Strings from The Phoenix Symphony Chamber Ensemble at GCC
Strings from The Phoenix Symphony Chamber Ensemble will have select performances at Glendale Community College on March 9, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. in the Student Union room 104. The Symphony Connections program is a partnership between The Phoenix Symphony and Maricopa Community Colleges that provides introductions to orchestral music for undergraduate and continuing education students, as well as for general members of the surrounding community.Approximately 2,500 people participate annually. Developed in 1997, this program features performances on four Maricopa Community College Campuses by Strings from The Phoenix Symphony Chamber Ensemble. Comprised of twenty-five members of The Phoenix Symphony's string section and conducted by Assistant Conductor Benjamin Rous, these performances are educational and engaging. Rous presents the history and cultural significance of each work performed, and invites the audience to ask questions throughout the program.
This year's performances will include the complete Simple Symphony by Benjamin Britten, and will feature composers Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Bartók.
Assistant Conductor Benjamin Rous began his tenure as Assistant Conductor of The Phoenix Symphony in 2008. He plans and conducts the Symphony Connections and Symphony for the Schools series, as well as Family and outreach concerts, in locations throughout the Valley and in Symphony Hall. He was appointed conductor of the Phoenix Youth Symphony in early 2009, and presents his first concerts with them during the current season. Prior to his arrival in Phoenix, he worked with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, and the Princeton Symphony in assistant conducting roles. He has performed with the National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa, Ontario), the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris (Vendome, France), and with the Chelsea Symphony on New York's Bargemusic Series.
Mr. Rous studied music at Harvard University, where he served as music director of Harvard's Bach Society Orchestra, and subsequently studied conducting with Kenneth Kiesler at the University of Michigan. In the summer of 2006 he was selected as an Academy Conductor at the Aspen Music Festival, where he worked under the guidance of David Zinman and George Manahan. As a violinist, Rous recently performed in The Mahler Chamber Orchestra and in Orchestra Mozart (Bologna, Italy), under the batons of Claudio Abbado and Daniel Harding. He has played violin and viola in the Arcturus Chamber Ensemble (Carlisle, MA) since its inception in 2000. Mr. Rous's compositions have been performed by the Portland (ME) Youth Symphony, the New England Conservatory Preparatory String Orchestra, and the Fromm Players at Harvard.
