A World Premiere Experience

Many world premieres in the classical music world are fleeting moments of disconnection - a composer works in a solitary manner, crafting an orchestral composition while his/her commissioners can only sit and speculate as to what it might sound like. Shortly before the premiere, the piece arrives on the musicians' music stands and the composer and conductor have only a handful of rehearsals to communicate this new vision to the orchestra before it is performed over a weekend for an audience who has little idea what to expect. The end result of this process varies: the audience may be either blown away or sometimes just plain confounded at the originality and uniqueness of the piece. Either way, there is usually little opportunity to get any further into the piece - the premiere is over and that's the end of the story.

But The Phoenix Symphony's Composer-in-Residence, Mark Grey, wanted the experience of his new piece, Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio, to be vastly different. With the help of The Phoenix Symphony staff, Grey created 4 residency weeks full of events that would introduce the community to the concepts behind his new composition and even provide previews of what the audience would hear on premiere night. The artistic team even took a trip to the Navajo Reservation in northeast Arizona to present a preview of the project at Diné College as well as to Navajo high school students. The result is a new orchestral work that people can take a tour of and connect with so that when the main event occurs in February it won't be a fleeting moment, but rather the culmination of an experience.

I have had the opportunity to document the composer residency over the last three months and have put together a short preview of Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio that will introduce you to the artists, traditions, story, and some of the music behind this remarkable project. You can watch it online or download a high resolution version through this link.

And remember, there are still two residency weeks left in the months of January and February. Take the opportunity to learn more about this project and be a part of this world premiere experience!

Brendan Anderson
Web Administrator

(Photo by Deborah O'Grady)