Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Listen Up: Seminars on Music is a weekly gathering of music lovers every Wednesday morning, hosted by AZMF’s Resident Artist, Josh Condon. Each session combines music history, analysis, active listening, and discussion, designed to enhance your listening experience and overall music appreciation. Listen Up covers all genres, emphasizing our common humanity across all musical styles! Coffee and refreshments provided.
Music of Space, part 2 is our first exploration into this year’s Festival Orchestra repertoire! While director George Lucas originally wanted to include some segments of Holst’s The Planets in his Star Wars epoch, composer John Williams insisted he write something new and original – inspired by Holst’s orchestral suite. It was not only Holst that Williams was inspired by, but several composers ranging from Romantic opera, to early 20th century modernism, to Golden Age Hollywood film scores and sci-fi television shows.
As a follow-up to what we listened to the previous week, we’ll now compare, contrast, and discuss what Williams borrowed from Holst, to create an new, incredible world of musical pictures, and also explore what ideas make Williams distinctly unique! Together, we’ll have a better understanding of just how many influences came together to make Star Wars not only one of the greatest film scores of all time, but perhaps one of the greatest orchestral compositions of the 20th (and 21st) centuries!
Instructor
Josh Condon
As a pianist equally adept in the genres of jazz, pop, and classical, Josh Condon has served as music director/supervisor for over 40 musical theatre productions, in addition to leading concerts with symphony orchestras, choirs, jazz ensembles, and pop/rock bands. He has traveled the world as a music director and pianist for the Norwegian, Celebrity, and Princess Cruise Lines where he worked with numerous Broadway and West End performers.
Currently, Josh serves as Resident Artist and Director of Community Music Programs for Arizona Musicfest in Scottsdale, an organization which features concert performances of the music industry’s top talent. In addition to serving as Assistant Conductor for the Musicfest Festival Orchestra, he lectures on topics surveying a huge breadth of music history and analysis, including popular song, symphonic repertoire, jazz performance practice, musical theatre, and everything in between.
He also serves as Assistant Conductor for the North Valley Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared as Guest Conductor with the Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra, the Scottsdale Philharmonic, and the Arizona Musical Theatre Orchestra. Josh is passionate about using flexibility, positivity, and encouragement to create spaces where all can learn and perform to their best ability. He holds a BM in Jazz Studies from Ithaca College and an MM in Musical Theatre/Opera Music Direction from Arizona State University, and resides in Phoenix, AZ with his wife Lexy, their son Arlo, and their cat Sadie.