Steve Hackman, conductor and creator

In conjunction with The Phoenix Symphony’s performance of Gustav Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection” one week earlier, conductor and music visionary Steve Hackman fuses highlights from Mahler’s Second Symphony with the rap music of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur into Resurrection Mixtape, a transformative exploration of life and death, legacy, struggle and triumph. Recordings such as Biggie’s “Juicy,” “Hypnotize” and “Who Shot Ya” and Tupac’s “Changes,” “Ghetto Gospel” and “California Love” are interpolated in thematically-linked mashups that speak of hard roads, ravaged communities, gangster life and letting loose. As Mahler’s music whirls and rises to its triumphant climax, you’ll be reminded of the powerful and profound legacy of these two rappers, who, twenty-five years after their deaths, are as relevant and essential as ever.