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 Symphony Magazine in 2008 as an emerging artist to watch, Urioste has made acclaimed debuts with numerous major orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, and now makes her debut with the Phoenix Symphony. Other selections scheduled for the Sunday concert are: Leonard Bernstein’s “Symphonic Dances” from “West Side Story”; his “Overture” from “Candide”; and “Hungarian Dances” by Johannes Brahms.
The Phoenix Symphony’s Prescott performances are sponsored by the Yavapai Symphony Association (YSA). Now entering its 46th season, YSA has been bringing the Phoenix Symphony to Prescott since 1966. “We’re especially excited about the 2012-13 season, as all seven concerts include well-loved pieces with special performances by featured guest artists,” said YSA President Carol Sundberg.
“Subscribers to all seven concerts will also have the opportunity to experience the batons of five guest conductors as the Phoenix Symphony evaluates prospective replacements for Michael Christie,” Sundberg added. Christie, who has led the Phoenix Symphony for nine years, is leaving to become the music director for the Minnesota Opera. He will conduct only two of this season’s Prescott concerts: Jan. 6 and a “Final Farewell Prescott Concert” on March 24. Sarah Hicks will conduct the opening Sept. 23 concert. Other conductors visiting Prescott with the Phoenix Symphony during the 2012-13 season are: Ignat Solzhenitsyn; Andreas Delfs; Andrew Constantine, and Edwin Outwater.
Season Tickets for all seven concerts will be available through Sept. 21, 2012, from the Yavapai Symphony Association Office 928-776-4255. The YSA Office, 228 Alarcon St., is open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and the Friday before each Sunday concert, for patrons wishing to buy tickets in person.
Tickets for individual concerts are also on sale now. The purchase of season tickets represents a 20 percent savings over tickets patrons buy for individual concerts. “It’s like getting one concert free,” Sundberg said. And season ticket subscribers have the benefit of continuing to retain their exact same seats from year to year and may return any tickets for concerts they can’t attend back to the association for a tax deduction for their re-sale.
Full-time college students can buy any available ticket for $10 per concert. Any elementary or secondary student and accompanying adult can receive complimentary tickets to any concert as long as row B orchestra seats remain available.
More information about the Yavapai Symphony Association, including details of association’s music scholarship program, is available at www.yavapaisymphony.org.
All concerts are at 3 p.m. on Sundays at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St. in Prescott. Pre-concert lectures about each performance are presented beginning at 2 p.m.
