The Phoenix Symphony performs selections from “Nixon in China”

Five of America’s top opera singers join Michael Christie and the Phoenix Symphony to portray highlights from John Adams’ pivotal work

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Symphony presents scenes from Pulitzer Prize-Winning John Adams’ Nixon in China November 12 – 14 in Symphony Hall. This groundbreaking and cross-cultural opera depicts the famous diplomatic excursion of the former president to the People’s Republic in 1972. Joining the Symphony will be five of America’s top vocalists portraying pivotal characters in full costume: Tracy Dahl as Madame Mao, Maria Kanyova as Pat Nixon, Keith Phares as Chou En-lai, Robert Orth as Richard Nixon and Thomas Hammons as Henry Kissinger. They will be joined onstage by the Phoenix Symphony Chorus. Dahl, Kanyova, Orth and Hammons are considered premiere vocalists for this work and are all featured on the recently-released CD of Nixon in China.

This will be a multi-media event with an onstage video component showing images relating to former President Nixon’s visit. Images from the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC and the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda, California have been compiled to serve as a virtual ‘set’ as well as a visual reflection for each vocalist showing experiences or thoughts the characters are having during their various arias. Images include the historic landing of Air Force One in China, photography of Chairman Mao and the Chinese military and personal photographs of Pat and Richard Nixon. All performances will be sung in English with English surtitles projected above the stage.

Recognized by critics for powerful themes and its innovative composition, Nixon in China will be a highlight of The Phoenix Symphony’s season as well as part its year long “Composer Spotlight” where it performs works from three different composers in concerts throughout the season. The composers featured during the 2009/10 Season are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sergei Prokofiev and John Adams.

These concerts, sponsored by the Dorrance Family Foundation, will be held at Symphony Hall in Downtown Phoenix on November 12 at 7:30 p.m. and November 14 at 8 p.m., with a shortened Coffee Concert November 13 at 11 a.m.

Tickets for “Nixon in China” range from $22 to $72 for November 12 and 14 and $22 to $34 for November 13. Tickets are also available for the Meet the Artists Luncheon following Friday’s Coffee Concert for $35. All tickets can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602-495-1999 or by visiting www.phoenixsymphony.org. Season tickets are still available with packages of Choose Your Own 4 concerts for as low as $80!

Other highlights of The Phoenix Symphony’s 2009/10 Classics Season, sponsored by US Airways, include “Strauss: Waltzes and Polkas” (November 27 – 29), “Basil Twist Master Peter’s Puppet Show” (January 14 – 16) and “Vivaldi/Piazzolla: Eight Seasons” (January 22 – 23).

Published on behalf of 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 almost 200 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 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 80,000 students and children, helping to introduce music to new generations through a variety of education and youth-engagement programs.  Visit http://www.phoenixsymphony.org for more information.

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