Summer Honors

The Phoenix Symphony and Virginia G. Piper Music Director Michael Christie were honored on June 11th by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and the League of American Orchestras for excellence in Programming of Contemporary Music for the Symphony’s 2008/09 Season! The awards recognize orchestras of all sizes whose most recent programming demonstrates a strong commitment to contemporary music.

Some of the pieces used by the selection committee to commend the Symphony’s 2008/09 Season include Osvaldo Golijov’s Three Pieces for Soprano and Orchestra, Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto 4-3 and Percussion Concerto as part of the Symphony’s season-long “spotlight” on Ms. Higdon’s music, Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Pipa and the world premiere of Michael Daugherty’s March of the Metro, which was commissioned by Clem and Mary Jo Hellmann to commemorate the completion of the METRO Light Rail in Phoenix.