K-BACH's Heart of the Arts

Violinist Benjamin Baker is the founder and artistic director of the At World's Edge Music (AWE) Festival in New Zealand. He and some of his AWE colleagues will perform music by Prokofiev as well as composers from Australia, New Zealand, England, and Wales at Tempe Center for the Arts on March 22 as part of the Hayden's Ferry Chamber Music Series. KBACH's Greg Kostraba recently chatted with Baker about the festival and their upcoming performance in Tempe. Tickets for the performance are available at the Tempe Center for the Arts website.

The West Valley Symphony presents two concerts in March led by Daniel Wiley who began as music director this season. The March 1st concert includes music of Bridge, Bloch, Bruch, and Mendelssohn and features concertmaster and ASU graduate Luke Hill as soloist. Michael Keelan talked with Wiley on Heart of the Arts. Details available at the West Valley Symphony website.

As part of its 35th Anniversary season, Arizona MusicFest presents its annual Festival Orchestra Week, four performances that take place from February 22nd through March 1st at La Casa de Christo Lutheran Church in Scottsdale. Greg Kostraba recently spoke with the Festival Orchestra's Music Director Robert Moody about the concerts, which will be performed by some of the finest orchestral musicians from across North America. Tickets for the performance are available at the Arizona Musicfest website.

The 17th annual Arizona Bach Festival takes place February 15th through March 8th at various locations throughout the Valley. KBACH's Greg Kostraba recently talked to the festival's Artistic Director Scott Youngs about the concerts, which include chamber and orchestral music by J.S. Bach, as well as the Arizona premiere of an oratorio commissioned by the Jewish community in Amsterdam in the 1770s. Tickets for the performance are available at the Arizona Bach Festival website.

The MusicaNova Orchestra presents its “Baroque to the Future” concert February 7th at Tempe Center for the Arts. The program features music by 19th through 21st century composers harkening back to the Baroque Era for inspiration. KBACH's Greg Kostraba recently chatted with conductor Warren Cohen and guest cellist and Valley native Peter Eom about the concert.

ASU Collaborative Piano Professor Miki Aoki and several of her students have organized a series of performances at Banner - University Medical Center in Phoenix for patients and families who spend long stretches in the hospital. They recently spoke with KBACH's Greg Kostraba about the project.

The Phoenix Chorale presents "Transcendence" January 24 & 25 at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. KBACH's Greg Kostraba talked with the chorale's Artistic Director Christopher Gabbitas about the program, which includes a full orchestra and an expanded chorus augmented by student singers from across the state. Tickets for the performance are available here.

One of the most successful Arizonans in classical music is mezzo-soprano Angela Brower. She is featured on Mozart opera recordings with the Metropolitan Opera's music director and sings the Mozart Requiem this month with the Tucson Symphony. A week prior to that she joins the same orchestra in the solo cantata Cléopâtre by Berlioz. Michael Keelan talked with her about the concerts conducted by José Luis Gomez. https://www.tucsonsymphony.org/event/debussy-la-mer-2026/2026-01-23/ https://www.tucsonsymphony.org/event/mozart-requiem/2026-01-31/1/

The Phoenix Symphony begins 2026 in concert January 9-11 at Symphony Hall. The program will include Pictures at an Exhibition, Antrópolis by Gabriela Ortiz, and Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto #2 with guest cellist Sterling Elliott. KBACH's Greg Kostraba recently chatted with Elliott about the piece, and his blossoming career, which began as the youngest member of the Elliott Family String Quartet. Tickets for the performance are available at the Phoenix Symphony website.

The Oracle Piano Society presents its 2026 Chamber Music Festival in early January in Oracle, Arizona. The society's founder...

The Phoenix Chorale presents "A Chorale Christmas" from December 19-22 at locations throughout the Valley. KBACH's Greg Kostraba talked...

The Valley's LGBTQIA+Ally Wind Symphony plays Sunday, December 14th, 3 PM at Tempe Center for the Arts. Michael Keelan talked with artistic...

The Carolyn Eynon Singers present "Holiday Carols & Classics" December 6th & 7th in Scottsdale. KBACH's Greg Kostraba chatted...

The Phoenix Boys Choir presents its Yuletide Holiday Concert Series from December 6th through the 20th at various locations throughout the Valley....

From Nov. 21-23 the Phoenix Symphony hosts conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya with trumpeter Arturo Sandoval (Nov. 22-23 only). KBACH's Michael Keelan...

Julie Desbordes conducts a remarkable variety of ensembles in the valley. Her newest is Symphony of the Southwest with their first concert of the...

The Phoenix Symphony features travel guru Rick Steves November 14-16 in the role of tour guide for Rick Steves' Europe: A Symphonic Journey. He...

The Phoenix Chamber Music Society presents the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet in concert Sunday, November 2 at 3pm at Camelback Bible Church in Paradise...

The MusicaNova Orchestra will be in concert Friday, October 17 at 7:30pm at the Musical Instrument Museum. The centerpiece of their program is Dead...

Pianist Caio Pagano (pictured left) will perform music by Beethoven and Chopin at the Recital Hall of the Steinway Piano Gallery in Scottsdale,...

The Phoenix Symphony opens its 2025-2026 season October 3-5 at Symphony Hall with Dvorak's "New World" Symphony and guest pianist...

John Doney is the founder, President & CEO of the Arizona Pops Orchestra, which makes its debut Saturday, September 27 at Tempe Center for the...

Pianist Stephen Cook (pictured, left) is the founder and Artistic Director of the Oracle Piano Society in Oracle, Arizona, which presents a...

ASU professors flutist Elizabeth Buck and guitarist Martha Masters will be in recital on the Downtown Chamber Series Saturday & Sunday, August...

ASU Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano Miki Aoki will present a solo piano recital on Saturday, July 12th at the Recital Hall in the Steinway...

June 21st is the worldwide Make Music Day, and Rosie's House has planned free performances and other activities at 17 locations throughout the...

The Arizona Piano Institute presents its 10th Summer Festival June 1st through the 7th at Phoenix College. Before the festival begins, the faculty of...

The MusicaNova Orchestra presents its "Laughing with Prokofiev, Stravinsky & Haydn" concert May 18th at the Musical Instrument Museum....

The SOUNDS Academy presents its 10th Anniversary Benefit Concert on May 16th at the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix. The Academy's Founder and CEO...

The Phoenix Chorale concludes its season on Saturday & Sunday, May 3rd and 4th with a program called “American Voices." The Chorale...

British Pianist Martin James Bartlett will perform at Tempe Center for the Arts, Sunday, April 13th, as part of the Hayden's Ferry Chamber...

The Mike Block Trio will be featured on the next concert of the Classical Music Inside Out series at Mesa Arts Center, Wednesday, April 9. The...

The Arizona MusicFest Festival Orchestra culminates its annual week-long residency in the Valley with a performance Sunday, March 30th at 2pm at La...

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) will be in performance Saturday, March 22 at Camelback Bible Church in Paradise Valley. The co-...

The MusicaNova Orchestra & Phoenix Chorale team up for performances Saturday & Sunday, March 8-9 at Camelback Bible Church in Paradise Valley...

The Oracle Piano Society presents a recital by Navajo pianist/composer Connor Chee, Sunday afternoon, February 16th at 3 at the Oracle Center for the...

The Phoenix Chamber Music Society presents a program curated by composer-in-residence and violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Saturday afternoon, February...

Boston-based cellist Rhonda Rider comes to Phoenix to perform at the MIM with the MusicNova Orchestra this Saturday at 6 P-M. She recently chatted...

Pianist Jeffrey Siegel continues his 46th season of Keyboard Conversations at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, January 14 at...

The East Coast Chamber Orchestra brings a program that blends old and new to Camelback Bible Church Saturday, January 11 at 7:30pm. Co-Executive...

The Oracle Piano Society presents its annual Chamber Music Festival January 2-5 in Oracle, Arizona. The society's founder and Artistic Director...

Former Music Director at the Church of the Ascension in Fountain Hills and ASU graduate Charles Szczepanek has a new album out on Heart Dance Records...

Pianist Jeffrey Siegel begins his 46th season of Keyboard Conversations at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, December 10 at 7...

Violist and ASU professor Nancy Buck curates a series of chamber music concerts at Ravenscroft Hall in Scottsdale, and will be featured in the...

Violinist and Sphinx Competition Winner Njioma Grevious comes to the East Valley for a Classical Music Inside Out residency, including a performance...

The Phoenix Chamber Music Society is bringing in the Jerusalem Quartet and pianist Inon Barnatan for a performance of string quartets by Haydn and...

The Phoenix Chamber Music Society opens its 65th season by bringing in the Dover Quartet for a performance Sunday afternoon, October 27 at Camelback...

The Concert Truck, a fully-functioning mobile concert hall complete with lights, sound system, and piano, will be making a stop in Chandler October...

The Phoenix Chorale and Tucson's True Concord (pictured) will perform the Requiem by Maurice Durufle and Frank Martin's Mass for Double Choir Sunday...

Janet Green has been attending Phoenix Chamber Music Society concerts since she was a teenager, and is now Executive Director of the society. She...

Pianist Stephen Cook is founder and Artistic Director of the Oracle Piano Society in Oracle, Arizona, which enriches rural Pinal County with a...