(PHOENIX) – The New York Philharmonic has announced that Phoenix Symphony Virginia G. Piper Music Director Michael Christie will lead performances of the prestigious orchestra March 27-29 at Lincoln Center. He replaces Italian conductor Riccardo Muti who regrettably withdrew from conducting the weekend concerts due to illness. These performances mark Mr. Christie’s debut with the celebrated orchestra. 

Mr. Christie’s debut with the New York Philharmonic comes just weeks after the announcement of his contract extension with The Phoenix Symphony. The talented, innovative and energetic young conductor will continue to serve as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of The Phoenix Symphony through 2015.  Michael Christie remarks that, “It is a great privilege to conduct the New York Philharmonic and a tremendous honor to step in for the distinguished Riccardo Muti.” 

Michael Christie will conduct four sold-out performances of the New York Philharmonic performing Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto with soloist Pinchas Zukerman and Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3.  Performances take place at Lincoln Center on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 11 a.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m.  Mr. Christie will also conduct a Saturday afternoon performance at 2 p.m., which includes Schubert’s Octet, performed by musicians from the orchestra, followed by Copland’s Symphony No. 3.  More information about the concerts can be found at www.nyphil.org. 

Michael Christie will return to Phoenix the following weekend to conduct performances of Maurice Ravel’s masterpiece Daphnis and Chloé with The Phoenix Symphony and Phoenix Symphony Chorus April 4-6 at Symphony Hall. For more information, visit phoenixsymphony.org. 

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About Music Director Michael Christie: Michael Christie is in his third season as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of The Phoenix Symphony. 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 Ed Wolf.

The 76-member Phoenix Symphony presents an annual forty week season from September through the beginning of June, featuring full-length Classical and Pops concerts at Sym­phony Hall in downtown Phoenix, along with a variety of symphonic and community performances in Mesa, Prescott, Scottsdale, 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.