Auditions for Section Viola
Auditions for Section Viola Thank you for your interest in joining the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra. We’re excited to welcome talented, dedicated musicians who share our passion for artistic excellence and community. Below, you’ll find the audition excerpts for the Section Viola positions, along with a link to sign up for an audition. Please review the materials carefully and complete the audition form to reserve your spot. We look forward to hearing you play! Audition Excerpts Register for an Audition
Auditions for Section Violin
Auditions for Section Violin Thank you for your interest in joining the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra. We’re excited to welcome talented, dedicated musicians who share our passion for artistic excellence and community. Below, you’ll find the audition excerpts for the Section Violin positions, along with a link to sign up for an audition. Please review the materials carefully and complete the audition form to reserve your spot. We look forward to hearing you play Audition Excerpts Register for an Audition
A Spirited Symphony
A SPIRITED SYMPHONY Denise Wilson of the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra is bringing orchestral music to the masses. Denise Wilson is a woman of two passions. Though she spent 20 years in the aviation industry as a flight instructor and professional pilot, her first love was music. It all started in junior high, when a teacher selected Wilson out of the pool of clarinet players to learn the oboe. “By high school, I could play well enough to join a youth orchestra. That was the first time I was exposed to orchestral music, and I fell in love with it,” Wilson says. “What made it so special is that the entire orchestra was made up of young musicians just like me that loved this music and devoted whatever free time we had to it.” And now, after retiring from flying and selling three of her aviation businesses, Wilson—who has a degree in oboe performance from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music—has found a way to get back to her musical roots. “When I moved to Scottsdale, I had the pleasure of playing with top-notch community orchestras such as the Chandler Symphony and the Tempe Symphony. I felt like Scottsdale deserved to have a high-caliber orchestra as well, a place where our musicians would feel welcomed, respected, and have an outlet to perform at a high artistic level,” she says. Last year, Wilson founded the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra (www.scottsdalesymphonicorchestra.org), a nonprofit orchestra of over 70 professionally trained musicians that puts on six performances per season at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. Since day one, Wilson’s goal has been to increase the accessibility of orchestral music, offering free entry to veterans and those unable to afford the ticket price. Looking forward, she hopes to provide scholarships for college students studying music performance in addition to performing free concerts at schools and senior living facilities. “Some people find our concerts a great way to escape our ‘always-on’ technological world, and others are so deeply moved by the depth of beauty in the music that it changes them profoundly,” she says. “I love finding ways to help newcomers and seasoned concertgoers alike discover what music means to them.”
NEW DIRECTION: Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra Welcomes Music Director
The Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra is newer to the Valley, but it is already working to transform lives and uplift spirits through music. This year, during its second season, it will be joined by its first music director, Kin “Desmond” Siu. The 2024-2025 season will run from Sunday, Oct. 20, to Sunday, May 11, and all concerts will be held at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. Siu, who splits his time between Flagstaff and Scottsdale, was selected as the music director after an international search that included 22 candidates. Last season, the top five candidates guest conducted concerts and took part in rehearsal processes as part of their interview process. During the March concert which Siu guest-conducted, the orchestra performed Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to “West Side Story,” a William Grant Still arrangement of Florence Price’s “Dances in the Canebrakes,” William C. White’s “Acadia Fanfare” and Antonín Dvořák’s “Symphony No. 9 in E Minor from the New World, Op. 95”. The orchestra members took part in the final review and selection process. The group is made up of 70 to 90 professionally trained musicians, who are all volunteering their time. “Most of them have been playing almost all of their lives,” Siu said. “They are obviously music lovers of the classical genre…. They come from everywhere, from music teachers, to pilots, people in customer service, engineers, you name it. They’re all here to play music once a week with this orchestra. I think it’s a really beautiful thing, and it’s my job to make sure they sound good and have a good time”. Siu said he had to wait sometime after his final interview to hear back that he had gotten the job. “It’s not like a regular interview where you’ll know within a couple of weeks,” he said. “I had to wait a few months. A few people who went before me had to wait almost an entire half year… Everyone had their chance of showing what they can do, how they rehearse, how they perform, how they interact with the orchestra”. Siu grew up in Gilbert and attended Highland High School. He has been conducting for almost 10 years and is currently the artistic director and principal conductor of Orchestra Northern Arizona and an adjunct violin professor at Northern Arizona University. He is also a violinist who has been playing the violin since age 10 and performs with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, Arizona Philharmonic, San Juan Symphony and Sedona Symphony. In the past, he has served as acting music director for Arizona Pro Arte, assistant conductor for the NAU Orchestras and assistant conductor for the Skidmore College Orchestra. Siu will conduct most of the concerts for Scottsdale Symphonic during the upcoming season, except for Nov. 10 and Dec. 15, when Chuck Stewart will guest-conduct. Siu said that being the first music director for the orchestra is both exciting and daunting. “In Flagstaff, I had some blueprints to follow the first year and a half before I found my own way,” he said. “But here, they are like, ‘What do you like to do? Let’s hear it.’ I told them, and they said, ‘Cool, let’s try it.’ I can’t wait to see what the membership thinks when we start rehearsals”. The symphonic orchestra performs a mix of classic masterworks and pieces from new conductors. Siu said it is important to the orchestra to bring works by composers with which audiences may not be as familiar. “Part of the organization’s mission is to promote underrepresented composers and underrepresented cultures within classical music,” he said. “I think that’s an idea that speaks to me as an Asian American”. Siu worked closely with the organization’s board of directors to plan the season. He said it was important to include a mix of different classical composers, so that musicians receive equal playing time and audiences get exposure to different styles of classical music. “Music is one of those things that you cannot know enough in,” he said. “So, you just have to pursue that thirst of knowledge all the time”. The season will open with the “Fate’s Return” concert on Oct. 20 featuring Coleridge-Taylor’s “Ballade in A Minor” and Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4 in F Minor”. Their “American Celebration” concert on Nov. 10 will pay tribute to veterans with selections such as Copland’s Hoedown from “Rodeo” and “Variations on a Shaker Melody” and John Williams “Hymn to the Fallen” from “Saving Private Ryan”. On Dec. 15, the orchestra will hold its “A Holiday Celebration” concert, featuring Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite,” Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” and a special holiday sing-along. To celebrate Valentine’s Day on Feb. 16, the group will perform an “East Meets West A Love Story” concert with music such as Chen Gang/He Zhanhao’s “Butterfly Lovers Concerto,” Verdi’s Overture to “La Forza del Destino” and Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet”. Steven Moeckel will serve as a guest violin soloist. Scottsdale Symphonic will celebrate Women’s History Month with its “Powerful Women” concert on March 23, which will feature Mary Watkins’ “Soul of Remembrance,” Laura Pettigrew’s “Dóchas,” Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” and Maria Grenfell’s “Roar!”. The season will close out with the “Connected through Music” concert on May 11, which will spotlight Henry Flurry’s “Fanfare for My City,” Grant Still’s “Symphony No. 1 in A Flat Major ‘Afro-American’” and Dvořák’s “Cello Concerto in B Minor”. Peter Eom will join the orchestra as a soloist Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra 2024-2025 Season WHEN: Various times Sunday, Oct. 20 to Sunday, May 11WHERE: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second Street, ScottsdaleCOST: Tickets start at $10INFO: 480-955-5776, scottsdalesymphonicorchestra.org
New Scottsdale Orchestra Finds Perfect Pitch
John Massaro is the guest conductor of “New Beginnings” today, Oct. 22, for the first performance of the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra. (Special to the Progress) At 4 p.m. today, Oct. 22, the lights of Virginia G. Piper Theater will dim slightly, then come back to full energy. After a few obligatory coughs by audience members, a confident conductor will stride on stage to enthusiastic applause. The conductor will nod to the crowd, tap his music stand with his baton, signal the percussion—and the music will begin. Talented, experienced musicians who live a short drive from the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts venue will fill the air with exhilarating music dreamed up centuries ago by Copland, Mozart, Grieg, Elgar, and Beethoven. It will be just like years past. Only different. The Scottsdale Philharmonic, which made its debut at Scottsdale Arts a decade ago, has left the building. So who will be playing the Piper today? Enter the brand-spanking-new (drum roll, please)… Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra. “We’re really the hometown orchestra for Scottsdale,” Denise Wilson, orchestra board chair and oboist, said. “It’s a big responsibility.” In classical music, timing is essential; ditto in life. Meribeth Reeves, managing director of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, said her organization is “always happy to support Scottsdale community-based organizations. Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra approached us with a committed board, committed donors, and a dedicated musician core.” “Their timing was perfect for scheduling,” Reeves added, “as dates previously held for Scottsdale Philharmonic had just been released.” The Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra made a perfect pitch, just as “Scottsdale Philharmonic informed us that they had decided not to renew their contract with us for this upcoming season,” Reeves said. “They said they needed a larger seating capacity for their performances. We wish them nothing but the best.” In its first public performance, the 65-member Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra will play a concert titled “New Beginnings,” under the baton of guest conductor John Massaro, the principal conductor for the Phoenix Opera. A Dec. 10 holiday concert by the Scottsdale Symphonic will be conducted by Charlotte Ruth Harrison. Livia Gho is the guest conductor for Feb. 18’s “An Afternoon of Romance,” with Desmond Siu conducting the orchestra’s March 24 “America.” Wilson emphasized the pure democracy of the new group. “We’re having our musicians choose our permanent music conductor,” she said. “We heard the message loud and clear: our musicians want to be involved in bringing great classical music to the community—not just sitting in orchestra and playing, but by bringing ideas.” Wilson said most of the Scottsdale Symphonic members are like her: classically trained musicians who got sidetracked into non-music careers. She is a pilot who owns Jet Agent, a private plane purchasing broker in North Scottsdale, yet never lost her passion for Mozart, Beethoven, and company. Now, even in playing centuries-old music, they are tuned up “to be a part of something new and something growing and something that they have a part in building,” Wilson said. “So there’s this energy—there’s energy in every single one of our rehearsals.” Wilson said Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra members range in age from 18 to 65, with many sporting professional musician experience on their resumes. Asked if audience members should have low expectations, considering this is the Scottsdale Symphonic’s debut, the oboist was emphatic—at the risk of tooting her own woodwind. Those who come to the “New Beginnings” concert “should be expecting a top-tier performance,” Wilson said. “I think anyone that comes to the concert this Sunday is going to be very pleased and surprised at what a great orchestra this is.” Getting in tune Tickets start at $15 for today’s 4 p.m. Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra program, which includes Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. Tickets: scottsdalesymphonicorchestra.org. Scottsdale Philharmonic, meanwhile, has moved to the larger La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church, where it attracts anywhere from 1,700 to 2,400 people. The Philharmonic’s fall concert there is scheduled for Nov. 12, with the music of Mozart and Brahms. Information: scottsdalephilharmonic.com. Orchestra plans a season of robust concerts Today (Oct. 22): “New Beginnings”Guest Conductor: John Massaro Featuring music by: Copland — Fanfare for the Common Man Mozart — The Magic Flute Overture Elgar — Enigma Variations Grieg — Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 Beethoven — Symphony No. 6 Dec. 10: “Holiday Cheer!”Guest Conductor: Charlotte Ruth Harrison A traditional holiday concert featuring audience favorites, both popular and classical. Feb. 18: “An Afternoon of Romance”Guest Conductor: Livia GhoViolin Soloist: Esther Witherell Featuring Romantic-era composers: Rossini, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms. March 24: “America”Guest Conductor: Desmond Siu A program featuring American composers and works inspired by America, including Bernstein, William Grant Still, Florence Price, William White, and Dvořák. Concert DetailsAll concerts begin at 4 p.m. at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia G. Piper Theater, 7380 E. 2nd St. Tickets: scottsdalesymphonicorchestra.org The Players (selected roster) Woodwinds:Flute — Debbie Hutson, Nancy SowersOboe — Denise Wilson, Maja DingerClarinet — Heather Van Beek, Alanna BenoitBassoon — Gina Stevens, Raimund Fromme, Marty Haub (contra) Brass:Trumpet — Leah Hodge Hughes, Teddi English, Robert TurchickHorn — Donald Harvey, Gail Rittenhouse, Ted LeSueur, Chuck StewartTrombone — Leslie Nock, Peter Kyhn, Erik KetchersideTuba — Stephen Healy Strings:Violin — Stephen Helms Tillery, Lauren Evans, Claire Sievers, Joan Heitzinger, Sonja Prychitko, Rubina Sanders, Wei (Wendy) Qin, Allen Lee, Choimei Lao, Sarah Mathias 2nd Violin — Alicia Martin, Anna Clermont, Barbara Moss, Robby Kuhlman, Amy Schroader, Katrina Becker, Hansa Magee, Caryn Josephine Osorio, Alysia Rojas Viola — Carolyn Broe, Alexis Pillow, Christoph Fromme, Petra Fromme, Sarina Mountcastle, Thomas Davey, Rebecca Reining, April Acosta Cello — Rob Willis, Renee Rechlin, Diana Yusupov, Katie Carmer, Charlie Bullen, Dennis Yee, Ben Schwart, Max Turchick Double Bass — Emily Meyer, Erin Lewis, Mary Kelly, Adriana Pretorius Percussion:Timpani — Lonnie SlawsonPercussion — Marty Haub, Kathy Jones
New Beginnings for Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra
September 25, 2023, Scottsdale, AZ — The Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra has announced its first concert of its inaugural season at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. The newly formed orchestra consists of top classically trained musicians from Scottsdale and surrounding communities. The group’s mission is to perform high-caliber live concert events that uplift, inspire, and culturally enrich its members and the community. Performances for the upcoming 2023–2024 season will be held at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ state-of-the-art, 853-seat Virginia G. Piper Theater. The venue, recognized for its intimacy, acoustics, and comfort, is both a performer and audience favorite, and is the new permanent home for the orchestra. “A local orchestra makes a strong statement about a community’s investment in arts and culture. Scottsdale Arts is very excited about the newly formed Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra and applauds the formation of this musician-led ensemble and its dedication to serving Scottsdale,” said Gerd Wuestemann, President and CEO of Scottsdale Arts. “Scottsdale Arts made the decision to enter this new partnership immediately after being approached. We are so excited to be able to present this fine ensemble at the Center this season and hopefully for many years to come!” The debut performance, themed “New Beginnings,” will be held on Sunday, October 22, at 4 p.m. The program includes familiar masterpieces of the symphonic repertoire, including Mozart’s The Magic Flute Overture, Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, and Elgar’s “Nimrod” (from the Enigma Variations), widely recognized from its use in cinema. Closing out the performance is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, which reflects the composer’s love of nature and his summers spent exploring the countryside outside Vienna. Conducting the ensemble is guest conductor John Massaro, known for his ability to bring out the best in the musicians he leads and for his role as Principal Conductor for the Phoenix Opera. Maestro Massaro is one of five finalists being considered for the role of permanent Music Director for the 2024–2025 season. Tickets are available on the orchestra’s website at www.ScottsdaleSymphonicOrchestra.org and on the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts website at www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org. About the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra The Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization formed to provide highly skilled musicians the opportunity to perform live concert events that uplift, inspire, and culturally enrich its members and the community. For more information, visit www.ScottsdaleSymphonicOrchestra.org, email [email protected], or contact Denise Wilson at (480) 955-5SSO.
Introducing the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra
August 21, 2023, Scottsdale, AZ — A new symphonic orchestra has been formed to bring professional-level orchestral music performances to Scottsdale. The Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra consists of top classically trained musicians from the region. The group’s mission is to perform high-caliber live concert events that uplift, inspire, and culturally enrich its members and the community. The orchestra is a nonprofit organization founded on the values of musical excellence, kindness, and respect. The organization is excited to collaborate with musicians from across the Valley in the spirit of its founding principles. Performances for the upcoming 2023–2024 season will be held at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ state-of-the-art, 853-seat Virginia G. Piper Theater. The venue, recognized for its intimacy, acoustics, and comfort, is both a performer and audience favorite and serves as the new permanent home for the orchestra. The debut performance, themed “New Beginnings,” will be held on Sunday, October 22, at 4 p.m. The program includes familiar masterpieces of the symphonic repertoire, including Mozart’s The Magic Flute Overture, Grieg’s popular Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, and Elgar’s “Nimrod” (from the Enigma Variations), widely recognized from its use in cinema. The concert closes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral), which reflects the composer’s love of nature and his summers spent exploring the countryside outside Vienna. Symphonic music has the power to move the human spirit as few other art forms can. The orchestra’s artists thrive on sharing this art form with the community of music lovers in Scottsdale and surrounding communities. Tickets will be available for purchase on the orchestra’s website in early September at www.ScottsdaleSymphonicOrchestra.org. Orchestral musicians interested in learning more about the organization can also visit the website at www.ScottsdaleSymphonicOrchestra.org. About the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra The Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra is a non-profit organization, 501(3)(c) tax-exempt pending, formed to provide highly skilled musicians the opportunity to perform high caliber live concert events that uplift, inspire, and culturally enrich its members and the community. For more information, visit www.ScottsdaleSymphonicOrchestra.org.