Doc Severinsen Returns to The Phoenix Symphony

Former Tonight Show Music Director kicks off the year with his new Latin-inspired Pops show “El Ritmo de la Vida”

PHOENIX – Valley favorite Doc Severinsen brings his flair and showmanship back to The Phoenix Symphony to perform “El Ritmo de la Vida” (The Rhythm of Life) January 30-February 1.  Doc was The Phoenix Symphony’s Principal Pops Conductor for twenty-two seasons – a highly successful tenure that ended in 2006.

His new show features classical guitarist Gil Gutierrez and violinist Pedro Cartas performing a wide range of Latin-inspired music: from ballads and Spanish grooves to jazz. Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8 p.m. and a Sunday matinee concert begins at 2 p.m.; all concerts are at Symphony Hall.

Since moving to Mexico at the end of 2006, Doc has kept a busy performance schedule and made new partnerships with Mexican musicians Gutierrez and Cartas. According to Doc, “I came to Mexico with retirement on my mind, but when I heard them play I knew that I would be playing with them for some time to come.”

Tickets to see “El Ritmo de la Vida” with Doc Severinsen range from $26 to $76 and can be purchased by calling The Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602-495-1999 or by visiting www.phoenixsymphony.org. Other highlights of The Phoenix Symphony’s 2008-09 Pops Season, sponsored by APS, include “Pops Goes Vegas!” with conductor Jack Everly (April 17-19) and “A Salute to Rodgers & Hammerstein” (May 15-17).

About Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen has served as Principal Pops Conductor of The Phoenix Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra. Doc arrived in New York City in 1949 to become a staff musician for NBC. After years of playing with the peacock network’s studio bands, he was invited to do a gig with the highly respected Tonight Show Band. An impressed conductor, Skitch Henderson, asked him to join that band in 1962 as first trumpet. Five years later, Doc took over as Music Director, where he stayed until 1992. A Grammy Award winner, Doc has made more than 30 albums – from big band to jazz-fusion to classical. Today, Doc has not lost his flair for outrageous fashions and witty banter, and yet, he is highly regarded as one of the most technically proficient trumpeters. Doc is the ultimate showman, a high note virtuoso, a genuinely funny man and always a fashion fiend.

About The Phoenix Symphony
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 C.A. Howlett.

The 76-member Phoenix Symphony presents an annual season from September through the beginning of June, featuring full-length classical and pops concerts at Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix, as well as concerts in Scottsdale, Mesa, Prescott, 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.

DOC SEVERINSEN – EL RITMO DE LA VIDA
Pops Concert No. 4

• January 30 – Friday evening at 8:00 p.m.
• January 31 – Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m.
• February 1 – Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

Symphony Hall
THE PHOENIX SYMPHONY
Doc Severinsen, conductor & trumpet
Gil Gutierrez, classical guitar
Pedro Cartas, violin

With his signature trumpet, Doc Severinsen returns with his new show, El Ritmo de la Vida (Rhythm of Life). This spectacular concert features Spanish music with a jazz flair, gorgeous American and Latin ballads and stunning music from the big screen.

Tickets: $26, $36, $46, $56, $66, $76
PHOENIX SYMPHONY BOX OFFICE: 602-495-1999 or www.phoenixsymphony.org

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