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ProMusica Arizona presents "Great American Composers" Concert ProMusica Arizona will celebrate Jazz, spirituals, classical and traditional American folk music at its spring concert, "Great American Composers", on March 30 th and 31 st , 7:30 pm at the Boulder Creek High School . The performance by the chorale will feature three well-known William Dawson spirituals including "Ain't a That Good News", Norman Luboff's incredible "All My Trials", and Stephen Foster's "Hard Times Come Again No More". The orchestra's selections will include the suite, "An American in Paris " by George Gershwin, Robert Washburn's "Clarkson Centennial Overture", and "For a Beautiful Land" by Iowa composer Linda Robbins Coleman. The highlight of the evening will feature the combined chorale and orchestra's performance of four pieces from Randall Thompson's setting of Robert Frost poems, "Frostiana". ProMusica's Artistic Director, Kevin Kozacek commented that, "It's quite significant to realize that you don't often hear "Frostiana" performed with the full orchestra accompanying the choir. Many of the songs have often been done with piano accompaniment. But to hear "Frostiana" with the orchestra is like hearing a totally new piece: it is very beautiful". ProMusica chose the "Great American Composers" concert theme based on a program launched by the National Endowment for the Arts. This year the NEA launched an initiative called "American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius". This initiative is all-encompassing, providing funding and guidelines for choral music, dance, musical theater and visual arts. Included in the guidelines, the NEA provided a list of choral music that it recognizes as some of the great American choral works. ProMusica Chorale has chosen all of its music for this concert, including "Frostiana", from the NEA list. The NEA initiative also made funding available through the AZ Commission on the Arts to create educational outreach programs which can provide music and workshops for local high schools. In cooperation with Cindy Durazo, director of choirs at Mountain Ridge High School , Mr. Kozacek recently taught a half day workshop on "Frostiana" at the school, helping students understand the beauty of this classic musical work. Select students from the high school will also be chosen to join ProMusica in the March performance. "The opportunity for these workshops and for the students to participate with an orchestra is a great opportunity for the students. It really helps build local music programs, and the arts community in the Phoenix north valley as a whole", Kozacek said. Tickets for this outstanding performance are available online at www.promusicaaz.org , and at the following locations: Andrew Z Jewelers, 3655 W. Anthem Way , Anthem Community Center , and Deer Valley Credit Union, 3428 W. Anthem Way . For more information please call 623-465-4650. The concert will be held at the Boulder Creek Performing Arts Center, 40404 N Gavilan Peak Parkway , in Anthem on Friday March 30th and Saturday March 31st. The concert will begin at 7:30 pm . Early Patron seating will begin at 7:00 pm . General Admission tickets are $15 for adults, $7 for those under 18. Special Patron tickets are available for $50. ProMusica Arizona is supported by the Arizona Commission on the Arts with funding from the State of Arizona and National Endowment for the Arts. We are grateful to our season sponsors, The Desert Advocate, M&I Bank, and USAA for their support of our 2006-7 season. For More Information Contact: |
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ProMusica Arizona Chorale and Orchestra 623-465-4650
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