Phoenix Symphony Holiday Pops
If it still doesn’t feel like the start of the holiday season, conductor Joseph Young is pretty sure he has the answer — the Phoenix Symphony’s Holiday Pops performance. We caught up with Young to talk about the annual tradition. Question: How do you go about putting a holiday program together? Answer: There are so […]
Phoenix Symphony musicians bring the healing power of music to patients
People drum by in scrubs of blue, jackets of white, shoes with thick soles. Coffee from the Baguettes Lobby Cafe sharpens the air. In the corner, dressed in formal black, a violinist and cellist from the Phoenix Symphony ready their bows. The rhythm of Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center beats steady until the first clear […]
Cum laude
PhoenixSymphony Hall11/23/2012 – & November 24*, 25, 2012Marjan Mozetich: Procession of DuosCarl Orff: Carmina burana Celena Shafer (soprano), Javier Abreu (tenor), Craig Irvin (baritone)The Phoenix Symphony Chorus, Thomas Bookhout (chorus master), The Phoenix Boys’ Choir, Georg Stangelberger (artistic director), The Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Michael Christie (conductor) The program opens with Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich’s (b. […]
Michael Christie conducts The Phoenix Symphony in ‘Carmina Burana’
Carmina Burana is Michael Christie’s first concert at Symphony Hall in his final season as the Phoenix Symphony’s music director. We caught up with Christie to talk about the performance as well as his feelings on Carl Orff’s most famous work. Question: What are your thoughts going into Carmina Burana? Answer: I’m thrilled to be […]
Beautiful music from a beautiful partnership
Steven Moeckel and Paula Fan celebrated their 10th anniversary as musical partners and friends on Sunday with a behemoth 12-hour marathon concert. I was only able to catch the concerto segment in the mid-afternoon and part of the chamber strings with Moeckel’s musical friends from the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Phoenix Symphony. But what I […]
Ignat Solzhenitsyn conducts Phoenix Symphony Conductor
The former music director of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and principal guest conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Ignat Solzhenitsyn is the son of Russian activist and Nobel Prize-winning author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. On his way to Arizona to conduct the Phoenix Symphony’s performance of Stravinsky’s Petrushka, Bartok’s Viola Concerto and Mendelssohn’s “Calm Sea” and […]
Ignat Solzhenitsyn to lead Phoenix Symphony Thursday
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s son and the principle guest conductor for the Moscow Symphony Orchestra leads the Phoenix Symphony’s performance of “Petrushka.” Violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama also performs Barktok’s viola concerto.
Q&A wtih Jing Zeng, Phoenix Symphony violinist
China native Jing Zeng joined the first-violin section of the Phoenix Symphony in 2006, having moved to the States at 16 to take part in the Young Artist Program of the Cleveland Institute of Music after winning the biggest violin competition in China. The Texas Tenors with the Phoenix Symphony What: The Texas Tenors, who […]
Tito Munoz guest conductor at Phoenix Symphony
The Music Director of the Opéra National de Lorraine and the Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy, Queens native Tito Muñoz had never been to Phoenix before he agreed to guest conduct the Phoenix Symphony. Muñoz, who previously served as assistant conductor for the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, […]
Phoenix School Pilots Mind Over Music Program
“You are part of a new movement,” said Jim Ward. “It’s something not being done anywhere else in the country.” He was speaking to students, families and educators who gathered Tuesday evening inside their school auditorium at ASU Preparatory Academy. His remarks followed those by State Senator David Lujan, chief administrator for the Phoenix charter […]
Phoenix Symphony, ASU launch music education initiative
Phoenix Symphony, ASU launch music education initiative
by Ed Masley – Oct. 3, 2012 04:46 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
The Phoenix Symphony has partnered with ASU Preparatory Academy on a new education initiative, Mind Over Music, aimed at integrating music into the science, technology, engineering and math curriculum , known as STEM.
Symphony president and CEO Jim Ward shared his thoughts on the initiative with families Oct. 2 at ASU Prep, where the symphony’s string ensemble presented “The Science of Sound” to illustrate how music can be used in the classroom.
Mind Over Music, he explained, is part of a new mission the symphony adopted in 2010 “to provide the joy of music as a catalyst for helping Arizona become the best place in the nation to live and to play and to work.”
The key component of that mission is “provide educationally sound music programs that will strengthen our next generation, resulting in a creative work force.”
John Huppenthal, state superintendent of public instruction, thanked the symphony for its commitment to “enriching our student’s lives with music,” adding, “The very best research now tells us that the arts are critical to the development of the whole child and that the integration of the arts and sciences educates each child more expansively and more powerfully.”
Myriam Roa, the superintendent of Phoenix Elementary School District No. 1, added, “We are firm believers that music and the arts are a vital component of the curriculum and in driving overall student achievement. Our students will benefit greatly.”
Each year, the Phoenix Symphony reaches 65,000 children in 290 schools statewide, Ward said. Mind Over Music “will help us expand that number and propel our mission forward.”
With the launch of this initiative, he said, the Phoenix Symphony has become the first symphony in the nation “to create a comprehensive, school-wide model that integrates music into STEM. In essence, we’re taking STEM and turning it into STEAM by adding the A, the arts.”
ASU Prep teachers and symphony members have worked together to develop a curriculum that, Ward says, gives students “the unique opportunity to see the world through the lens of music” — using musical intervals instead of textbooks worksheets to teach ratios, for instance.
Ward went on to note that research shows that “music has a profound cognitive and development benefit and when integrated into other subjects, music can and will raise student achievement across the curriculum.”
The hope, Ward told parents and students, “is that ASU Prep will emerge as a model site for music integration so that in years to come, as we bring new schools into the program, we bring them here first to learn from your teachers and administrators.”
“So you are part of a new movement. You are part of innovation . You are part of something that is not being done anywhere else in the United States of America.”
Auditioning at the Podium
When The Phoenix Symphony’s guest conductors take the podium this season, they’re not just stepping in to lead the orchestra and please the ears of the audiences – they’re also auditioning for a position. Current Music Director Michael Christie leaves the Symphony next spring, and orchestra administrators find new artistic leadership through a series of […]
Arizona ArtBeat: The Phoenix Symphony
Arizona ArtBeat: Phoenix Symphony Phoenix Symphony President and CEO Jim Ward talks about the new 2012-13 season and some of the innovative educational programs being sponsored by the Symphony. Guests: Jim Ward – President and CEO, Phoenix Symphony Click here to watch!
Reel Thoughts Interview: Wickedly Divalicious
Thousands of audience members have fallen in love with Alli Mauzey as Glinda in various Broadway companies of Wicked, but her breakout role was her hilarious role as crazy Lenora in the musical Cry-Baby, based on the John Waters comedy. (If you haven’t seen her perform the showstopping “Screw Loose” on YouTube, watch it immediately!) […]
The Phoenix Symphony Goes to School
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 26, 2012 The Phoenix Symphony Goes To SchoolSymphonic ensembles present cross-curricular concerts PHOENIX – Beginning Tuesday October 2, 2012 The Phoenix Symphony heads back to schools throughout the Valley for its annual Bach-In-Roll and Classroom Concert series. Musicians from the Symphony perform and moderate […]
Video: Fitz Conducts Phoenix Symphony
WR Larry Fitzgerald is featured as a guest conductor for the Phoenix Symphony Hall. Watch the all-pro receiver as he leads the symphony in the National Anthem. Click here to watch!
Interview with Phoenix Symphony Orchestra CEO Jim Ward
KJZZ’s Dennis Lambert spoke with Phoenix Symphony Orchestra CEO Jim Ward about the group’s upcoming season.
The Phoenix Symphony Orchestra starts its new season on Thursday night. It will be the last season for Music Director Michael Christie. KJZZ’s Dennis Lambert spoke with Symphony CEO Jim ward about how his film and marketing background, including a stint with Lucas Films, is helping him in his current position.
Phoenix Symphony Opens its Pops Series with Wicked Divas
Concert features Broadway stars Alli Mauzey and Nicole Parker PHOENIX – The Phoenix Symphony opens its 2012/13 APS Pops Series with Wicked Divas on September 28, 29, and 30 at Symphony Hall. Enjoy an exciting evening of Broadway show-stoppers from hit musicals such as Gypsy, Ragtime, Phantom of the Opera, Carmen, and Wicked. This high-energy […]
Phoenix Symphony returns to Prescott Sunday
The first of seven performances by the Phoenix Symphony in Prescott during the symphony’s 2012-13 season will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23, at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center. Guest soloist violinist Elena Urioste headlines the performance, playing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 61. Since being featured on a cover of […]
Sarah Hicks conducts the Phoenix Symphony
Sarah Hicks is about to guest-conduct the Phoenix Symphony in an opening-night performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major. Leonard Bernstein’s “Overture to ‘Candide’ ” and a symphonic overview of “West Side Story” also are on the bill. That’s a major change of pace from how she spent the summer of 2011 — conducting the […]
