By Kaitlyn Beickel
October 10, 2022
To prepare for the Phoenix Symphony‘s new season, we sat down with conductor and Virginia G Piper Music Director Tito Muñoz to talk about music education and his world travels.
The Phoenix Symphony is kicking off their 2022-2023 season on October 14-16 with a full orchestra for a romantic evening, featuring conductor and Virginia G. Piper Music Director Tito Muñoz and virtuosa violinist Sarah Chang.
“The 2022-23 season is our second season back after COVID. We are excited for The Phoenix Symphony to be in full swing with a few new members of our orchestra and to invite world-class guest artists to Phoenix for compelling performances,” Muñoz says. “The season was thoughtfully curated to offer something to appeal to everyone with new venues to connect with new audience members. We have classics, pops and engaging programming for the family.”
“A night at The Phoenix Symphony is a night to remember,” he added.
This season, The Phoenix Symphony will have concert performances across the Valley, including at the Mesa Arts Center, Orpheum Theatre, Camelback Bible Church and the Symphony’s newest venue partner, the Madison Center for the Arts. With a variety of music genres, the new season includes a spooky Halloween-theme Hocus Pocus show, the best of Broadway, holiday pops, the ICONIC New Year’s Eve concert and more.
“We’re able to have a really full, robust season,” Muñoz says. “We’re bringing back a family series, which we used to have and we hadn’t done in a few years, so we’re really excited to bring that back.”
Bringing the family together at The Phoenix Symphony not only is a great way to make memories, but also to show kids the value in music and music education, an issue that’s close to Muñoz’s heart.
“’Time and time again, it’s been proven that musical education is vital to improving young people’s lives,” Muñoz says. “It creates a sense of community, it creates an opportunity to learn discipline and gives students an outlet for their emotional growth, so there are a lot of reasons why music itself is just so important for people in general.”
“It’s unfortunate that it’s usually the first thing that gets cut when budget cuts happen in public schools, for example,” he added.
With concerts specifically geared toward younger audiences and the return of the family series, The Phoenix Symphony acts as a needed music education resource for kids.
“The Phoenix Symphony is an amazing resource because we have over 60 full-time musicians that live here, specifically working for The Phoenix Symphony as a full time job—so not only are they playing concerts in the hall, but they’re also participating in school programs,” Muñoz says. “They go out into the schools and play for the students, they work with teachers.”
You never know where music can take you. For Muñoz, he has appeared in the most prominent orchestras in North America and internationally. Through his music, he has made connections with people all around the world—even when he couldn’t speak their language.
“That’s the one thing that is so wonderful about music, it bridges cultures and peoples,” Muñoz says. “I can always speak the musical language to folks even if I don’t speak their actual language. It’s really a wonderful thing to be able to travel and meet people from all over the world.”
“I bring Phoenix to them, I represent Phoenix wherever I go,” he says.
Published By: Iconic Life
