In my last article, I started listing one thing that really excites me about each concert in our season. I’m continuing that list, starting with December.
This concert represents our first collaboration both with the Margot Fonteyn Academy of Ballet and with the Yavapai Youth Choirs. No doubt I’m looking forward to the beauty of the dancers and their choreography with Tchaikovsky’s music.
January 8, 2023: James D’León and Friends
This concert presents three composers not previously represented within an AZ Phil season: Haydn, Schumann, and Paul Schoenfield. While I’m looking forward to the clarity and Spanish sound of Haydn’s Trio No. 39, and the warmth of the Schumann’s Piano Quintet, it is the unabashedly joyful and jazzy Cafe Music of Paul Schoenfield that has me most imagining great, infectious fun from the stage.
February 5, 2023: manos percussion
manos premiered two seasons ago as a percussion trio with AZ Phil timpanist Maria Flurry and two percussionists of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. This season, I’m excited that our principal percussionist Eddie Solomon joins manos for these concerts, making manos a percussion quartet. While Eddie has already performed in the orchestra, this is Eddie’s first up-close, chamber music concert with us.
April 2, 2023: Elijah
Our season closes with Mendelssohn’s Elijah performed with Dr. Joshua Harper‘s Quartz Ensemble. Like last season’s Brahms’ Requiem, this is a Joachim Linckelmann arrangement of a masterpiece for chamber orchestra. The performance of the Brahms filled me both with chills and tears, and I have no doubt that I will be transfixed by the Elijah performance.
I love that at Arizona Philharmonic we have so many creatives involved in planning our programming. This season, Maestro Peter Bay, Dr. Joshua Harper, Margot Fonteyn Academy of Ballet’s Ken Ludden, Yavapai Youth Choirs’ Arlene Hardy, clarinetist Scott Richardson, pianist James D’León, concertmaster Katie McLin, timpanist Maria Flurry, and other orchestra members have contributed to the diverse and beautiful choices of repertoire mentioned above. By the end of this season, there probably will be another half-dozen contributors who programmed the extra concerts we will have offered.
We encourage you to grab season tickets while they are still available for the next couple of weeks. Season Ticket holders not only receive the best pricing for concerts, they also receive exclusive invitations to artist meet-and-greet recitals we are arranging during the year.
– Henry Flurry, Executive Director
Get to Know a Musician
Have you ever wondered how an AZ Phil musician on stage became so proficient on their instrument? Or why they chose that particular instrument? Or what other interests they have?
Wonder no more! We invite you to get to know one of our musicians by hosting them in a spare bedroom for a few days before a concert. Many of our musicians come from across Arizona, and to help them save money, we try to pair each with a host during their stay in Prescott.
All you need to offer is a bedroom and bathroom, although many hosts do share one or more meals with the musician. And while you probably have already purchased your tickets to our concerts, we do thank you with an additional pair for your personal use or to share with another.
One recent host says, “Over the past few months, I have been having an occasional musician from AZ Phil stay at my home for a day or two before their concerts in Prescott. I have to say, it has been so much fun getting to know some amazing musicians and hearing about their cool adventures playing in many different orchestras.”
If you’d like our hosting team to reach out to you, either to answer questions or to welcome you into the hosting family, please let us know by filling out this short form here.
