Celebrate Arizona’s 100^th Birthday with a Unique Symphony Experience

Phoenix Symphony

The Phoenix Symphony commemorates the Centennial Celebration of the State of Arizona with a unique multimedia event by James Westwater featuring Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite.

Lead by Virginia G. Piper Music Director Michael Christie in a premiere performance of music and photography, the Centennial Celebration! Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite will remind Arizona’s community of our state’s natural beauty and incredible history. The performance will be a multimedia event by transcendent still photographer, James Westwater. Westwater combines photographic art with classical music to create a technique he calls “photochoreography.” His philosophy is to create visual compositions to match the images the music illustrates.

Originally titled Five Pictures of the Grand Canyon, Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite represents five movements of a typical canyon experience. “Sunrise,” “Painted Desert,” “On the Trail,” “Sunset” and “Cloudburst” can be heard on the Disneyland Railroad, the 1983 film A Christmas Story and the 1958 Academy Award-winning Walt Disney short, Grand Canyon.

As part of the US Airways Classics Series, Centennial Celebration! Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite will be held at Symphony Hall on Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. sponsored by Snell and Wilmer, and Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. sponsored by SRP. Tickets for Centennial Celebration! Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite start at $18 and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602-495-1999 or by visiting www.phoenixsymphony.org.