The Phoenix Concerts

The Phoenix Concerts advocates contemporary concert music of the broadest stylistic range, presenting programs that reflect the evolving nature of music in our time. Building from a core season of four concerts held on Manhattan's Upper West Side, hosted by the Church of St. Matthew & St. Timothy, The Phoenix Concerts' calendar has expanded to include collaborative events through partnerships with: Hudson Opera House; Lotte Lehmann Foundation; Salon Harlem; Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and WUOL 90.5 FM, Louisville, Kentucky's Fine Arts Station, where series events have been re-broadcast to a listener base of over 40,000.

The Phoenix Concerts' ongoing commissioning project, The Phoenix Commissions, has furthered the series' unwavering commitment to contemporary music. Since 2007, the project has commissioned, premiered, and hosted repeat performances of music by over twenty living composers, both emerging and established. The 2009/10 season culminated in The Hymn Tune Project which paired ten newly commissioned works for Ensemble-in-Residence Finisterra Piano Trio with the traditional hymns that inspired them.

Now celebrating its sixth season, The Phoenix Concerts has enjoyed the overwhelmingly positive support of a growing audience, drawing to its adventurously programmed events a fascinating mix of both new music specialists and uninitiated concertgoers while reaching out to new communities through co-presentations with partnering organizations, radio re-broadcasts, and a strong internet presence. Drawing from its core group of musicians — The Phoenix Players — the series' widely-varied concert events have established a strong basis for its continuing mission:

To offer excellent contemporary concert music of a broad stylistic range; to commission new works by emerging and established composers; and to remain committed to the inclusive nature of musical performance.