The Phoenix Symphony Announces 2008-09 Season

Opening Night Wagner Spectacular with Soprano Jane Eaglen

Symphony Presents Inaugural World Music Festival Sponsored by the Target Corporation

Superstar Soloists include Lang Lang and Joshua Bell

Composer Spotlight highlights Haydn, Stravinsky and Higdon

Pops highlights include performances by Doc Severinsen, Tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein and the Music of 007: James Bond

Michael Christie leads Holiday Concert Season with Baroque Christmas and Messiah Performed Across the Valley

Symphony Presents Return Engagement of Popular “Bugs Bunny on Broadway” Production

Read entire Season Schedule of Performances and Events

About Phoenix Symphony Orchestra Music Director Michael Christie

Michael Christie begins his third season as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of The Phoenix Symphony with the 2007-08 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

Celebrating its 60th Anniversary Season, 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 Ed Wolf.

The 76-member Phoenix Symphony presents an annual season from September through the beginning of June, featuring full-length Classical and Pops concerts at Sym?phony Hall in downtown Phoenix, along with a variety of symphonic and community performances in Mesa, Prescott, Scottsdale 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.

The Phoenix Symphony's 2007-08 Media Sponsors are
The Arizona Republic and KAET - Channel 8.