Arizona Philharmonic Presents Music Reimagined

On Sunday, October 5, Maestro Peter Bay returns to conduct Arizona Philharmonic strings in Music Reimagined, a program that interprets memory, motion, and light, and features American composers Samuel Barber and Augusta Reed Thomas. 

Music as Memory, Motion and Light

Discover how composers carry tradition forward, reshaping what they’ve inherited into bold, expressive works for today’s string orchestra. This program features music built from unexpected origins, American composer Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, now a national elegy, began as the slow movement of a string quartet. Britten’s Simple Symphony transforms childhood melodies into witty, orchestrated charm, and Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances grew from Eastern European folk music into a concert hall favorite. 

Augusta Read Thomas, one of America’s most celebrated living composers, reimagines a poetic choral work as a luminous meditation for strings in Of Paradise and Light. Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, written as a string quartet for social gatherings, has become one of the best-known orchestral serenades. The program opens with Metro Chabacano by Mexican composer Javier Álvarez, a brief and energetic work that transforms the rhythm of Mexico City’s subway bustle into concert music.

Information and tickets are available at AZPhil.org, or by calling 855-321-6724. Season tickets offering a 15% discount are on sale May 1 through October 5. All shows take place at the acoustically exquisite Ruth Street Theater, 1050 Ruth Street on Prescott High School grounds. Individual tickets start at $28 and include ticketing fees. Art 4 All™ tickets are also available, allowing audience members to pay what they are comfortable with.