ProMusica Arizona Chorale & Orchestra Performances
2024-2025 Season
Merry Christmas to All!
Merry Christmas to All! celebrated the season with a heartwarming concert filled with favorite Christmas classics—with a delightful twist! The chorale and orchestra embarked on a “Musicological Journey Through the Twelve Days of Christmas” and invited the audience to sing along to beloved carols as we spread holiday cheer through music. This festive performance was perfect for the whole family, offering a blend of tradition and surprise to make the holiday season bright.
Performance times/venues:
December 14 at 3:30 pm at All Saints Lutheran Church in Phoenix
December 16 at 7:00 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
It’s A Circus!
Step right up for It’s a Circus!—a musical extravaganza where the magic of the big top comes to life! Lions, Tiggers, and Bears, oh my! The audiences were enchanted by circus-themed favorites and delightful Disney tunes, including “The Bare Necessities,” “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers,” and “Hakuna Matata.” With showstoppers like “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman and Henry Mancini’s playful “The Baby Elephant Walk,” this concert was a whimsical journey through music that left concertgoers smiling from ear to ear. A one-of-a-kind musical adventure!
Performance times/venues:
October 19 at 3:30 pm at All Saints Lutheran Church in Phoenix
October 20 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
2023-2024 Season
Fantasy and Fairytales
In Fantasy and Fairytales, renowned pianist and composer Deborah Offenhauser was the piano soloist for our performance of Beethoven’s “Choral Fantasy.” Vocal soloists for the work were members from the ProMusica Arizona Chorale. The April concerts also included the premiere of “Argonautika Suite” by Thomas Hartwell, inspired by Jason and the Argonauts and the Greek epic poem Argonautica. Thomas has been with ProMusica Arizona for many years and creates the video presentations that enhance our concerts. He is an accomplished musician and composer, as well. We are excited to have performed his work! Other fun features were “Imaginary Creatures,” with poems written by elementary school children and set to music by Andrea Ramsey; “The Tortoise and the Hare,” set by Darmon Meador; and “Alice’s Theme” from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. In addition, the orchestra played Mozart’s “Overture to the Magic Flute.” The Chorale was featured on Morten Lauridsen’s beautiful “Dirait-on,” and “Nella Fantasia,” made famous by the vocal sensation “Il Divo” from the film “The Mission.”
Performance times/venues:
April 13 at 3:30 pm at All Saints Lutheran Church in Phoenix
April 14 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
Winter Fantasy
Winter Fantasy was a journey through the centuries beginning with new settings of ancient carols “Personent Hodie,” “Sussex Carol,” and “Sing We Now of Christmas.” The orchestra was featured on “Toccata on I Saw Three Ships,” “Fantasia on We Three Kings,” and “The Bells of Christmas.” “Christmas Traditions,” a setting of multiple carols for choir, orchestra, and audience by local composer and friend of PMAZ Arlin Snesrud gave everyone a chance to participate in the singing of beloved Christmas carols. The ProMusica Arizona Chorale was featured in the gorgeous setting of Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria.” There were a few other musical surprises, as well, all culminating with a rousing finale of “Do You Hear What I Hear.”
Performance times/venues:
December 16 at 3:30 pm at All Saints Lutheran Church in Phoenix
December 17 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
Musical Dreams
Musical Dreams kicked off our 21st season with favorites like “Over the Rainbow;” “Dream a Little Dream of Me;” a reimagined, exciting rendition of Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run” arranged by choral legend Craig Hella Johnson (Conspirare); and a new arrangement of “When You Wish Upon a Star.” The ProMusica Arizona Orchestra was be featured playing Mendelssohn’s “Overture to a Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the overture to the opera Hansel and Gretel. Touching settings of “Dreams” by local composer Christine Temple Evans, with text by William B. Yeats; the e.e.cummings text [i carry your heart with me], set tenderly and beautifully by David Dickau; Kim Andre Arneson’s moving “Flight Song,” with words by Welsh poet Euan Tait; and “Measure Me, Sky” by Jonathon Reid, with text by Leonora Speyer, resonated deeply. The program closed with choir and orchestra joining together in Mary McDonald’s “This is the Dream,” inspired by Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Performance times/venues:
October 21 at 3:30 pm at All Saints Lutheran Church in Phoenix
October 22 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
2022-2023 Season
20th Anniversary Celebration
The season concluded with ProMusica Arizona’s 20th Anniversary Celebration featuring the world-premiere of Saguaro Song by Arizona composer Craig Bohmler, well-known for Arizona Opera’s Riders of the Purple Sage. Saguaro Song is a suite of five songs for choir and orchestra with texts by award-winning Canadian author Marion Adler who uses the iconic saguaro cactus as a metaphor for the seasons of life. In addition, ProMusica Arizona presented A World Without Boundaries by Timothy Powell with texts by American astronauts. The piece was commissioned for ProMusica Arizona’s 15th anniversary season. Morten Lauridsen’s “Sure on This Shining Night,” Ola Gjielo’s “Sunrise” (“Gloria”) from Sunrise Mass, and other musical gems were featured to round out the festivities.
Performance times/venues:
Saturday, April 1 at 7:00 pm at All Saints Lutheran Church in North Phoenix
Sunday, April 2 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
A Musical Champagne Salon
Again in 2023, ProMusica Arizona held A Musical Champagne Salon in an exquisite private home in the Anthem Country Club. Guests were treated to an enjoyable evening of musical performances by talented ProMusica Arizona soloists and small ensembles. A wide variety of heavy hors d’oeuvres and desserts, plus champagne, wine, and other beverages, were served and enjoyed indoors and outdoors. This was our major fundraiser for the year, and our members and volunteers did their very best to make the admission price worth every penny!
Salon date and time:
Saturday, March 11 at 6:00 pm
Christmas Through the Ages
The holiday concert, Christmas Through the Ages, featured new arrangements of traditional carols “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “The Huron Carol,” as well as favorites like “Carol of the Bells” and “Sleigh Ride.” ProMusica Arizona also presented the world-premiere of ProMusica Arizona Chorale member and professional composer Ryan Gunderson’s “Jesus, Refulsit Omnium“ (“Jesus, Light of All the Nations”), one of the first hymns in honor of the Nativity stemming from 368 A.D. As always, the audience was invited to join in singing several well-known carols of the season.
Performance times/venues:
Saturday, December 17 at 7:00 pm at All Saints Lutheran Church in North Phoenix
Sunday, December 18 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
Favorites – Past & Present
ProMusica Arizona kicked off its 20th anniversary season with Favorites – Past & Present. The opening concert featured a full first half of patriotic favorites including “America the Beautiful,” “God Bless America,” toe-tapping John Philip Sousa marches, and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The second half continued with more favorites including music by John Williams; a medley of songs by Stephen Sondheim, including “Send in the Clowns;” and a Richard Rodgers medley with songs from The Sound of Music, South Pacific, and Oklahoma, to name a few.
Performance times/venues:
October 15 at 7:00 pm at All Saints Lutheran Church in North Phoenix
October 16 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
One of the pieces performed in the second half was “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana; click on this link to hear the Chorale performing it with the Scottsdale Philharmonic Orchestra.
Favorites – Past and Present was sponsored by Andrew Z Diamonds & Fine Jewelry in Anthem, AZ. Visit their website at www.andrewzdiamonds.com.
2021-2022 Season
Misa Azteca
Misa Azteca is a staged, concert piece for orchestra, choir, soloists and pre-Columbian percussion ensemble by composer Joseph Julian Gonzalez. It is based on the “ordinary” and “proper” of the Roman Catholic High Mass and verses from the Cantares Mexicanos, a collection of pre- and post-conquest verse of the Mexica (the Aztecs). Misa Azteca is sung in Latin, Spanish and Nahuatl, hybridizing two cultures and religions into a unique eight-movement, oratorio-style, musical celebration. This concert was presented in collaboration with the Carolyn Eynon Singers. In addition, Mexican-American dancers from Ballet Folklorico of the Ollin Yoliztli Dance Academy in Phoenix gave beautiful, energetic dance performances 45 minutes before the concerts, and visual artists from the Arizona Latino Arts & Culture Center displayed their artworks at the venues, putting everyone in the mood for the Mariachi-style music.
Performance times/venues:
April 2 at 7:00 pm at Barry Goldwater HS Performing Arts Center in Phoenix
April 3 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
Musical Champagne Salon 2022
As always, ProMusica Arizona’s 2022 Musical Champagne Salon was held in an exquisite private home in the Anthem Country Club. Guests were treated to an enjoyable evening of musical performances by talented ProMusica soloists and small ensembles. A wide variety of heavy hors d’oeuvres and desserts, plus champagne, wine, and other beverages, was served and enjoyed indoors and outdoors.
Salon date and time:
March 19 at 6:00 pm
An Arizona Holiday
Our December concert this year was in collaboration with the Arizona Christian University Firestorm Chorale. It featured traditional festive holiday fare as well as works by Arizona composers, most with a connection to ProMusica Arizona. Arrangements of well-known Christmas carols by our own Aaron Smith (tenor section leader), Frank Darmiento (trombone), Dana Graybeal (retired music teacher – Thunderbird HS and Phoenix College), and Craig Bohmler (Riders of the Purple Sage composer and ProMusica Arizona friend) delighted our audiences.
Performance times/venues:
December 4 at 7:00 pm at Barry Goldwater HS Performing Arts Center in Phoenix
December 5 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
An Arizona Holiday was sponsored by Andrew Z Diamonds & Fine Jewelry in Anthem, AZ. Visit their website at www.andrewzdiamonds.com.
Let Music Live!
Exploring the joy that music brings to our lives, the first concert of our 19th season contained both celebration and contemplation. The program began with “Come to the Music.” Next, “The Awakening” for choir and orchestra by Joseph Martin described a world of silence, then erupted into the joyous exclamation, “Let music never die in me, forever let my spirit sing, let music live!” The Chorale and Women in Song continued this theme throughout the concert, singing texts about how music touches our lives. The orchestra played Beethoven’s powerful “Egmont Overture” and a short Haydn symphony. As the finale, the combined ensembles performed “If Music be the Food of Love, Sing On!”
Performance times/venues:
October 16 at 7:00 pm at Boulder Creek HS Performing Arts Center in Anthem
October 17 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
2020-2021 Season
A Christmas Kaleidoscope
A Christmas Kaleidoscope was live-streamed on December 19 at 4:15 pm MST. The free concert featured ProMusica Arizona male and female vocalists and instrumentalists in small ensembles. They performed beautiful new renditions of Christmas favorites as well as Spanish carols, selections from The Nutcracker Suite, and Mannheim Steamroller Christmas carol arrangements for a string quartet.
A Musical Kaleidoscope
ProMusica Arizona presented a free virtual concert, A Musical Kaleidoscope, on Sunday, November 8, with an online recording available through November 15.
The concert featured a string ensemble playing Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in A minor, Opus 3, No. 6 with 15-year old soloist, Tara Fatima; a vocal octet singing selections from Brahms’ “Liebeslieder Waltzes” accompanied by four-hand piano; Flute Quintet No. 5 in G Major, Opus 17, G. 423 by Luigi Boccherini with featured soloist, Arizona Christian University student, Rebecca Hendricks; and a women’s octet singing selections including Lauridsen’s “Sure On This Shining Night” and Dickau’s “If Music Be the Food of Love.” In addition, award-winning tenor, Aaron Smith, sang the beautiful “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz.” A vocal quartet featuring Jerry and Karin Gunderson, their son, Ryan, and ProMusica Arizona Artistic Director, Patti Graetz, sang a set of a cappella selections. ProMusica Arizona Concertmaster Meghan Ruel and her husband, Diego Miranda, rounded out the performance with selections for violin and classical guitar.
2019-2020 Season
Celebrate AMERICA!
Celebrate America: In the first concert of the season, PMAZ presented American music including Broadway, folk tunes, spirituals, and of course patriotic music and a salute to servicemen and women in the stirring piece Armed Forces: The Pride of America! These recognizable and uniquely American music selections, including Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and Irving Berlin’s America, reminded the audience of our great country’s history and development!
Performance times/venues:
November 1 at 7:00 pm at Glendale Civic Center in Glendale*
November 2 at 7:00 pm at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Anthem
November 3 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City
*November 1 was a free performance funded by the City of Glendale through the Centerline Arts and Cultural Initiative.
Musical Champagne Salon
ProMusica Arizona’s Musical Champagne Salon was held in an exquisite private home in the Anthem Country Club. Guests were treated to an evening of musical performances by talented soloists and small ensembles. An array of hors d’oeuvres, desserts, champagne, wine, and other beverages were served and enjoyed indoors and outdoors.
Salon date and time:
November 16 at 6:00 pm
Joy To All The World
ProMusica Arizona’s 2019 holiday concert featured seasonal music from around the world, including a medley of Christmas carols from diverse cultures arranged for choir and orchestra by composer Craig Bohmler of Mountain Days: The John Muir Musical and Riders of the Purple Sage fame. Traditional, classical, and the ever-favorite sing-alongs were included.
Performance times/venues:
December 14 at 7:00 pm at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Anthem
December 15 at 3:30 pm at American Lutheran Church in Sun City