The Phoenix Symphony Adds Special Encore to April Concerts
March 18, 2009 · Published By Editor
Orchestra to Thank Record-Breaking Crowds by Performing an Audience Favorite Following Each Concert
PHOENIX – In appreciation and thanks for the outpouring of community support and loyalty from the Symphony’s new audiences and long time patrons, Michael Christie has announced that during the month of April, the orchestra will perform a special encore selection following each of the Classics concerts.
“We want to embrace the tremendous buzz we are experiencing this spring, so we thought it would be appropriate to kick off the April encores by performing Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Flight of the Bumblebee following the April 2-3 Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances concerts. This is such a beloved, whimsical piece, perfect for spring and provides a great opportunity to showcase the orchestra’s tremendous skill and technical abilities and to celebrate achieving these sales. We will play our hearts out and let our fingers fly to show our immense gratitude to all of the people who come out to our performances to enjoy great music. Let the buzz continue!” – Michael Christie, Virginia G. Piper Music Director. Throughout April, The Phoenix Symphony will follow each April classics concert with a select audience favorite performed as an encore.
Despite the economic slowdown, The Phoenix Symphony is experiencing record attendance at its concerts, with sales for single tickets up nearly 10% over last year. The Symphony is on track to achieve its single ticket sale goals for the year which will exceed last year’s record breaking year. This bucks the trend American orchestras are reporting from all across the country: 76% of orchestras are expecting shortfalls in single ticket sales this year.
The Phoenix Symphony has been enjoying record sales for both its classical and pops concert series, including an all-time high week of ticket sales reached during its Pops concert in March as well as several sold-out classical concerts in February including Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto.
The Phoenix Symphony’s April classical concerts include Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances (April 2-3), Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 (April 9 & 11), Carmina Burana (April 23 & 25), Saint-Saën’s Organ Symphony (April 30 & May 2). Tickets range from $22 – $72. In addition, The Phoenix Symphony’s 2009/10 Season has just been announced, with season tickets ranging from $80 “choose your own” packages to subscriptions including the full Symphony season. Tickets are available at http://www.phoenixsymphony.org/ or by calling 602-495-1999. Catch the “buzz” and order your tickets today!
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.
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.
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