Archived Releases:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phoenix Symphony Announces World-Premiere of Mark Grey's Enemy Slayer
Oratorio Represents Fusion of Navajo Culture with Traditional Orchestral Art Form
(PHOENIX) - In celebration of The Phoenix Symphony's 60th Anniversary, the orchestra has commissioned a work combining symphonic music with the traditions of the Southwest in Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio. The work for chorus, orchestra, and baritone soloist composed by Music Alive Composer-in-Residence Mark Grey explores a contemporary retelling of an ancient but timeless Navajo epic. Incorporating a libretto of Navajo and English-language text by Navajo librettist Laura Tohe, the world-premiere will also include the digital artwork of photographer Deborah O'Grady as visual backdrop to the music of the Oratorio. The world premiere weekend will take place February 7-9 at Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix under the direction of Virginia G. Piper Music Director Michael Christie. Using the monster slayer narrative from the Navajo Creation Story as a starting point, composer Mark Grey adapted the story of Seeker, a warrior born to protect the Navajo people and rid the world of monsters. In this modern retelling, Seeker returns from war to a heartfelt welcome by his people, but the memories of combat continue to haunt his dreams. The Seeker must overcome these nightmares to conquer his personal quest towards fulfillment and wholeness. The role of the Seeker will be sung by internationally-renowned baritone Scott Hendricks while the Phoenix Symphony Chorus will represent the Navajo ancestral "voices" providing guidance to the Seeker as well aiding in the telling of the epic story. The concert will also feature digital images taken on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona by photographer Deborah O'Grady depicting the four cardinal directions and the four seasons that Seeker will experience during his personal journey. The world-premiere performance will represent an immense collaboration of cultural traditions and artists from throughout the southwestern United States. "This project is a fusion of Western concert music and Native American traditions providing the public with an enlightened understanding of the culture that has existed for centuries in the Southwest," says Grey. Arizona State University Associate Professor of English and Navajo librettist Laura Tohe adapted the ancient story of spiritual battle and recovery for modern times as Mark Grey composed music combining the symphonic repertory with sounds evoking the spirit of the Navajo. With English and Navajo language elements, western and Native American musical components, and a mix of both contemporary narratives, Enemy Slayer will be a unique multi-cultural performance experience for The Phoenix Symphony and the greater public. Several community events will explore facets of Navajo culture as well as the evolution of the new musical work before the world-premiere of Enemy Slayer in February, 2008. Composer-in-Residence Mark Grey and Laura Tohe will participate and lead a number of activities across Phoenix as well as on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona. Activities include lectures, concerts, films, and a special reduction of the work giving the public a glimpse of the Oratorio. For more information on free Navajo Oratorio events, visit www.phoenixsymphony.org. "The Phoenix Symphony is truly honored to be part of this unprecedented artistic collaboration between its musicians, staff, patrons, and the greater community," says Music Director Michael Christie. The orchestra has partnered with The Heard Museum, the American Symphony Orchestra League and its residency program Music Alive, the Target Corporation, and many others who helped made this project a reality. Tickets to hear the world premiere of Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio are $19-$68 and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602.495.1999 or online at www.phoenixsymphony.org.
###
About Music Alive Composer-in-Residence Mark Grey: Mark Grey is a musician and sound designer now living in Phoenix. Originally from San Francisco, Grey made his Carnegie Hall debut as a composer with Kronos Quartet in November 2003. His music has been performed in such venues as the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, Barbican Centre in London, Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, and Royce Hall in Los Angeles. As a sound designer, he has premiered several major works for composers John Adams, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley and Paul Dresher. He is an artistic collaborator, sound designer and soundscape engineer for John Adams's critically acclaimed On the Transmigration of Souls, which received the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Music as well as three Grammy awards in 2005.
About librettist Dr. Laura Tohe: Librettist Laura Tohe is Diné (Navajo). She was born in Fort Defiance, Arizona and is Tsénáhábiãnii (Sleepy Rock People clan) and born for the Tódich'inii (Bitter Water clan). Dr. Tohe is currently Associate Professor of English at Arizona State University. A poet and scholar, Tohe's work has been published in the journals Ploughshares, New Letters, Calyx and others. Her chapbook of poetry, Making Friends with Water, has been translated into modern dance and music by The Moving Company in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1999 Dr. Tohe's book of poetry, No Parole Today, was awarded Poetry of the Year by the Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers. She co-edited Sister Nations: Native American Women Writers on Community. Her new book, Tséyi', Deep in the Rock, a book of poetry and photography by Stephen Strom, was listed as a 2005 Southwest Book of the Year.
About photographer Deborah O'Grady: Photographer Deborah O'Grady began a life in photography at age ten, when she won a small plastic camera as a raffle prize. Her work focuses on the landscapes of the United States, emphasizing aspects of history in relationship to contemporary development. She has explored various subjects including Lake County, California's local legends; the native peoples of the San Francisco Bay area, in a piece called "Imagining Native Earth;" and the motivations of war in "The Soldier's Dream," which melds vintage World War II combat photos with mythological images. O'Grady has shown work in the United States and internationally, at Cologne, Germany; Washington, D.C.; Buenos Aires, Argentina; the Stockholm Konserthuset in Stockholm, Sweden; and many other venues.
About baritone Scott Hendricks: Scott Hendricks, a native of San Antonio, Texas, has emerged as one today's most versatile baritones. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Houston Grand Opera Studio, and is a recipient of a Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant. A frequent guest of opera companies across the country, Mr. Hendricks has performed with Opera Colorado, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, San Francisco Opera, and Santa Fe Opera. Mr. Hendricks made his New York recital debut under the auspices of the prestigious Marilyn Horne Foundation and was an active member for many years. He also toured extensively with John Wustman as a soloist with the Complete Songs of Franz Schubert Recital Series. Scott has performed with the Gewandhaus Orchester in Leipzig, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Orchestra of St. Lukes, and maintains a close relationship with the Minnesota Orchestra.
About Music Director Michael Christie: Michael Christie begins his third season as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of The Phoenix Symphony with the 2007-08 season. He also serves as Music Director of the Colorado Music Festival and of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He has appeared with orchestras across the United States, Europe, and Canada, as well as with the Finnish National Opera, Queensland Opera, and Zürich Opera. In 1995, Mr. Christie was awarded a special prize at the First International Sibelius Conductor's Competition. Following the competition, he became an apprentice conductor with the Chicago Symphony. Michael Christie graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a bachelor's degree in trumpet performance. His conducting teachers have included Daniel Barenboim, Robert Spano, Eiji Oue, and Peter Jaffe.
About The Phoenix Symphony: Celebrating its 60th Anniversary Season, 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.
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 Gerald W. Murphy.
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, in Scottsdale, in 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.
ENEMY SLAYER: A NAVAJO ORATORIO Symphony Classics Concert No. 8 February 7 - Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. February 9 - Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. at Symphony Hall
THE PHOENIX SYMPHONY Michael Christie, conductor Scott Hendricks, baritone The Phoenix Symphony Chorus Centered around a Navajo tribal narrative, Enemy Slayer is a contemporary interpretation of a warrior born to rid the world of monsters. Created by acclaimed Music Alive Composer-in-Residence Mark Grey and Navajo Poet Laura Tohe, the oratorio incorporates a chorus of over 100 voices, full symphony orchestra and one of the brightest soloists appearing on stage today. Paired with Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite, this will be a celebration of the beauty and heritage of Arizona and truly one of the great highlights of the season. This weekend's concerts sponsored by Target, The Official Retail Sponsor of The Phoenix Symphony TICKETS: $19, $29, $39, $48, $58, $68
--------------------------------------------------------- The Phoenix Symphony's 2007-08 Media Sponsors are The Arizona Republic and KAET.
