Prokofiev’s Classic Peter and the Wolf

Performed with Academy Award

Winning Film 

Concert brings fascinating version of the tale to large screen 

      PHOENIX – As spotlight composers for the 2009/10 Season, The Phoenix Symphony will feature the music of Sergei Prokofiev and John Adams February 18 - 20 at Symphony Hall. Highlighting these concerts is Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf set to the 2008 Oscar Award Winning short film.

      The classic masterpiece tells the tale of a young boy and his animal friends as they face a dangerous and hungry wolf. Throughout the beloved score, the orchestra highlights various instruments and sections, depicting the colorful characters of the fabled story.  The 2008 Oscar winner for Best Animated Short Film will be projected onto a large screen onstage above the orchestra with accompaniment provided by the full Phoenix Symphony and Virginia G. Piper Music Director Michael Christie.

      The concert is paired with John Adam’s innovative Shaker Loops, a mesmerizing composition with complex patterns and melodies.

      The February 18 concert, sponsored by Terry and Bill Wilhoit, begins at 7:30 pm. Tim and Casey Bolinger have sponsored the 11 am coffee concert on February 19 as well as the February 20 concert at 8 pm.

      Tickets for “Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf” 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. Season tickets are still available with packages of Choose Your Own 4 concerts for as low as $80!

      Other highlights of The Phoenix Symphony’s 2009/10 Classics Season, sponsored by US Airways, include “Tchaikovsky: Suite No. 3” (March 4 – 6,) “Mozart’s Requiem” (March 18 – 20) and “Beethoven Festival” (April 1 – 10.) 

      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. 

Peter and the Wolf - The Film 
Directed by Susie Templeton 
Produced by Alan Dewhurst and Hugh Welchman, BreakThru Films, London 
Simon Oslwang, Executive Producer 
By arrangement with G. Schirmer, INC. publisher and copyright owner