Finalist comes from the American Conducting Fellows Program

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Symphony has appointed Joseph Young as its new Assistant Conductor.

"Joseph is a tremendous talent with an infectious love for performing music and being its advocate. His unprecedented educational background is a marvelous asset for The Phoenix Symphony's robust education program. He is ambitious and focused, attributes that are essential to the DNA of an American conductor” says The Virginia G. Piper Music Director, Michael Christie.

A member of the American Conducting Fellows Program, a prestigious conductor training program of the League of the American Orchestras, Mr. Young comes to Phoenix from the Buffalo Philharmonic where he conducted many concerts including the Education, Family, Classics and Holiday series. Most recently, Mr. Young has been selected as one of eight participants of the International Jorma Panula Conducting Workshop in Porto, Portugal. With a bachelor's of music degree from the University of South Carolina, he finished his graduate studies at the Peabody Conservatory and earned an artist's diploma in 2009. Mr. Young has received numerous awards including the 2008 recipient of the Sir Georg Solti Foundation Career Grant for young conductors, and he was selected as a finalist for the Conductors Guild’s 2008 Thelma A. Robinson Award. His primary conducting teachers are Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar.

“The League of American Orchestras has been proud to support Joseph Young through this work with the Baltimore Symphony and the Peabody Conservatory, and as an American Conducting Fellow at the Buffalo Symphony. We are delighted to see him move to his new role with the Phoenix Symphony. This should be a great match for the Symphony and for Joseph.” says Polly Kahn, Vice President of the League of American Orchestras.

After receiving 66 preliminary applications for the Assistant Conductor position, just 5 candidates made it through to the live auditions at Symphony Hall. These live auditions, held in late May, consisted of a rehearsal with the full Phoenix Symphony as well as an Education presentation.

As The Phoenix Symphony’s Assistant Conductor, Mr. Young’s responsibilities will include serving as the cover conductor for Michael Christie and all guest conductors, to program, rehearse and conduct Family Series concerts as well as Symphony for the Schools and Classroom Concerts, and to program, rehearse and conduct special concerts such as fee engagements and community outreach concerts. This position also offers an exciting opportunity for mentorship with Michael Christie.

Mr. Young will succeed Benjamin Rous, the Symphony’s Assistant Conductor since the 2008/09 Season, as Mr. Rous has accepted the Associate Conductor position with the Virginia Symphony.

About The Phoenix Symphony: The Phoenix Symphony has been proudly serving the citizens of the Phoenix metropolitan area and Arizona since 1947. What began as an occasional group of musicians performing a handful of concerts each year (in a city of fewer than 100,000 people) today serves more than 300,000 people annually, with 275 concerts and presentations throughout the greater Phoenix area and beyond.

The 76-member Phoenix Symphony presents an annual season from September through the beginning of June, featuring full-length classical and pops concerts at Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix, as well as concerts in Scottsdale, Mesa, Prescott and throughout central Arizona. The Symphony performs for more than 50,000 students and children, helping to introduce music to new generations through a variety of education and youth-engagement programs.

The Phoenix Symphony Awarded $100,000 from Sundome Performing Arts Association

The Phoenix Symphony — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:49:49 GMT

The Phoenix Symphony Awarded $100,000 from Sundome Performing Arts Association

Grant to support Symphony concerts and

educational programs in the Sun Cities

PHOENIX – On May 18, 2010, The Phoenix Symphony was awarded a $100,000 grant by the Sundome Performing Arts Association (SPAA) through their “Grants for the Arts” program. Over $2M was given to 25 local non-profit organizations to create and fund a lasting legacy for the Northwest Valley’s fine arts community.

The $100,000 awarded to The Phoenix Symphony will support annual concerts in the Sun Cities, a week-long student learning project in elementary and middle schools, and subsidies for Northwest Valley students in Title I schools to attend “Symphony for the Schools” concerts held at Symphony Hall in Downtown Phoenix.

The May 18 event was held at the Briarwood Country Club in Sun City West with the check presented by SPAA President Kathy Jones to Symphony Board of Overseers Larry and Nancy Miller and Symphony Director or Marketing and Development Frank Bourget.

John Denver’s Legendary Music to be Performed by The Phoenix Symphony

The Phoenix Symphony — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:29:49 GMT

John Denver’s Legendary Music to be Performed by The Phoenix Symphony

Guest artist Jim Curry stands center stage

for this tribute concert

PHOENIX – In honor of John Denver’s legacy as a musician, philanthropist and songwriter, vocalist Jim Curry will present a special program with The Phoenix Symphony and guest conductor Lee Holdridge, performing Mr. Denver’s highlighted works in grand symphonic fashion. Selections will include Rocky Mountain High, Leaving on a Jet Plane and Back Home Again. These nostalgic concerts will take place June 4 & 5 at 8 pm at Symphony Hall as the final concert of the 2009/10 Pops Season, sponsored by APS.

One of the world's best-known and most-loved performers, the late John Denver earned international acclaim as a songwriter, performer, actor, environmentalist and humanitarian. Mr. Denver’s legacy has lasted nearly thirty years, gracing his audiences with songs of nature and the lush lands of America. He garnered numerous music awards and honors, including a 1996 induction into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

Jim Curry is today’s top performer of John Denver’s music. Mr. Curry’s tribute is the first and only full-length tribute to John Denver, and is a sell-out favorite time after time. Using the original orchestrations written for John Denver by Grammy award winning composer Lee Holdridge, Mr. Curry’s singing and guitar playing will share Mr. Denver’s positive messages of love, humanity and environmental awareness with Phoenix audiences.

Tickets for “John Denver” start at $26 and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602-495-1999 or by visiting www.phoenixsymphony.org.

The Phoenix Symphony Shines the Spotlight on Great Opera Choruses

The Phoenix Symphony — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:03:54 GMT

The Phoenix Symphony Shines the Spotlight on Great Opera Choruses

Program includes works from

Madama Butterfly, Aida and Carmen

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Symphony’s 2009/10 Classics Series comes to a triumphant close with a monumental program of the world’s greatest opera choruses.

The Virginia G. Piper Music Director Michael Christie will lead these powerful concerts May 20 and 22. Phoenix Symphony musicians will be joined onstage by the Phoenix Symphony Chorus performing the great works from George Bizet, Giocomo Puccini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi. From Verdi’s historic Va Pensiero from Nabucco and his unforgettable Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore to Puccini’s La Gira la Cote from Turandot, the Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly and Wagner’s Bridal Procession from Lohengrin, this will be a grand finale with over 175 musicians and singers on stage.

Concerts will be held at Symphony Hall on May 20 at 7:30 pm and May 22 at 8 pm and are sponsored by Matson Navigation Companies.

Tickets for “Great Opera Choruses” range from $22 to $72 and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602-495-1999 or by visiting www.phoenixsymphony.org.

“Great Opera Choruses” and The Phoenix Symphony’s 2009/10 Classics Series Season are sponsored by US Airways.

Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Come to Symphony Hall

The Phoenix Symphony — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:49:50 GMT

Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Come to Symphony Hall

Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic come to Phoenix

as part of their national tour

PHOENIX – Hailed as one of the most exciting and compelling conductors of our time, Gustavo Dudamel will make his Phoenix debut as he conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Symphony Hall on May 12 at 7:30 pm.

Having begun his tenure as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the fall of 2009, Mr. Dudamel’s infectious energy and exceptional artistry have made him one of the most sought-after conductors by orchestras around the world. He embarks on an ambitious tour with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and makes a stop at Symphony Hall for a spellbinding program including Mahler’s massive Symphony No. 1 and John Adams’ newest symphonic work City Noir, a piece commissioned for Dudamel’s opening program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Mr. Dudamel was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, where he studied violin at the Jacinto Lara Conservatory with José Luis Jiménez and later, with José Francisco del Castillo, at the Latin American Academy of Violin. In 1996, he began his conducting studies with Rodolfo Saglimbeni and that same year was named Music Director of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra. In 1999, along with assuming the Music Director position of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, he began conducting studies with José Antonio Abreu, the Orchestra’s founder. In May 2007, Dudamel was awarded the Premio de la Latinidad, an honor given for outstanding contributions to Latin cultural life. In 2008, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra was granted Spain’s annual Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, and in 2007, Dudamel received the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for Young Artists. Along with his mentor Dr. Abreu, he was granted the 2008 “Q” Prize from Harvard University for extraordinary service to children. In June 2009, he received an honorary doctorate from the Universidad Centro-Occidental Lisandro Alvarado in his hometown of Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Gustavo Dudamel was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2009 by TIME magazine and has been featured twice on CBS’ 60 Minutes.

Tickets for “Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic” range from $35 to $125 and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602-495-1999 or by visiting www.phoenixsymphony.org.

Guest Conductor En Shao Leads The Phoenix Symphony in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

The Phoenix Symphony — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:05:07 GMT

Guest Conductor En Shao Leads

The Phoenix Symphony in

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Special performances of Tan Dun’s Masterpiece

PHOENIX – As a push to bring world music to Phoenix, The Phoenix Symphony will perform Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger Concerto May 13 and 15 with guest conductor En Shao and guest artist Betti Xiang playing the erhu.

The Crouching Tiger Concerto, a work for cello and chamber orchestra, is based on Dun’s Oscar-winning score for the Oscar-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Also on the program are Richard Strauss’ tone poems Don Juan and Death and Transfiguration.

Making his debut with The Phoenix Symphony, En Shao is currently the Chief Conductor of the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the Principal Guest Conductor of the China National Symphony Orchestra and the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Taipei Chinese Orchestra.

A native of China, Betti Xiang is regarded as a virtuoso of the erhu, a two-string Chinese instrument used over thousands of years in the history of Chinese civilization. Ms. Xiang has received the coveted Young Artists Award in both Shanghai and Beijing for outstanding solo artist.

Concerts will be held at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 pm on May 13 and at Symphony Hall at 8 pm on May 15.

Tickets for “Tan Dan: Crouching Tiger Concerto” range from $22 to $72 and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602-495-1999 or by visiting www.phoenixsymphony.org.

“Tan Dan: Crouching Tiger Concerto” and the final concert of The Phoenix Symphony’s 2009/10 Classics Series Season, “Great Opera Choruses” (May 20 – 22), are sponsored by US Airways.

The Phoenix Symphony to Perform Music from the Beatles, The Beach Boys and More

The Phoenix Symphony — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:20:18 GMT

The Phoenix Symphony to Perform

Music from the Beatles,

The Beach Boys and More

Valley favorite Michael Krajewski returns to Symphony Hall

PHOENIX – Guest conductor Michael Krajewski will return to Symphony Hall May 7 – 9 with a brand new show highlighting the musical hits of the 1960’s. Mr. Krajewski with his outrageous sense of humor has delighted Phoenix Symphony audiences with his past concerts including “Bond and Beyond” last season and 2007’s “Celtic Celebration.”

“Beatles & Friends: Sounds of the 60’s” will include the soundtrack of a generation including Eleanor Rigby and All You Need is Love from the Beatles as well as favorites from such 1960’s icons as The Mamas and the Papas and The Beach Boys with guest vocalist Rob Evan making his Phoenix Symphony debut.

Concerts will be held at Symphony Hall on May 7 at 8:00 pm, May 8 at 8:00 pm, sponsored by Donovan’s Steak & Chop House, and May 9 at 2 pm.

Tickets for “Beatles and Friends” range from $26 to $76 and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602-495-1999 or by visiting www.phoenixsymphony.org.

Other highlights of The Phoenix Symphony’s 2009/10 Pops Season, sponsored by APS, include “Patriotic Pops” (May 28 – 29) and “John Denver” (June 4 – 5.)

About The Phoenix Symphony: The Phoenix Symphony has been proudly serving the citizens of the Phoenix metropolitan area and Arizona since 1947. What began as an occasional group of musicians performing a handful of concerts each year (in a city of fewer than 100,000 people) today serves more than 300,000 people annually, with almost 200 concerts and presentations throughout the greater Phoenix area and beyond.

The Phoenix Symphony Spotlights Rich Heritage of American Music

The Phoenix Symphony — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:18:02 GMT

The Phoenix Symphony Spotlights

Rich Heritage of American Music

Program Spotlights Aaron Copland,

Samuel Barber and John Adams

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Symphony will perform “American Masters: Copland, Barber & Adams,” an all-American concert showcasing these influential composers of the United States. Concerts will take place at Symphony Hall April 30 and May 1 with a concert at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts on April 29.

These powerful concerts, sponsored by the Zicarelli Foundation, will feature the music of four American composers: Aaron Copland, John Adams, Samuel Barber and Howard Hanson. The program features Copland's brilliant score for The City, his first film score, which was presented at the 1939 World's Fair in New York and was themed on the contrast between life in a bustling city and life in a grim milltown. Also on the concert is John Adams’ lively and sometimes shocking Chamber Symphony, which marries a large symphonic work with a smaller chamber format and features fifteen talented Phoenix Symphony musicians. The program also includes Barber’s emotionally stirring Adagio for Strings as well as Hanson’s Second Symphony.

Tickets for “American Masters: Copland, Barber & Adams” range from $22 to $72 and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602-495-1999 or by visiting www.phoenixsymphony.org.

Other highlights of The Phoenix Symphony’s 2009/10 Classics Season, sponsored by US Airways, include “Tan Dun: Crouching Tiger Concerto” (May 13 - 15) and “Great Opera Choruses” (May 20 – 22).

Two-Week Festival of Beethoven Masterpieces Comes to Symphony Hall

The Phoenix Symphony — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:54:02 GMT

Two-Week Festival of Beethoven Masterpieces Comes to Symphony Hall

Music Director Michael Christie leads

The Phoenix Symphony in Beethoven’s Finest

PHOENIX – Celebrating the genius of Ludwig van Beethoven, The Phoenix Symphony will perform concerts over a two–week period, showcasing the power of both his popular and lesser known works. The festival will feature selections from The Creatures of Prometheus, the Leonore Overture No. 2 from his opera Fidelio, as well as his First, Third, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth symphonies. The Phoenix Symphony’s concertmaster, Steven Moeckel, will also be featured performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major.

A composer of prominent status for his innovative compositional techniques, Beethoven cast an imposing shadow on composers during his day and those that followed him. The two-week Beethoven Festival, sponsored by Jeanne and Gary Herberger and Hidden Meadow Ranch, will be the first in Phoenix Symphony history and will be held at various locations throughout the Valley April 1 – 10.

Beethoven Festival Schedule
April 1 at 7:30 pm at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts

April 3 at 8:00 pm at Symphony Hall, sponsored by Health Services Advisory Group

Violin Concerto in D Major, Symphony No. 6

April 2 at 11:00 am at Symphony Hall

Violin Concerto in D Major, Symphony No. 1

April 2 at 8:00 pm at Symphony Hall

Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”)

April 8 at 7:30 pm at Symphony Hall

Symphony No. 7, Grosse Fuge, German Dances

April 9 at 7:30 pm at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church

Symphony No 7, Symphony No. 8, Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus

April 10 at 8:00 at Symphony Hall, sponsored by SRP

Symphony No. 8, Selections from The Creatures of Prometheus, Leonore Overture No. 2

Tickets for “Beethoven Festival” range from $22 to $72 and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602-495-1999 or by visiting www.phoenixsymphony.org.

Other highlights of The Phoenix Symphony’s 2009/10 Classics Season, sponsored by US Airways, include “American Masters: Copland, Barber & Adams” (April 29 – May 1), “Tan Dun: Crouching Tiger Concerto” (May 13 - 15), and “Great Opera Choruses” (May 20 – 22).