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JJ Grey & Mofro November 3
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An Evening with Branford Marsalis November 4
12 Alexander Malofeev November 7
16 Brooklyn Rider and Nicholas Phan November 14
20 Rene Marié & Experiment in Truth
26 Scottsdale Philharmonic November 21
November 19
36 Jake Shimabukuro November 26
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January
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Photo: Life Photography
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Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Presents
JJ GREY & MOFRO Wednesday, November 3, 2021 7:30 p.m. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Virginia G. Piper Theater
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JJ GREY & MOFRO PROGRAM To be announced onstage. OPENER TK & The Holy Know-Nothings BIOGRAPHY JJ GREY From the days of playing greasy local juke joints to headlining major festivals, JJ Grey remains an unfettered, blissful performer, singing with a blue-collared spirit over the bone-deep grooves of his compositions. His presence before an audience is something startling and immediate, at times a funk rave-up, other times a sort of mass-absolution for the mortal weaknesses that make him and his audience human. When you see Grey and his band Mofro live—and you truly, absolutely must—the man is fearless. Onstage, Grey delivers his songs with compassion and a relentless honesty, but perhaps not until Ol’ Glory has a studio record captured the fierceness and intimacy that defines a Grey live performance. “I wanted that crucial lived-in feel,” Grey says of Ol’ Glory, and here he hits his mark. On the new album, Grey and his current Mofro lineup offer grace and groove in equal measure, with an easygoing quality to the production that makes those beautiful muscular drum-breaks sound as though the band has set up in your living room. Despite a redoubtable stage presence, Grey does get performance anxiety—specifically, when he’s suspended 50 feet above the soil of his pecan grove, clearing moss from the upper trees. “The tops of the trees are even worse,” he laughs. “Say closer to 70, maybe even 80 feet. I’m not phobic about heights, but I don’t think anyone’s crazy about getting up in a bucket and swinging all around. I wanted to fertilize this year but didn’t get a chance. This February, I will, about two tons—to feed the trees.” When he isn’t touring, Grey exerts his prodigious energies on the family land, a former chicken farm that was run by his maternal grandmother and grandfather. The farm boasts a recording studio, a warehouse that doubles as Grey’s gym, an open-air barn, and, of course, those 50-odd pecan trees that occasionally require Grey to go airborne with his sprayer. For devoted listeners, there is something fitting, even affirmative in Grey’s commitment to the land of his north Florida home. The farms and eddying swamps of his youth are as much a part of Grey’s music as the Louisiana swamp-blues tradition or the singer’s collection of old Stax records. As a boy, Grey was drawn to country-rockers, including Jerry Reed, and to Otis Redding and the other luminaries of Memphis soul. Run-DMC, meanwhile, played on repeat in the parking lot of his high school (note the hip-hop inflections on “A Night to Remember”). Merging these traditions and working with a blue-collar ethic that brooked no bullshit, Grey began touring as Mofro in the late ‘90s, with backbeats that crossed Steve Cropper with George Clinton and a lyrical directness that made his debut LP, Blackwater (2001), a calling-card among roots-rock aficionados. Soon, he was expanding his tours beyond the United States and the United Kingdom,
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playing ever-larger clubs and eventually massive festivals as his fan base grew from a modest group of loyal initiates into something resembling a national coalition. Grey takes no shortcuts on the homestead, and he certainly takes no shortcuts in his music. While he has, metaphorically speaking, “drawn blood” making all his albums, his latest effort, Ol’ Glory, found him spending more time than ever working over the new material. A hip-shooting, off-the-cuff performer (often his first vocal takes end up pleasing him best), Grey was able to stretch his legs a bit while constructing the lyrics and vocal lines to Ol’ Glory. “I would visit it much more often in my mind, visit it more often on the guitar in my house,” Grey says. “I like an album to have a balance, like a novel or like a film. A triumph, a dark brooding moment, or a moment of peace—that’s the only thing I consistently try to achieve with a record.” Grey has been living this balance throughout his career, and Ol’ Glory is a beautifully paced little film. On “The Island,” Grey sounds like Coleridge on a happy day: “All beneath the canopy / Of ageless oaks whose secrets keep / Forever in her beauty / This island is my home.” “A Night to Remember” finds the singer in first-rate swagger: “I flipped up my collar ah man / I went ahead and put on my best James Dean / And you’d a thought I was Clark Gable squinting through that smoke.” And “Turn Loose” has Grey in fast-rhyme mode in keeping with the song’s title: “You work a stride / Curbside thumbing a ride / On Lane Avenue / While your kids be on their knees / Praying Jesus please.” From the profane to the sacred, the sly to the sublime, Grey feels out his range as a songwriter with ever-greater assurance. The mood and drive of Ol’ Glory are testament to this achievement. The album ranks with Grey’s best work; among other things, the secret spirituality of his music is perhaps more accessible here than ever before. On “Everything Is a Song,” he sings of “the joy with no opposite,” a sacred state that Grey describes like this: “It can happen to anybody: you sit still, and you feel things tingling around you; everything’s alive around you, and in that a smile comes on your face involuntarily. And in that I felt no opposite. It has no part of the play of good and bad or of comedy or tragedy. I know it’s just a play on words, but it feels like more than just being happy because you got what you wanted—this is a joy. A joy that doesn’t get involved one way or the next; it just is.” Grey’s most treasured albums include Otis Redding’s In Person at the Whisky a Go Go and Jerry Reed’s greatest hits.The singer once said he grew up “wanting to be Jerry Reed but with less of a country, more of a soul thing.” With Ol’ Glory, Grey does his idols proud. It’s a country record where the stories are all part of one great mystery. It’s a blues record with one foot in the church. It’s a Memphis soul record that takes place in the country. In short, Ol’ Glory is that most singular thing: a record by JJ Grey, the north Florida sage and soul-bent swamp rocker.
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MAVIS STAPLES
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Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Presents
AN EVENING WITH BRANFORD MARSALIS Branford Marsalis, saxophones Joey Calderazzo, piano Eric Revis, bass Justin Faulkner, drums
Thursday, November 4, 2021 7:30 p.m. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Virginia G. Piper Theater
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BRANFORD MARSALIS PROGRAM Saxophonist Branford Marsalis is one of the most influential and revered figures in contemporary music. The NEA Jazz Master, Grammy® winner and Tony®-award nominee is equally at home performing concertos with symphony orchestras and sitting in with members of the Grateful Dead, but the core of his musical universe remains the Branford Marsalis Quartet. After more than three decades of existence with minimal personnel changes, this celebrated ensemble is revered for its uncompromising interpretation of a kaleidoscopic range of both original compositions and jazz and popular classics. After the Grammy®-nominated Upward Spiral, on which guest vocalist Kurt Elling was seamlessly integrated into the group, the quartet has followed up with the Grammy®-nominated The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, its most emotionally wide-ranging and melody-driven collection to date. John Zeugner captured the impact of the quartet in live performance in a recent concert review, calling it “casually confident, professional, cerebral, and supercharged with energy. The Branford Marsalis Quartet . . . was all of those adjectives and more.” BRANFORD MARSALIS After four decades in the international spotlight, the achievements of saxophonist Branford Marsalis continue to grow. From his initial recognition as a young jazz lion, he has expanded his vision as an instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, and educator, crossing stylistic boundaries while maintaining an unwavering creative integrity. In the process, he has become a multi awardwinning artist with three Grammy® awards, a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master, and an avatar of contemporary artistic excellence. Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of the late Ellis Marsalis, a pianist and educator, Branford Marsalis was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason. The Branford Marsalis Quartet, formed in 1986, remains his primary means of expression. In its virtually uninterrupted three-plus decades of existence, the quartet has established a rare breadth of stylistic range as demonstrated on the band’s latest release, The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul. But Marsalis has not confined his music to the jazz quartet context. A frequent soloist with classical ensembles, Marsalis has become increasingly sought after as a featured soloist with acclaimed orchestras around the world, performing works by composers such as Copeland, Debussy, Glazunov, Ibert, Mahler, Milhaud, Rorem, Vaughan Williams, and Villa-Lobos. And his legendary guest performances with the Grateful Dead and collaborations with Sting have made him a fan favorite in the pop arena. His work on Broadway has garnered a Drama Desk Award and Tony® nominations for the acclaimed revivals of Children of a Lesser God, Fences, and A Raisin in the Sun. His screen credits include original music composed for Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues; Henrietta Lacks, starring Oprah Winfrey; and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is the Netflix film adaptation of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s play, produced by Denzel Washington and released in 2020.
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Marsalis has also shared his knowledge as an educator, forming extended teaching relationships at Michigan State, San Francisco State, and North Carolina Central Universities and conducting workshops at sites throughout the United States and the world.The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul finds the celebrated ensemble at a new peak, addressing a kaleidoscope of moods with inspiration and group commitment. The quartet that saxophonist Branford Marsalis has led for the past three decades has always been a model of daring, no-apologies artistry, of ever-widening musical horizons, and deepening collective identity. With likeminded support from pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis (each with 20 years of service to the group), and drummer Justin Faulkner (the “rookie” who has been aboard since 2009), the band has long been a model of how to sustain and enlarge a musical outlook that is both historically and stylistically inclusive. Successive recordings have revealed new plateaus, and The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, the band’s first since 2016’s acclaimed Upward Spiral with guest Kurt Elling and first pure quartet effort since 2012’s Four MFs Playin’ Tunes, captures a new emphasis on both how to express and how to document the music. “Working with Kurt for a year and a half took me back to what I learned in hindsight from my gig with Sting,” Marsalis explains. “Working with a singer changes you in ways you don’t realize. When I started playing jazz after my background in R&B, all the possibilities I discovered led me to play solos that went on and on. Sting said, ‘No, you’ve got 45 seconds,’ which did more than just cause me to edit. It taught me to focus on the melodies, to get to the point.” The gigs that followed Upward Spiral had a similar effect on the rest of the quartet. “The guys in the band hadn’t been in that position for a long time, either, and it totally changed how we play. We became tighter because it was more about what we could do to support.” As a result, Marsalis realized that he could no longer be satisfied with the creative tension sparked when new material was confronted in the recording studio. “I still like the idea of having everyone bring in whatever they want to bring in when it’s time to record and seeing what we can develop,” he admits, “but we couldn’t just take the `jam session’ approach to recording anymore. We had to go out and work the music.” So, after an initial get-acquainted week of gigs and studio work at the Ellis Marsalis Center in New Orleans in October 2017, the band hit the road, probing and absorbing the new material as it toured the world. “In June,” says Marsalis, “when we had five days off in Melbourne, I asked the guys if they wanted to have fun or to work. We were ready to deal with the music.” In the Alexander Theatre at Monash University in Clayton, Australia, the band documented the seven latest additions to its already prodigious repertoire. The result is as complete a picture as one can assemble of the Marsalis Quartet within the confines of an hour. As usual there is compositional input from the veteran members, with Revis supplying the surging “Dance of the Evil Toys” and more tensile yet equally dynamic “Nilaste,” while Calderazzo reinforces the lyrical compositional yin to his virtuosic keyboard yang in “Cianna” and
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BRANFORD MARSALIS “Conversation Among the Ruins.” In addition to the leader’s own “Life Filtering from the Water Flowers,” with one of his most deeply felt and keenly shaded tenor saxophone solos, there are two of the more challenging jazz jewels of the mid-’70s, Andrew Hill’s “Snake Hips Waltz” and Keith Jarrett’s “The Windup.” Whether navigating the quirky three-bar phrases of Hill’s piece or the elegant composure of “Cianna,” the rambunctious mechanisms of "Evil Toys," or the haunting ruminations of “Life Filtering,” the quartet generates distinct and unerringly apt sonic profiles. “Sonny Rollins provided the template for playing each piece with a ton of vocabulary and how to use the sound of one’s instrument,” Marsalis notes. “With us, it’s all about sound and the power it has to create emotion. When you deal with sound, you don’t play the same thing twice in a row. You listen to each other, and every song is different.” Other influences, ranging from European opera and African percussion ensembles to such saxophone beacons as Ben Webster, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman, have shaped Marsalis’s command at nonverbal storytelling. “My approach in both writing and soloing is melodic and rhythmic, with harmony third,” he stresses. “We mold the harmony to the melody, where too many people let the harmony dictate. And we play in the cracks. I want to channel that vibe of all the great music I’ve heard, but to apply my own ideas.” Marsalis still finds that the perfect vehicle for realizing his goals is his stellar working band. “Some musicians may need to work in different projects to create the illusion of sounding different by changing the context, whereas we are confident that we can adjust our group sound, so we don’t have to change the context. What always appealed to me were the great bands, not just the great players who could start and stop at the same time. Staying together allows us to play adventurous, sophisticated music and sound good. Lack of familiarity leads to defensive playing, playing not to make a mistake. I like playing sophisticated music, and I couldn’t create this music with people I don’t know.” The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul confirms Marsalis’s vision. It is sophisticated, adventurous and anything but defensive, and it captures a great band sounding better than ever.
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Assisted Living: The Musical®
THE HOME… for the Holidays Thursday, December 16 – Sunday, December 19 2:00 and 5:00 p.m.
Tickets start at $35 / Stage 2 Christmas and retirement will never be the same in the return of this hysterical holiday sequel to Assisted Living: The Musical®, the runaway hit about the nursing home and beyond.
Click ScottsdalePerformingArts.org Call 480-499-TKTS (8587) Visit 7380 E. Second St. Donate Donate.ScottsdaleArts.org ScottsdaleArts.org | 480-499-TKTS
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Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Presents
VIRGINIA G. PIPER CONCERT SERIES
ALEXANDER MALOFEEV, PIANO Sunday, November 7, 2021 2:00 p.m. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Virginia G. Piper Theater
World Class Partner:
Presenting Partner: Dayton Fowler Grafman Endowment for Classical Music
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ALEXANDER MALOFEEV PROGRAM Two Tales, op. 48
I. Dance Tale
II. Tale of the Elves
Forgotten Melodies I, op.38
I. Sonata reminiscenza
II. Danza graziosa
III. Danza festiva
IV. Canzona fluviala
V. Danza rustica
VI. Canzona serenata
VII. Danza silvestra
VIII. Alla reminiscenza
Nikolay Medtner
Nikolay Medtner
INTERMISSION Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 (“From the Street”) Leoš Janáček
I. Presentiment
II. Death
Piano Sonata no. 1 in D minor, op. 28 Sergei Rachmaninov
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante
III. Allegro molto
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BIOGRAPHY ALEXANDER MALOFEEV (PIANIST) “The latest phenomenon of the Russian piano school” (Corriere della Sera), “Alexander Malofeev manifests the piano mastery of the new millennium in itself” (Il Giornale). Young, “Russian genius” (Corriere della Sera) Alexander Malofeev came to international prominence when he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in 2014 at age 13. Reviewing the performance, Amadeus noted, “Contrary to what could be expected of a youngster . . . he demonstrated not only high technical accuracy but also an incredible maturity. Crystal clear sounds and perfect balance revealed his exceptional ability.” Since this triumph, Malofeev has quickly established himself as one of the most prominent pianists of his generation. Recent and upcoming orchestral and recital highlights around the world include an appearance with the New World Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra with Patrick Summers, La Scala Orchestra and Lucerne Festival Orchestra with Riccardo Chailly, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Münchner Symphoniker, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Teatro di San Carlo, Prague Philharmonia, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam—where he opened the 30th anniversary concert of the renowned Meester Pianists series—Teatro alla Scala, Philharmonie de Paris, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, National Centre for the Performing Arts in China, Kaufman Music Center, Mariinsky Theatre, Tonhalle in Zurich, Boston Celebrity Series, Tilburg Recital Series, Vancouver Recital Society, a 2019 Asia tour with the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala under Riccardo Chailly, a performance with the Mariinsky Orchestra in St. Petersburg commemorating the 175th anniversary of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, concerts at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, and with the Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome. Festival appearances have included the Ravinia Festival, Festival Napa Valley, Aspen Music Festival, La Jolla Music Festival, Lucerne Festival, and Stars of the White Nights Festival in Russia, among many others. In addition to his First Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, he has won numerous awards and prizes at international competitions and festivals, including the Grand Prix of the International Competition for Young Pianists Grand Piano Competition, the Premio Giovane Talento Musicale dell’anno, and Best Young Musician of 2017. Also in 2017, Malofeev became the first Young Yamaha Artist. In 2019, he received second prize at the first China International Music Competition. In the spring of 2020, Sony Classical released the Tchaikovsky 2020 boxset, celebrating the 180th anniversary of Tchaikovsky with a recording of his First Concerto, performed by Malofeev with the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra and Alexander Sladkovsky. Malofeev was born in Moscow in October 2001 and is a graduate of the Gnessin Moscow Special School of Music. In 2019, he entered the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. ScottsdaleArts.org | 480-499-TKTS
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PABLO ZIEGLER CHAMBER QUARTET
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Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Presents
VIRGINIA G. PIPER CONCERT SERIES
BROOKLYN RIDER Johnny Gandelsman, violin Colin Jacobsen, violin Nicholas Cords, viola Michael Nicolas, cello and
Nicholas Phan, tenor Saturday, November 14, 2021 7:30 p.m. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Virginia G. Piper Theater
World Class Partner:
Presenting Partner: Dayton Fowler Grafman Endowment for Classical Music
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BROOKLYN RIDER PROGRAM “Never weather-beaten sail” THOMAS CAMPION (1567–1620) Trois Valses Anglaises*
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT (b. 1973)
Watching the Monarchs Come In Listen to the Queen Friend in Common
Stranger**
NICO MUHLY (b. 1981)
I. Chang, Fishkin, Fragments of the Past II. Rose Breci oral history, 1911 III. Letter from Wong Ar Chong to William Lloyd Garrison, 1879 IV. Leviticus 19:34 V. “Protest Against ill-treatment of the Chinese,” 1885 VI. Letter from Alexander Rudnev in the Jewish Daily Forward, 1909 VII. From Since You Went Away, WWII Letters from American Women, 1945 INTERMISSION String Quartet no. 14 in D minor, D. 810 (“Death and the Maiden”)
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828)
Allegro Andante con moto Scherzo: Allegro molto Presto Brooklyn Rider only *Arizona Premiere. This piece was made possible in part by the generosity of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. **Arizona Premiere. Commissioned by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society with support from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.
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Adventurous string quartet Brooklyn Rider joins celebrated tenor Nicholas Phan for an eclectic evening of premieres alongside a defining work of chamber music repertoire. Program highlights include the Arizona premiere of Nico Muhly’s Stranger, the Arizona premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s new work “Trois Valses Anglaise”—co-commissioned by Scottsdale Arts—and Franz Schubert’s String Quartet no. 14 in D minor, “Death & The Maiden.” BIOGRAPHY BROOKLYN RIDER With their gripping performance style and unquenchable appetite for musical adventure, Brooklyn Rider has carved a singular space in the world of string quartets over their 15-year history. Defining the string quartet as a medium with deep historic roots and endless possibility for invention, they find equal inspiration in musical languages ranging from late Beethoven to Persian classical music to American roots music to the endlessly varied voices of living composers. Claiming no allegiance to either end of the historical spectrum, Brooklyn Rider most comfortably operates within the long arc of the tradition, seeking to illuminate works of the past with fresh insight while coaxing the malleable genre into the future through an inclusive programming vision, deep-rooted collaborations with a wide range of global tradition bearers, and the creation of thoughtful and relevant frames for commissioning projects. The upcoming concert season is strongly illustrative of the intrepid musical appetite of Brooklyn Rider. This coming fall, they will premiere a major new work by the great Argentinian composer and close friend, Osvaldo Golijov. The quartet also has two new collaborative projects for 2021–22. One is with Israeli mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital, and the other is a brand new phase of work with tenor Nicholas Phan, where they will explore the music of Franz Schubert and Rufus Wainwright. Looking further into the future, they will expand work already underway with Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and will launch a major new commissioning venture for the 2022–23 season called The Four Elements; an exploration of the four classical elements (earth, air, water, and fire) as metaphor for both the complex inner world of the string quartet and the current health of planet Earth. Prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 season saw a veritable explosion of new projects and releases. Shared at the height of the United States' lockdown, the Grammy®-nominated recording Healing Modes (In A Circle Records) presented Beethoven’s towering Opus 132—the composer’s late testament on healing and the restorative power of new creation—interwoven with five new commissions powerfully exploring topics as wide-ranging as the United States-Mexico border conflict, the Syrian refugee crisis, the mental health epidemic, and physical well-being. Described by The New Yorker as a project which “... could not possibly be more relevant or necessary than it is currently,” the composers include Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Matana Roberts, Caroline Shaw, and Du Yun. Earlier in the same season saw the release of two projects from vastly different musical spheres. One with the master Irish fiddler Martin Hayes (In A Circle Records), an album which the Irish Times described as “a masterclass in risk-taking,” and the other, Sun On Sand (Nonesuch Records), featuring the music of Patrick Zimmerli with saxophone giant Joshua Redman and fellow collaborators Scott Colley on bass and Satoshi Takeishi on percussion. ScottsdaleArts.org | 480-499-TKTS
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BROOKLYN RIDER In fall 2018, Brooklyn Rider released Dreamers on Sony Music Masterworks with Mexican jazz vocalist Magos Herrera. Celebrating the power of beauty as a political act, Dreamers amplifies the visionary artistry of Violeta Parra, Federico Garcia Lorca, Gilberto Gil, Joao Gilberto, Octavio Paz, and others, all who dared to dream under repressive regimes. Featuring gems from the Ibero-American songbook in evocative arrangements by Jaques Morelenbaum, Diego Schissi, Gonzalo Grau, Guillermo Klein, and Brooklyn Rider’s own Colin Jacobsen, Dreamers topped numerous charts and garnered a Grammy® nomination for Best Arrangement (Gonzalo Grau’s “Niña”). Touring widely to support the album, they appeared at venues ranging from New York City’s Jazz at Lincoln Center to Mexico City’s Art Deco masterpiece the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Brooklyn Rider has remained steadfast in their commitment to generate new music for string quartet at nearly every phase of their history. To kick off the 2017−18 season, Brooklyn Rider released Spontaneous Symbols (In a Circle Records), featuring new commissions by Tyondai Braxton, Evan Ziporyn, Paula Matthusen, Kyle Sanna, and Colin Jacobsen. In the 2015−16 season, the group celebrated its tenth anniversary with the groundbreaking multi-disciplinary project The Brooklyn Rider Almanac, for which it recorded and toured 15 specially commissioned works by musicians from the worlds of folk, jazz, and indie rock, each inspired by a different artistic muse. The Fiction Issue, with singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane, featured his composition which was premiered in 2012 at Carnegie Hall by Kahane, Brooklyn Rider, and Shara Nova. Additionally, Brooklyn Rider has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the music of the iconic American composer Philip Glass, which began with 2011’s much-praised recording Brooklyn Rider Plays Philip Glass and continued with two subsequent installments of Glass’s works for string quartet, all released on the composer’s label Orange Mountain Music. Numerous other collaborations have helped give rise to NPR Music’s observation that Brooklyn Rider is “recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble.” During the 2016−17 season, Brooklyn Rider released an album titled So Many Things on Naïve Records with Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, comprising music by Colin Jacobsen, Caroline Shaw, John Adams, Nico Muhly, Björk, Sting, Kate Bush, and Elvis Costello, among others. Some Of A Thousand Words, an evening-length program with choreographer Brian Brooks and former New York City Ballet prima ballerina Wendy Whelan, was an intimate series of duets and solos in which the quartet’s live onstage music is a dynamic and central creative component. Some Of A Thousand Words was featured at the 2016 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, before two U.S. tours, including a week-long run at New York City’s Joyce Theater. A collaboration with Dance Heginbotham with music written by Colin Jacobsen resulted in Chalk And Soot, an evening-length work presented by Lincoln Center’s White Lights Festival in 2014. Brooklyn Rider has also frequently teamed up with banjoist Béla Fleck, with whom they appeared on two different albums, 2017’s Juno Concerto and 2013’s The Impostor. And in one of their longest-standing musical friendships to date, Brooklyn Rider and Iranian kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor released the highly praised recording Silent City (World Village) in 2008, still touring the project to this day. Brooklynrider.com | Facebook.com/BklynRider | Instagram.com/brooklynrider
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NICHOLAS PHAN Described by the Boston Globe as “one of the world’s most remarkable singers,” American tenor Nicholas Phan is increasingly recognized as an artist of distinction. An artist with an incredibly diverse repertoire that spans nearly 500 years of music, he performs regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies. Phan is also an avid recitalist and a passionate advocate for art song and vocal chamber music; in 2010, Phan co-founded Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC), an organization devoted to promoting this underserved repertoire. Phan launched the 2021–22 season in Chicago, curating and performing in CAIC’s tenth annual Collaborative Works Festival. This year’s festival, Strangers in a Strange Land, examines themes of immigration and migration through song. In addition to his debut with the Seattle Symphony, Phan makes returns this season to the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Los Angeles Master Chorale. He returns to San Francisco Performances with the string quartet Brooklyn Rider for performances of Nico Muhly’s song cycle Stranger, and he performs the world premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis’s Earth with the Seattle Chamber Music Society. He remains active at his blog, Grecchinois, where he writes on a variety of topics underlining classical music’s relevance to the world of today. A celebrated recording artist, Phan’s most recent album, Clairières, a recording of songs by Lili and Nadia Boulanger, was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. His album Gods and Monsters was nominated for the same award in 2017. He remains the first and only singer of Asian descent to be nominated in the history of the category, which has been awarded by the Recording Academy since 1959. His other previous solo albums Illuminations, A Painted Tale, Still Fall the Rain, and Winter Words made many “best of” lists, including those of The New York Times, The New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, and The Boston Globe. Phan’s growing discography also includes a Grammy®nominated recording of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony, in addition to albums with the San Francisco Symphony, Bach Collegium Japan, Philharmonia Baroque, and Apollo’s Fire, as well as the world premiere recording Elliott Carter’s A Sunbeam’s Architecture. Sought after as a curator and programmer, in addition to his work as artistic director of CAIC, Phan has also created programs for broadcast on WFMT and WQXR, and he has served as guest curator for projects with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Laguna Beach Music Festival, Apollo’s Fire, Merola Opera Program, and San Francisco Performances, where he served as the vocal artist-in-residence from 2014–2018. Praised by the Chicago Classical Review as “the kind of thoughtful, intelligent programming that should be a model,” Phan’s programs often examine themes of identity, highlight unfairly underrepresented voices from history, and strive to underline the relevance of music from all periods to the currents of the present day. Management for Brooklyn Rider and Nicholas Phan: Opus 3 Artists, LLC. Opus3artists.com
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Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Presents
RENÉ MARIE & EXPERIMENT IN TRUTH Xavier Davis, piano Randy Napoleon, guitar Elias Bailey, bass Quentin E Baxter, drums René Marie, vocals
Friday, November 19, 2021 8:00 p.m. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Virginia G. Piper Theater
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RENÉ MARIE & EXPERIMENT IN TRUTH PROGRAM René Marie describes her current concept, Pain + Wisdom = Beauty™, as an emotional equation colored and shaped by solitude and shared experience. We run from pain, but running is futile. Exploring the essence of our humanity with pain and wisdom as co-teachers, two sides of the emotional coin, beauty shines a light on the path that brought us here. Pain. Wisdom. Beauty. Three integers in a musical journey reflecting the sum of our experience. BIOGRAPHY René Marie is a rare artist. A modern vocal icon, her unique artistry has been recognized with multiple domestic and international awards, including two Grammy® nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album. A lyricist, composer, arranger, playwright, actress, educator, speaker, and social justice activist, René is an Americana roots artist with jazz improvisational chops. Influenced by her southern upbringing, she incorporates folk, R&B, country, and classical elements into her music and approach, lending her a unique sound and style that have captivated audiences worldwide. Over a span of two decades, 11 recordings, and countless festival and concert stage performances. René inspires people with her artistry, her life story, and her ability to affirm the power of the human spirit. Her latest Grammy®-nominated recording, Sound of Red (Motéma), celebrates her life story. Born the fifth of seven children in Warrenton, Virginia, René absorbed a wide variety of music during her childhood—blues, folk, opera, bluegrass, and classical—and studied piano for two years. After her parents divorced, she moved with her mother to Roanoke, Virginia and began singing in R&B bands. She composed her first original song when she was 15, and by 18, she joined a strict religion that required her to stop singing. She married a former bandmate of the same faith, had two sons, and began working at a bank. At age 42, René listened to the encouragement of her older son, who knew she needed to sing again. She started singing for tips one night a week in a smoky hotel bar with the house band, and within a year, she had established her own trio, Jazz Bone. Initially supportive, her husband quickly became disenchanted with “her success” and issued an ultimatum: stop singing or leave their home. Tension over the issue escalated from emotional abuse to domestic violence. René left the house and ultimately the marriage behind. René explains, “Something happened when I started interacting creatively with musicians again. A part of my personality came back to life, a part I had surrendered. The music allowed me to act as my own advocate and defend myself. When my husband gave that ultimatum, I didn’t leave because I wanted so badly to sing. I left because the idea of being with someone who thought it was okay to dictate the terms of my life was untenable.”
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Over the next 18 months, René made a flurry of monumental life changes. She moved to Richmond, Virginia; divorced her husband of 23 years; left the bank and her religion; produced her first CD, Renaissance (1999); won the title role in the Richmond world premiere production of Ella and Her Fella, Frank; and signed to the Maxjazz record label. In 2000, Maxjazz released How Can I Keep from Singing, which immediately grabbed the jazz industry’s attention. Three more acclaimed albums on the label followed: Vertigo (2001), Live at Jazz Standard (2003), and Serene Renegade (2004), along with glowing national press. In 2005, René moved to Denver and assumed creative ownership of her career, self-releasing and co-producing her sixth release, Experiment in Truth (2007). In 2008, she originated and produced “Two Skirts and A Shirt,” a show of ’70 sprotest music that toured nationally and featured jazz vocalists Carla Cook and Allan Harris. She wrote and starred as U’Dean in Slut Energy Theory, the heralded one-woman musical drama about overcoming abuse and incest, which premiered at the Cherry Lane Theater in New York City in October 2009. Its soundtrack became her seventh recording. Always focused on healing and giving back, René launched a series of vocal therapy group sessions in 2010 that she called SLAM. “I’ve never been to college or received any professional training,” says René “So, at times, I can feel a bit anxious about my ability to convey my personal approach to singing while overseeing the business. I’ve learned that many musicians have these same struggles.However, I also know what I know, and that has come from a lot of performing experience and vulnerability on the stage. SLAM helps singers use their natural voice and personality to find their sweet spots as performers. And I do what I can to help my fellow vocalists claim their story and their power in every way.” Voice of My Beautiful Country showcased René’s Americana core and announced her signing with the Motéma label. The stunning 2011 release spanned a century’s worth of American music, from traditional to folk to “Tin Pan Alley” songs and gave voice to patriotic songs as if composed by disenfranchised Americans. Black Lace Freudian Slip (Motéma) followed that same year and tapped into longing, independence, and prayerful introspection. She brought all her experience and interests together with her lauded 2013 release, I Wanna Be Evil: With Love to Eartha Kitt (Motéma), which was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 57th Grammy® Awards. René highlighted Kitt’s undaunted commitment to the power of the feminine and to social justice. Her second Grammy® nomination in the same category recognized her next Motéma release of all originals, Sound of Red (2017). Always a strong lyricist and composer, she created an 11song journey that gives insight into profound turning points of her life. Her clever songcraft and sensual vocal delivery made those personal moments not only meaningful but also enlightening to her growing audience. René expains, “I wanted to make a record that people could revisit again and again to unlock their emotions. In order to move through our days and our lives, we learn to cover things up. We don’t think we can be vulnerable to pain, loss, confusion, hurt and frustration and keep going. I wanted this record to provide a kind of architectural support for the spirit and help us feel more deeply together.” ScottsdaleArts.org | 480-499-TKTS
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RENÉ MARIE & EXPERIMENT IN TRUTH René has a deeply personal understanding of music’s capacity to change lives. Together with her touring and recording group, Experiment in Truth, she fearlessly explores the nooks and crannies of the human psyche and experience. Songs about inner strength, family ties, selfdetermination, and positivity are on her setlist, along with those about homelessness, domestic abuse, depression, and addiction. René is a frequent star guest of Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Count Basie Orchestra, Chicago Jazz Orchestra, New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and many more that tap into big, brassy celebrations of fun and sass. “I have never forgotten the early lessons learned about the power of music. I try to strike a balance with the right amount of light and dark into every musical offering. I am very happy to be alive today, doing the things I love to do— singing, composing, arranging, writing, teaching—reaching people and unleashing the power of our emotions,” René says.
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Gregory Porter
Wednesday, February 9, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $45 We’d tell you Gregory Porter is back, but you probably already knew. You probably felt the earth rumbling, announcing the multiple Grammy® winner’s bone-deep baritone, or you felt the air change as the warmth of his sound filled the atmosphere like a hug from above.
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Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Presents
Sunday, November 21, 2021 4:00 p.m. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Virginia G. Piper Theater
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SCOTTSDALE PHILHARMONIC
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MISSION The mission of the Scottsdale Philharmonic is to provide the city of Scottsdale and surrounding communities with a professional symphony orchestra, performing a series of traditional classical music concerts without charge to the public and making classical music available to audiences of all ages. VISION Our vision is to enhance the cultural environment of Scottsdale with an orchestra of professional musicians where everyone can attend classical symphony concerts. Founded in 2012, the Scottsdale Philharmonic is a nonprofit corporation that is funded by contributions from the general public and business community. PROGRAM John Stafford Smith (1750–1836)
The Star-Spangled Banner
Johann Strauss II (1825–1899)
Blue Danube Waltz
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)
Trumpet Concerto
Dr. Leah J. Hodge, Trumpet Solo INTERMISSION Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Symphony no. 2
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SCOTTSDALE PHILHARMONIC AJAY R. PATEL, Resident Conductor Ajay R. Patel has been a music educator in Arizona since 2001. Patel earned a bachelor of music education and a master of music in cello performance from Arizona State University. As a resident conductor for the Scottsdale Philharmonic, Patel is also an accomplished cellist and has performed with many of the community and professional orchestras in Arizona. He has served as a substitute section cellist for the Arizona Opera, guest principal cellist for the Chandler Symphony Orchestra, and the assistant principal cellist of the Arizona Pro Arte Orchestra. In the winter of 2011, Patel was the principal cellist of the American Festival Orchestra, under the direction of Lawrence Golan, which toured 14 cities in China over a span of two weeks as part of an international cultural exchange. Patel lives in Gilbert with his wife, Rochel, and their children Olivia, Alexander, and Phoenix. JOHN MASSARO, Resident Conductor John Massaro is a resident conductor for the Scottsdale Philharmonic. He is also a principal conductor for Phoenix Opera and the Southwest Vocal Competition, conducting opera productions as well as galas with opera superstars Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Jonas Kaufmann. Massaro served as an assistant to Leonard Bernstein during the creation of his opera A Quiet Place and to Zubin Mehta for the Israel Philharmonic’s production of Madam Butterfly. He worked extensively with the German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, coaching both opera and art song repertoire. Massaro started as a vocal coach and conductor. He went on to coach and accompanied several artists from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Massaro made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Mozart Requiem, which led to a distinguished European tour to Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Salzburg, and Vienna. He debuted with the Phoenix Symphony in 2002, conducting a 9/11 memorial concert, which included his own arrangement of the National Anthem. He also served as musical director for the Phoenix Theater Company and the Black Theatre Troupe, receiving an ariZoni Award for BTT’s production of Blues in the Night. He has also won awards as a music director for the Arizona Broadway Theatre.
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Season 2021 – 2022 Scottsdale Philharmonic Orchestra Members Ajay Patel, Resident Conductor Violin 1 Petra Fromme Vickie Thai, Concertmaster Joy Partridge George Smith Helen Brush Sujoy Spencer Priscila Bonitez Enrique Vincente Marna Bowling Daniel Crook Connie Jahmarkt Xiaolin Li Seogim Moon Carl Reiter Nancy Reiter Joanne Schartow Betty Carol Singer Sharon Stolper Violin 2 Kathryn Hart Principal Holly Brown Samantha Camacho Anna Clermont Jennifer Demaree Sandra Kubikki Quida Lewis Alicia Martin Barbara Moss Amy Schroader Leslie Seitz Viola Carolyn Broe Principal Celeste Goring Jennifer Grubbs Christopher Fromme
Cello Renee Rechlin Principal Kirsten Alexander Brandy Bivins Charlie Bullen JoAnn Cleland Therese Cudmore Oxana Cochran Janet Millard Dennis Yee Bass Mary Kelly Principal Byron Edgar, Debra Exner Adriana Pretorius Flute Debbie Hudson Principal Karla Martin Angela McCabe Nancy Sowers Piccolo Karla Martin
John Massaro, Resident Conductor Matthew Mikhailov Oboe Assistant Principal Fred Korman Elizabeth Vinersar Marcie Kneisley Larry Wendt Kelsey Maes John Shepard Kristen Zehnder
Trombone
English Horn
Noah Eder Bob Willers
Marcie Kneisley
Bass Bone
Clarinet
Toni Wilson Ward Wilson
Tami Bruce Walter Nielsen Heather Van Beck Bassoon Raimund Fromme Marty Haub Dr. Leon Jin
Tuba Matt Wilkins, Principal Percussion
Contra Bassoon
Mary Anne Ames Marty Haub Liz Patronik Shirley Phillips
Marty Haub
Timpani Kathy Jones
Saxophone Mary Petrich John Shepherd Trumpet Bruce Legge Principal Leah Hodge Bobby Pirtle Horn Daniel Atwood Principal
Piano Vitali Serebriakov Qingqing Ye Harp Joycelyn Obermeyer The number of musicians and seating on stage varies with each musical work being played.
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SCOTTSDALE PHILHARMONIC SCOTTSDALE PHILHARMONIC DONORS
PHILHARMONIC CIRCLE CONCERTMASTER $25,000 to $49,999 CIRCLE $2,500 to $4,999 Anonymous*
Carol Shriber Debra Exner & George Smith Thank you to All Morris & Gretchen Hatley* Thomas & Sandy Stern CONDUCTOR CIRCLE of Our Patrons James & Mary Talbot James & Dale Hardt* $10,000 to $24,999 The Scottsdale Maren M. Young Leslie Kaye* Philharmonic is pleased to Tom & Joyce Fisher PATRON CIRCLE acknowledge the following Family Foundation* MUSICIAN CIRCLE $500 to $999 patrons who have made Alex Stricker Photography $1,000 to $2,499 Arlyn M Brewster generous gifts of $50 or Bob & Emily Vincent* Ellen Andres-Schneider more. These donations William & Judith Doenges & Ralph Andres help to make classical ANGEL CIRCLE Lynne Larson Sid & Flo Banwart music available to $5,000 to $9,999 Peter Lott audiences of all ages. Jane & Jason Barlow Charlie Bullen* Peter & Patricia Budnick Linda Nowacek LIFETIME BENEFACTOR Lawrence & Craig & Sue Prouty Diane Foreman $50,000 and above Valerie Bullen* David & Diana Smith Kathryn Bell Hart Trust Robert & Alice Hing* The Herberger Society for the Arts Arlene M Knight Foundation/ Richard Hoffman* Solange & Judd & Billie Jo David & Sharon Miller Ken & Marina Vlah* Michael Whitehead Herberger Lawrence J Niederhofer & Solange Whitehead James Morgan & Family Patricia Dalton Scottsdale Joy Partridge & Family Walter & Karen Nielsen City Councilwoman Leo & Hermine Philippe Neil Van Wie Virginia E Rein SPONSOR CIRCLE $250 to $499
Judd and Billie Jo Herberger We love the music and passion of the Scottsdale Philharmonic!
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Neil S Berman Larry Billar Beverly Birnbaum John & Barbara Burgess Jeffrey Clark Albert & Blanca Diekema Darlene & Dennis Esposito Thomas & Cheryl Faranda Walter Finley Janice & Dennis Hammerstrom Merrill & Barbara Moss
Arleen Lorrance & Diane K Pike James & Augusta Potter Gracie Rayburn Thomas Risk Phillip & Judy Ruppel David Stugart William Wells SUPPORT CIRCLE $100 to $249 Daniel Adelmann Donald Appel Trust John L Baczynski David Bellama Paul Blum Charles & Martha Bonifield- Trust Walter & Tania Bookriakin Ellen Bramoweth Ciara Breeding Morris, Michael & Wendy Burnham Mary Carey Dede Charbonneau Yim Kie Cheng Robin Cochran Kruger Joseph & Suzanne de Groot Joanne Dipiazza Jane Edmonds Hester & Thomas Ford Barbara & Peter Frank Kenny Funk Gene & Saundra Giesaking
William & Mary Grady Nancy Goldman Neha Gupta John & Carroll Haydon Ruth Henry Harold Hoffman Deana Katz Oekyung Kim Suzanne Klapp Suzanne Klapp Scottsdale City Councilwoman Caroline & Marvin Klein Christine Kovach Judith Lentine Beverly Lewis Robert Marshall Sara Mills-Cohen Rebecca McClue Susan Melker Craig & Teryl Miller Manfred Moennich Michael & Wendy Morris David & Kathleen Mould Donna Ramsey Willis R Reece & Heather Snyder Michael & Deborah Reich Robert Rice Marvin Richman Chuck & Jan Riedel Vernon & Gretchen Sater George & Cynthia Self Joanne M &
John Schartow Jerry & Gayle Smilack Dorothy Sydnor Gene & Marilyn Taylor Joseph Waters Tom & Nancy Wiand Paul Witkop Carol Wood Frank & Karen Woods Patricia York Karl Yost
Jeanette & Joseph Tanny As of 10/1/ 2021 Elite Partners*
FRIEND CIRCLE $50 to $99 Barbara Aronow Robert Breen Kathleen & Stevan Ross Earl Mrs. Kyle Effinger Delores Fangman Marcia Farrell Diane Grund Judith & James Harmony Shirley Johnson John Kopplin Nancy Lauterbach Nancy Milburn Thomas Mukytiuk Mariya Nariychuk Linda & Bruce Nesbit Pauline V. Peverly Kathryn Salazar David & Linda Schreiner Betty Scott Barbara Stratford
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MUSICANOVA Keyboard Conversations® with
JEFFREY SIEGEL concerts with lively commentary Presenting Sponsor: Dr. David and Joan Goldfarb Trust Tickets start at $25
The Glorious Music of Chopin
Tuesday, December 14, 7:30 p.m. From the heroic polonaise and dreamy nocturnes to the famous Fantasy Impromptu and virtuoso études, lose yourself in The Glorious Music of Chopin.
Fantastic Fantasies
Tuesday, January 11, 7:30 p.m. Prepare for a fantastic journey through classical music with masterpieces by Bach, Schubert, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Chopin.
My Favorite Brahms
Tuesday, February 15, 7:30 p.m. With My Favorite Brahms, Jeffrey Siegel’s Keyboard Conversations® series explores fiery rhapsodies, lively capriccios, charming waltzes, and deeply moving intermezzos by the German composer.
Evocative Visions Tuesday, March 22, 7:30 p.m. Be transported with Jeffrey Siegel’s Evocative Visions as his signature Keyboard Conversations® series explores visually inspired masterpieces by Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Debussy, and Mendelssohn.
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Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Presents
JAKE SHIMABUKURO CHRISTMAS IN HAWAII Friday, November 26, 2021 8:00 p.m. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Virginia G. Piper Theater
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JAKE SHIMABUKURO PROGRAM With only four strings, Jake Shimabukuro is a humble master whose mission is to connect and inspire people. Whether one on one or in front of an audience of thousands, Shimabukuro shares a deep emotional connection with the listener that is open, magical, and transcendent. Shimabukuro’s genuine love for people, the spirit of holidays, and his beloved home of Hawaii are at the forefront of Jake Shimabukuro | Christmas in Hawaii. It will be a warm welcome of merriment and wonder for the season. In addition to his signature favorites, this special show will draw on a vibrant catalog of holiday classics, such as “We Three Kings,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “O Holy Night,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and selections from his Jake & Friends album, to be released in November 2021 (featuring Willie Nelson, Bette Midler, Jack Johnson, Michael McDonald, Vince Gill and Amy Grant, and more). Along with bassist Jackson Waldoff and special guests singer-songwriter Thunderstorm Artis on vocals and first-call percussionist Taku Hirano, Shimabukuro will spread good cheer to all with his world-renowned live show in a fun take on the holidays sure to keep spirits bright. Exceptional and spirited Jake Shimabukuro | Christmas in Hawaii is sure to become an eagerly anticipated annual family event. JAKE SHIMBAKURO With only four strings, Jake Shimabukuro is a humble master, whose mission is to connect and inspire people. Whether one on one or in front of an audience of thousands, Shimabukuro shares a deep emotional connection with the listener that is open, magical, and transcendent. Often referred to as the Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Lee, and Michael Jordan of his craft, Shimabukuro delivers performances around the world with an out-of-the-box blend of stunning virtuosity, deep musicality, and a natural entertainer’s flair. Shimabukuro takes the ukulele to places no one has gone before, performing awe-inspiring music that ranges from jazz, blues, and rock to bluegrass, classical, and folk.
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TAKU HIRANO Taku Hirano is a first-call percussionist on the touring circuit whose client list has spanned practically every commercial music genre. He has toured the world with Fleetwood Mac, Whitney Houston, John Mayer, Bette Midler, Stevie Nicks, Lionel Richie, Isaac Hayes, and Dr. John, and as a soloist on the #7 top-grossing music tour of all time, Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson: The Immortal world tour (with sales of $360 million across four continents and with 3.3 million people in attendance). Other live performance credits include Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Annie Lennox, Herbie Hancock, Steven Tyler, Usher, Pharrell, Shakira, Miley Cyrus, Ed Sheeran, Smokey Robinson, Willie Nelson, Mary J. Blige, Ariana Grande, Patti LaBelle, Melissa Etheridge, John Legend, LeAnn Rimes, Chaka Khan, Ne-Yo, Keith Urban, Andrea Bocelli, Jennifer Hudson, Yolanda Adams, Blue Man Group, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Hirano has performed for the prime minister of India, twice for President Nelson Mandela, and twice at the White House for President Barack Obama. Recording credits include Fleetwood Mac, Whitney Houston, Jay-Z, The Temptations, Stevie Nicks, Ziggy Marley (Grammy®), Josh Groban, Lionel Richie ( Grammy® nomination), Nelly Furtado ( Grammy® nomination), and Dr. Dre, on the seminal album 2001 ( Grammy®). He also acted as a consultant to Trent Reznor for the Nine Inch Nails Lights In The Sky world tour. Most recently, Hirano was the percussionist for Fleetwood Mac’s An Evening With Fleetwood Mac 2018–2019 world tour. Recent albums include LeAnn Rimes’s Chant: The Human & The Holy (November 2020).
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Punch Brothers
Thursday, January 20, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $42 According to The Washington Post, the Grammy®-winning Punch Brothers perform “with enthusiasm and experimentation...drawing equal inspiration from the brain and the heart.”
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Lea Salonga
Thursday, May 5, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $45 Possessing a powerful voice and perfect pitch, Lea Salonga is currently staring as Euridyce in Hadestown and previously in Miss Saigon and Les Miserables on Broadway. She has performed in sold-out concerts throughout the world, from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall, and is recognized as a “Disney Legend” for voicing the animated Princess Jasmine and Fa Mulan.
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Donors Scottsdale Arts is sincerely grateful for donors, members, and partners who celebrate and support art in our community at every level. We gratefully acknowledge the following individual supporters above $500 who made contributions between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021.
$5,000 - $9,999 Ethelyn Cohen, In Memory of Howard Cohen * Leslie Dashew and Jack Salisbury * Charlotte and Gary Gilbert Peggy and Jamie Kapner * Marie and Richard Stewart Hollis and Christopher Volk
$2,500 - $4,999 Judy Ackerman and Richard Epstein * Rhonda and Gary Anderson * Paul Basha * Peter Boyle * Nancy and Chuck Brickman Susie and Don Cogman * Jennie and Jerry Cox * Kimberly and John Davids * We make every effort to list accurate information; if we have Rebecca and Sam Eden * Jamie Hormel * made any omissions or error by mistake, we apologize and Maureen Horwitz * ask you to please contact us at Chris and Bob Irish * Joan and Walter Magen * Give@ScottsdaleArts.org. Monique and JP Millon Doris and Eliot Minsker * Dorothy Rowe and $100,000+ Kenneth O'Connor * Billie Jo and Judd Herberger * Rosellen and Harry Papp * Laura Ahl and Jeff Rakoczy * Barbara Robbins * $25,000 - $49,999 Merle and Steve Rosskam * Amanda and Mark Bosco Linda and Paul Schmidt * Christy and Richard Schust * Diana M. and David N. Smith * $10,000 - $24,999 Stanley Spiegel Trust * Felice Appell * Patrick D Strieck and Jeffrey Beyersdorfer Brian J Fanning * Mary and Dale Fedewa * Gail and Daniel Tenn and Joan and David Goldfarb Sheri Sender Betty Hum and Alan Yudell Tamar Weiss, In Memory of Sondra and George Juetten Emil Weiss Christine and Richard Kovach Alison Lewis and Craig Krumwiede * Paulette and Michael Miller * Priscilla Nelson Johnson and Chuck Johnson * Susan Rollins and Paul Garry Jacqueline Schenkein and Michael Schwimmer * Karen and John Voris * For more information on ONE Membership, Legacy Society planned giving, and other ways to support the art you love in Scottsdale, please contact Erin Krivanek, director of development, at 480-874-4620 or ErinK@ScottsdaleArts.org.
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$1,000 - $2,499 Makenna and Mike Albrecht * Megan and John Anderson * Ellen Andres-Schneider and Ralph Andres * Toni and Bruce Beverly * Nancy and Joe Braucher * Leslie Grinker and John Broan * Arlene and Keith Bronstein Kay Butler * Paige Cecil and Ryan Jones * Donald W. Collier Charitable Trust II * Allison and Grant Colwell * Tracy Denmark and Marc Schwimmer * Dr. Robert Dixon * Kathleen Duley * Kathleen and Robert Duyck * Judith and John Ellerman * Maureen and Thomas Eye * Jamilyn Fournier Nancy Gifford * Elton Gilbert * Susan and Jerry Gilbert * Angela and Jeffrey Glosser * Dr. Michael W. Goerss Judy and William Goldberg * Barry Jay Greenhut Robin and Roy Grossman Jane and Dennis Henner Lori and Howard Hirsch * Lynda and Arthur Horlick * Audrey and Fred Horne Susan and John Horseman * David J. Itzkowitz * Jean Kiene Richard Kiene Susan and Jonathan Levy * Judy and Sam Linhart * Harvey Lisherness Marcia and James Lowman * Lynn and Matthew Luger * Stan Marks * Dr. Tammy McLeod * Linda Milhaven * Thomas J. Morgan * Pollyanne Morris and Randy Nussbaum Mary and Kitt Ormsby * Rosemary Gannon-Ortega and David Ortega * The Ashok & Rita Patel Legacy Fund Mary and David Patino * Kimberly and Erik Peterson *
Hermine and Leo Philippe * Penny and Richard Post * Betsy R. Retchin * Ida Rhea * Carrie Lynn Richardson and Paul Giancola Nancy Harris Robertson and Scott L. Robertson * Lois and John Rogers * Tom Rogers * Missy Romanoff * Dr. Adam N. Rosenberg * Stella and Mark Saperstein * Linda and Sherman Saperstein * Carol and Randy Schilling * Enid and Michael Seiden Tracy and Christian Serena Marlene and Eugene Shapiro * Dr. Peggy Sharp Chamberlain Susan and Richard Silverman * Dorothy Lincoln-Smith * Paula and Jack Strickstein * Pat and Phil Turberg * Anna Unterberger * Kathy and Michael Wills * Gretchen and Dick Wilson * $500 - $999 Anonymous Char and Alan Augenstein Jan and Christopher Cacheris Naomi Caras-Miller and Alvin Miller * Sue Carlisle Jill Christenholz Virginia Compton Erika Coombs Erin and J.P. Dahdah * Nancy and Derek Davis Bonnie and Glenn Felner Anita Fishman Jo Flittie Carolyn and John Friedman Alan B. Gabbard Colleen and Brennan Giggey * Lance Goldberg and Beth Ladin Patricia Hawkins and Travis Junion Kenady and Jordan Jobe Cynthia and Alan Kempner Michael R. King Susan and Manny Kramer Sam Kuller Sally and Richard Lehmann Elizabeth and James Lincoln Sandra Listello
Mandy and Jeff Lothner Joyce and Stephen Manes Dr. Kay Martens and Philip Cram Joy Partridge Amy Perciballi * Eric Pittman Nathalie Potvin Jean Quinsey Richard Richardson, In Memory of Patricia Richardson Martin Rosen Nancy and James Schamadan Kristine and Steve Short Ronda and Carl Silver Rowena Simberg Dr. Otto Stanislaw Mark Stapp Delores Rodman and Dale Suran Lois Tatelman Laura Titus Jill Townsend Denise and William Villalon Lisa Watkins Amber Wayne Brad Williams Roma Wittcoff
Legacy Society Members The Legacy Society honors those who have included Scottsdale Arts in their will, trust, insurance policy, or estate plans. Joining The Legacy Society is a meaningful and generous way to continue sharing your values with future generations while enjoying recognition with a network of like-minded friends today. We proudly recognize the following Scottsdale Arts Legacy Society members:
Patricia Aloe-Stauber Anonymous Fred J. English and Sara M. English Charitable Trust Chet and Ann Goldberg Estate Richard Herman Estate Chris and Bob Irish Lou Jekel Joan Mills Miller Estate Eric Jungermann and Family Sue and Robert Karatz Cynthia Muss Lawrence Sara and David Lieberman *Scottsdale Arts ONE Arleen Lorrance and Membership Premier Members Diane Kennedy Pike J. Patrick McCarthy Estate Diane Rejman Linda and Sherman Saperstein Theodore R. Stephan Estate
Tribute Donations Support the performing and visual arts by remembering or honoring a loved one with a tax-deductible donation to any program or branch at Scottsdale Arts. A memorial gift is a thoughtful way to remember a person in your life who has passed away. An honor gift is a unique way to celebrate a special occasion or recognize someone dear to you. We proudly recognize the following donors who have made tribute gifts to Scottsdale Arts between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021. Donations Made in Memory of Wallace Davidson Susan and Richard Bloomberg Robin and Roy Grossman Elizabeth Silverman Judy and Alan Wertheimer Debbie and Richard Yoken Sandy Greenhut Barry Jay Greenhut Zelma Horwitz Phillip Horwitz Claire Keefnor Madaline Krska Ted Stephan Who’s Who Singles – AZ Inc. Donations Made in Honor of Richard Post Audrey and Fred Horne Linda Saperstein Jill and Alan Sandler Audrey and Bob Shapiro
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COMMUNITY PARTNERS Scottsdale Arts is pleased to recognize the following corporations, foundations, government agencies, and in-kind donors for their support of the arts in our community this season. For more information on participating as a sponsor, please contact Denise Wisdom, corporate and foundation relations manager, at 480-874-4669 or DeniseW@ScottsdaleArts.org. World Class Partners ($50,000+)
Title Partners ($25,000–$49,999)
WALTER AND KARLA GOLDSCHMIDT FOUNDATION INSTITUT FRANCAÍSRELANCE EXPORT
S. REX AND JOAN LEWIS FOUNDATION
Presenting Partners ($10,000–$24,999)
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Signature Partners ($5,000–$9,999)
GARTH GREENAN GALLERY, INC.
Supporting Partners ($2,500–$4,999)
Collaborating Partners Blick Art Supplies Experience Scottsdale Farm and Craft Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation/ Taliesin West Grimaldi's Pizzeria
Havaianas Jojo Coffeehouse Joyrides AZ LDV Winery Marjon Ceramics Mavrix/Octane Raceway
Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament Rainbow Ryders Salvatore Vineyards/Passion Cellars W Scottsdale whiteLAVA creative and metal art
Jules & JC Kelly's at Southbridge La Señora at Saguaro Mavrix/Octane Nori Sushi & Asian Dining
Oh My Dog! Boutique Hotel and Spa Sizzle Korean BBQ Super Chunk Sweets & Treats
Partner Perks Program Participants EcoTours AZ Grimaldi’s Pizzeria Jewel of the Crown Jojo Coffeehouse Juice Core Organic Small Business Collaborator Partners Act One Packages from Home
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THE CENTER STAFF Dr. Gerd Wuestemann, President and CEO, Scottsdale Arts
PROGRAMMING Abbey Messmer, Programming Director Diandra Adamczyk, Sr. Programming Coordinator Meribeth Reeves, Managing Director
MEMBER AND PATRON SERVICES Brett Johnson, Member and Patron Services Manager KeiLani Daniels, Patron Services Coordinator Megan Bevill, Member and Patron Services Representative Steffi Faircloth, Member and Patron Services Representative Nitasha Giran, Member and Patron Services Representative Shaun Herndon, Member and Patron Services Representative Michael Jennings, Member and Patron Services Representative Stephen McDonough, Member and Patron Services Representative Ana Spear, Member and Patron Services Representative
RETAIL Bill Kelly, Retail Manager Raechel Miller, Assistant Retail Manager Cindy Anguiano, Lead Retail Sales Associate Dana Parsons, Retail Sales Associate
EVENTS COORDINATION AND OPERATIONS Jamie Prins, Events Director Martin Dickey, Director of Facilities and Operations Whitney Nelson, Festival and Events Manager Anne Parker, Facility Rentals Manager Jeri Thompson, Operations Administrative Assistant Scott MacKeigan, Facility and Event Coordinator Robert Reidenbach, Food and Beverage Lead Samantha Groff, Volunteer and Events Coordinator
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PROTECTION SERVICES Keng Cheong, Protection Services Manager Michael Hammerand, Protection Services Coordinator Brenda Kelley, Protection Services Lead David Brusstar, Protection Services Officer Dale Duhame, Protection Services Officer Pia Holt, Protection Services Officer Lane Honda, Protection Services Officer David Marshall, Protection Services Officer Mike McLane, Protection Services Officer Walter Booth, Protection Services Officer Cheh Eifler, Protection Services Officer George Eifler, Protection Services Officer Steven Honda, Protection Services Officer Christopher Kelley, Protection Services Officer Tatyana Williams, Protection Services Officer Carolyn Zarr, Protection Services Officer
TECHNICAL Zach Ciaburri, Production Manager John Doyle, House Head Electrician Michael Patton, AV Supervisor Dorann Matson, Stage Manager Jonathan Hansen, Theatre Technician Kristen Martinez, Artist Services
FRONT OF HOUSE Carolyn Sedlak, Lead House Manager Wendy Crawford, Assistant House Manager Marla Hattabaugh, Assistant House Manager Adele Powers, Assistant House Manager Jenny Weintraub, Assistant House Manager