Steven Moeckel Solo Debut with The Phoenix Symphony

Symphony’s New Concertmaster Will Awe with Stunning Concerto

PHOENIX - Highlighting the tenth Classics Concert of The Phoenix Symphony Season, “Romantic Serenades,” is the Symphony’s concertmaster Steven Moeckel performing Pablo de Sarasate’s playful and sensuous Fantasy on Bizet’s Carmen. In substitution of conductor and violinist Jaime Laredo, who has generously agreed to postpone his appearance and will return in the 2010-11 Season, the virtuosic Moeckel will step center stage and assume concerto duty as the esteemed soloist. Moeckel was chosen from hundreds of musicians and was named as Concertmaster in July of 2008. The Virginia G. Piper Music Director Michael Christie will take his podium to lead The Phoenix Symphony in compositions of the Romantic strain: from Verdi, Dvorák, and Mendelssohn. Concerts will be on March 12 at 7:30 p.m. and March 14 at 8 p.m. A Friday morning Coffee concert, March 13, begins at 11 a.m. and includes one hour of music selected from the evening’s program. Thursday’s concert is sponsored by Phoenix Symphony Allegro and Saturday’s concert is sponsored by Lowry Hill.

Tickets for “Romantic Serenades” range from $22 to $72 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 Season include “Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances” (April 2-3) with the energetic bluegrass trio Time for Three, “Carmina Burana” (April 23-25) and “A Salute to Rodgers & Hammerstein” (May 15-17).

About Steven Moeckel
The internationally acclaimed violinist Steven Moeckel has appeared as soloist and concert artist throughout Europe, South America, and the United States. Known for his artful interpretations, rich sound, and technical prowess, his extensive command of the concerto repertoire includes the works of Elgar, Tschaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven, Sibelius, Berg, and Ysaÿe. As a chamber artist, Moeckel has performed as violinist of the Makart Trio Salzburg with Erika Frieser and Dana Micacoi, and as first violinist of the Auraeus quartet in concerts throughout Europe. His notable U. S. appearances include the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, where he performed with Leon Fleisher and Menachem Pressler, and an upcoming engagement with the 2008 Sewanee Music Festival where he will be appearing with cellist Andres Diaz in Brahms’ Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102. His semifinal round performance at the 2005 Sibelius Competition, accompanied by Fan, received multiple curtain calls from the audience and rave reviews in the Helsinki press. Their debut CD, “Herin lies the soul…” was released in 2007 and the duo recently completed two highly successful recital tours in Mexico and Costa Rica during the spring of 2008.

Born in Germany, Steven Moeckel began his musical career at an early age, first as violinist, then performing at the age of eleven as principal soprano soloist for the renowned Vienna Boys Choir. After leaving the choir, he resumed violin studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, graduating with honors at the age of nineteen. He immediately assumed the position of Co-concertmaster of Germany’s Ulm Philharmonic, where he remained for three seasons. Moeckel’s principal teachers include Helmut Zehetmair, Leonidas Kavakos and the distinguished American violinist Miriam Fried.

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.

About Music Director Michael Christie
Michael Christie begins his fourth season as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of The Phoenix Symphony with the 2008-09 season. He also serves as Music Director of the Colorado Music Festival and of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He has appeared with orchestras across the United States, Europe, and Canada, as well as with the Finnish National Opera, Queensland Opera, and Zürich Opera. In 1995, Mr. Christie was awarded a special prize at the First International Sibelius Conductor’s Competition. Following the competition, he became an apprentice conductor with the Chicago Symphony. Michael Christie graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance. His conducting teachers have included Daniel Barenboim, Robert Spano, Eiji Oue, and Peter Jaffe.

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.

ROMANTIC SERENADES
Classics Concert No. 10
Coffee Concert No. 7

March 12 – Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m.
March 13- Friday morning at 11:00 a.m.
March 14 – Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m.
Symphony Hall

THE PHOENIX SYMPHONY
Michael Christie, conductor
Steven Moeckel, violin

VERDI - Nabucco Overture
DVORÁK - Serenade for Strings
DE SARASATE - Fantasy on Bizet’s Carmen
MENDELSSOHN - Symphony No. 4, (“Italian Symphony”)Concertmaster Steven Moeckel makes his solo debut with The Phoenix Symphony as Conductor Michael Christie leads a program including works by Dvorák and Sarasate, alongside Mendelssohn’s “Italian Symphony,” a bright postcard from his travels in the Italian countryside.

 Tickets: $22, $32, $42, $52, $62, $72
Friday Coffee Concert: $22, $28, $34
Friday “Meet the Artists” Luncheon: $25
PHOENIX SYMPHONY BOX OFFICE: 602-495-1999 or www.phoenixsymphony.org

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