In Sunday’s (5/8) Arizona Republic (Phoenix), Richard Nilsen writes about “a committed group of symphony patrons,” taking the matter of where classical music comes from “into their own hands. ‘I think it’s a great idea,’ says composer Marjan Mozetich. ‘It allows the audience to have a say in what kind of music they’d like to hear. It empowers the audience.’ The Phoenix Symphony will this week premiere ‘Procession of Duos,’ the 22-minute concerto for orchestra the Canadian composer was commissioned to write by the symphony’s Commissioning Club. ‘We have seven couples committed to be part of the Commissioning Club for five years, with a financial commitment for that,’ says Judy Wolf, who had the original idea for the group and herded it through the process. Each of the couples in the club was required to put up at least $2,000 to pay for the commission, and they have met for the past two years, finding a composer and creating a dialog with him about what they would like to hear. … Wolf, who is married to Phoenix Symphony Lifetime Director Ed Wolf—himself a former executive director of the Buffalo Symphony in New York—approached Phoenix Symphony music director Michael Christie. … For their first meeting, Christie brought recordings of music by a dozen contemporary composers.”
Posted May 12, 2011
