Lifelong Learning

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 provided. Our exploration continues with more of America's richest choral repertoire. We'll examine how composers illuminate texts through melody, harmony, rhythm, and color, revealing the emotions hidden within the words. By the time you attend the concert, you'll hear these pieces with fresh ears and a deeper appreciation for their artistry.

For our final gathering, we will look at some of the latest techniques that are being used in recording studios, and we’ll do a live breakdown of several sessions. We’re also going to do a bit of recording ourselves to see just what goes into a modern recording session. Some of the major questions that we will explore include the use of pitch correction, time correction, and editing/comping takes—is this ethical? What actually makes an authentic performance? And what impact will AI have on the music industry and copyright? We’ll also take a hard look at some of the most notorious lawsuits dealing with copyright infringement, and see if you agree with the decisions.

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 provided. One of the greatest piano concertos ever written deserves more than a single session. In Part One, we'll explore the turbulent historical backdrop of Beethoven's final concerto, his revolutionary approach to the genre, and the astonishing opening movement that immediately announces we're hearing something entirely new. You'll come away with listening tools that make every dramatic moment even more rewarding in performance.  

Step behind the scenes and onto the stage with Arizona Musicfest's own Dr. Patrick Murphy, Director of Concert Operations, and Operations Manager, Dr. Caitlin Poupard, for a captivating lecture-performance that reveals the fascinating history and artistry of the saxophone and clarinet. While many audience members know Patrick and Caitlin for their leadership behind the scenes, this special event offers the rare opportunity to experience them in their original roles as accomplished performers and educators, each holding a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in their respective instruments. Through engaging stories, historical insights, and live musical demonstrations, they'll explore the unique evolution and expressive possibilities of these beloved woodwind instruments before showcasing their artistry in solo performances. The program concludes with a collaborative finale, celebrating the remarkable musical partnership between the clarinet and saxophone. Whether you're a lifelong music lover or simply curious about the stories behind the sounds, this entertaining and informative presentation promises an unforgettable morning of music, history, and discovery. https://youtu.be/HJhDdfakO68

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 provided. We'll complete our journey through Beethoven's majestic masterpiece, exploring the serene slow movement and exhilarating finale. Along the way we'll discover how Beethoven balances intimacy, virtuosity, and triumph, creating a concerto that continues to inspire performers and audiences more than two centuries later.

Don’t miss the launch of this exciting new series! In Part 1, Nicole will take us on a journey in time - (back to the 1890’s and early 1900’s) - to imagine how a pianist might have improvised music while a “silent” film was being played in front of a live audience. Nicole will also examine music from some of the first significant “Talkie” films (Aka..the first movies with “sound”) - by exploring classic films like Al Jolson’s “The Jazz Singer” from 1927 and “The Broadway Melody of 1928”; The first film to win an Academy Award.  

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 provided. Although Beethoven is celebrated for his symphonies, his contributions to choral music are equally remarkable. We'll explore the monumental works Hallelujah from Christ on the Mount of Olives; Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, culminating in The Choral Fantasy, discovering how Beethoven forever expanded the expressive possibilities of the human voice.

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 provided. Before Hollywood composers routinely wrote concert music, Erich Wolfgang Korngold did exactly the opposite. We'll trace his remarkable journey from Viennese prodigy to Academy Award-winning film composer, then discover how his dazzling Violin Concerto transforms themes from his movie scores into one of the twentieth century's most lyrical and virtuosic masterpieces. It's the perfect preparation for hearing this unforgettable work live.

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 provided. Few composers have painted nature as vividly as Claude Debussy. Through shimmering orchestral colors and constantly shifting textures, La Mer captures the mystery, beauty, and power of the sea. Together we'll learn to recognize Debussy's innovative musical language so that every wave, breeze, and burst of sunlight comes alive during the concert performance

Join acclaimed performer and educator Toby Yatso for a dynamic public masterclass featuring musical theatre students from Arizona State University. With an engaging style and deep industry insight, Yatso works one-on-one with emerging artists, offering vocal and interpretive coaching in real time. Audiences will enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the craft of musical theatre performance—watching as songs are shaped, characters are refined, and storytelling comes to life. Whether you’re a performer, student, or theatre enthusiast, this interactive session offers inspiration and education in equal measure.

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 provided. How can fifteen minutes of almost constant repetition become one of the world's most thrilling orchestral showpieces? Maurice Ravel's Boléro is a masterclass in orchestration and musical suspense. We'll discover how a single melody, an unwavering rhythm, and brilliant instrumental colors combine to create one of classical music's most recognizable—and irresistible—works.

Join Frank Thompson, instructor for Music Alive's weekly drumming sessions, for an engaging and interactive lecture-demonstration exploring the power of Health Rhythms Group Drumming and traditional African drumming. Through stories, demonstrations, and hands-on participation, Frank will share how rhythm can foster creativity, strengthen community connections, reduce stress, and support personal wellness and overall health. Whether you're an experienced musician or have never picked up a drum, this program is designed for everyone. Come discover the joy of creating music together, experience the uplifting energy of group drumming, and leave inspired by the universal language of rhythm. All are welcome—join us for a morning of connection, creativity, and fun!  

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 provided. Richard Strauss invites us to meet one of literature's great tricksters. Through dazzling orchestral storytelling, we'll follow Till Eulenspiegel's mischievous adventures, learning how Strauss uses recurring themes, instrumental color, and musical humor to tell a story without a single spoken word. It's one of the orchestra's most entertaining masterpieces.

Join Brian DeMaris (conductor, educator and President and General Director of Arizona Opera) for a witty and fun lecture on European and American Operetta ranging from Gilbert and Sullivan to the early years of Broadway. This presentation includes selections from "The Pirates of Penzance" performed by members of the Marion Roose Pullin Arizona Opera Studio. https://youtu.be/xN76Smr-FVg  

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 provided. One of today's most imaginative composers takes us on an extraordinary adventure inside the orchestra itself. Mason Bates combines symphonic music, technology, and storytelling in a work that is both entertaining and enlightening. Whether contemporary music is new to you or already a favorite, this session will reveal how today's composers continue to expand the possibilities of orchestral music.

During the 2nd part of this series, Nicole focuses her attention on some of the most memorable songs from the silver screen. Citing music from signature films of the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s. Nicole also examines the form, structure and magic behind such unforgettable film scores like “Gone With The Wind”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “Casablanca” and “Singing in the Rain.” Listeners will also be invited to participate in composing a short film “cue” with Nicole in the moment.

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 provided. George Gershwin blended the elegance of Paris with the energy of American jazz to create one of the defining orchestral works of the twentieth century. We'll explore how Gershwin blurred the boundaries between classical and popular music while capturing the excitement of discovering a new city through fresh eyes. Don't be surprised if you leave humming the tunes.

This series will take participants on a transformative journey -learning how to use music to maintain wellness and optimize their abilities throughout the aging process. All sessions will be experiential in order to support direct transfer into everyday life. Participants will leave each session with practical exercises and creative uses of music for both the home and the community. In addition to active engagement, each session will allow time for individual questions and homework-based discussion. Two weeks between sessions will provide participants with time to fully explore and integrate what they learn and experience in each session. In order for participants to get the most out of this experience, this course is designed for participants to attend all six sessions. Therefore, signing up for this course means you are registered for all classes. Please consider this when before signing up, as seating is limited.  Thursday, January 28: #1 Applied Neuroscience of Music: How Does Music Impact MY Brain? In this interactive session, participants will learn the science behind music and how it can optimize wellness, support injury recovery, and invigorate the aging process. The content will prepare participants for moving forward on their musical journeys within the series. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on how they currently use music and how they would like to integrate music into their daily lives based on their individual goals in order to support their own creative aging. Thursday, February 11: #2: Thinking it Through: Using Music to Keep Your Brain Active and Flexible This session will explore the use of music throughout the participant’s every day life to enhance memory and cognitive functions. Participants will create useful tools for their own easy access at home, in the grocery store and anywhere they’d like! They will begin the journey of creative music making in their everyday lives. Thursday, February 18: #3 Moving for Wellness In this active session, ...

For Part Two: (prerequisite - having attended Part One in Winter of 2026). This series will lead participants into a deepening journey in the utilization of music to maintain wellness and optimize their abilities throughout the aging process. Participants will share their discoveries and applications since the previous course as well as engage in more experiential opportunities in order to support direct transfer into everyday life. Participants will leave each session with practical exercises and creative uses of music for both the home and the community. In addition to active engagement, each session will allow time for individual questions and homework-based discussion. Two weeks between sessions will provide participants with time to fully explore and integrate what they learn and experience in each session: January 28, 2027: Class #1 - A Year in Review: How Did Music Impact MY Brain and What is Next? February 11: Class #2 - Using Music to Keep My Brain Active and Flexible: Next Level! February 25: Class #3 - Keep Moving for Wellness! March 11: Class #4 - Music Lessons or Music Exploration? March 18: Class #5 - The Elements of Music: Maximizing The Fun! March 25: Class #6 - Keeping it Going: What is In Store for This Year! https://youtu.be/RCeJjIPpooM

The Gershwin Legacy Project presents "The Gershwin Connections" Go behind the scenes with Gershwin cousin Nancy Ross and renowned Steinway pianist Kevin Cole to learn more about the Gershwins’ life behind the fame.  Discover The Gershwin Legacy Project’s mission to support the Gershwin spirit: “A Rhythm that Changed the World”! www.TheGershwinLegacyProject.org; www.kevincolemusic.com; @KevinColePiano on YouTube https://youtu.be/OBdm7kzasWo?si=YxI11E16dfzwibEu https://youtu.be/UxwGXUrPf4I  

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 provided. Many musicians consider Dvořák's Cello Concerto the greatest ever written for the instrument. We'll discover why its sweeping melodies, heartfelt lyricism, and masterful orchestration have made it a favorite for generations. Along the way we'll learn what to listen for as soloist and orchestra engage in one of classical music's most moving musical conversations.

Doug Bradley played basketball with the Miracles, shared a joint with Grace Slick, and held Dionne Warwick’s hand when he told her Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated. He watched his Doo-Wop singing brother and World War II veteran father battle over the birth of rock and roll, brought the music of Stax and Motown to a small college in the West Virginia hills, and soaked in the sounds of CCR, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix as an Army journalist in the “air-conditioned jungle” in Vietnam. In his latest book, The Tracks of My Years: A Music-Based Memoir, the acclaimed co-author of Rolling Stone’s 2015 music book-of-the-year, We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of Vietnam War, tells the story of a life lived with, and in, music. The Tracks of My Years is for anyone who grew up in post-World War II America, and for their children and grandchildren trying to look beyond the haze of myths surrounding Baby Boomers. It opens windows into the echoes of the heart. https://youtube.com/shorts/QX5JC_Ayqyg?feature=share

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 provided. Written during the closing years of World War II, Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony stands among the twentieth century's greatest orchestral achievements. In Part One, we'll explore the composer's fascinating life, the historical backdrop, and the first half of this powerful work, uncovering the themes and musical ideas that make it so compelling.

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 provided. We'll complete our exploration of Prokofiev's masterpiece by following its emotional journey through its final movements. Together we'll consider the symphony's moments of triumph, irony, tenderness, and mystery, gaining a deeper appreciation for one of the modern orchestra's most extraordinary works.

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 provided. Last season's exploration of film music was such a hit that we're bringing it back! Together we'll revisit some of cinema's most memorable scores, uncovering the musical techniques composers use to create unforgettable characters, breathtaking adventures, and deeply emotional moments. Audience favorites may help shape this year's playlist. Send your favorites to josh@azmusicfest.org, and during the session we’ll listen together and dig into what makes each piece work. We’ll explore how composers use melody, harmony, rhythm, and orchestration to bring characters to life, heighten emotion, and create immersive cinematic worlds. Whether your pick is iconic, obscure, classic, or contemporary, it will help guide our conversation and deepen our collective understanding of how music tells stories in film.

In Part 3 of this series, Nicole helps us remember those “retro” films that evoke nostalgia from past eras. These “gems of the screen” feature distinctive styles, themes, and cultural references from their respective time periods. Explore how film composers cultivate the mood and “voice” of these genres with clever soundtrack and film scoring techniques; As Nicole examines music from Iconic scores like “The Godfather”, “Star Wars”, “Grease”, “The Sting”, and “E.T.” Along the way, legendary composers like: John Williams, Henry Mancini and Marvin Hamlisch will be cited.

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 provided. Celebrate one of Arizona's own musical treasures. We'll explore the remarkable career of pianist, composer, educator, and Phoenix jazz legend Charles Lewis, whose artistry has shaped generations of musicians throughout the Valley. Through recordings, stories, and discussion, we'll honor a true local legend whose influence reaches far beyond Arizona. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj1vcGp12_Y

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 provided. Few bands blended rock, classical influences, rich harmonies, and philosophical lyrics as successfully as The Moody Blues. We'll revisit their greatest songs while exploring the musical innovations that helped define the progressive rock movement and continue to captivate listeners decades later.

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 provided. With elegant harmonies and timeless songwriting, Simon & Garfunkel created some of the most beloved music of the twentieth century. We'll examine Paul Simon's remarkable craftsmanship, the duo's distinctive vocal blend, and the stories behind classics that continue to speak to every generation.

Steve Bergsman and Brian Rosner are back with a new show called THE ‘60s BEFORE THE BEATLES. The years of 1960 through 1963 are often considered a slack time in the history of rock ‘n’ roll as the original wild pioneers of the new sound such as Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis all left the stage temporarily due to such circumstances as religion, scandal or getting drafted. One pioneer, Buddy Holly, left the scene forever due to a plane crash. And replacing the greats were more tepid performers such as Frankie Avalon, Bobby Vinton, and Bobby Rydell. Which is why the Beatles were so successful, so quickly. They were more exciting, more innovative, and represented a new sound and look. On closer scrutiny, however, this was actually a very fertile time in the history of American pop music with such important trends as: the launching of soul labels such as Motown and Stax; the excellence of Brill Building music; the Girl Group era; first rock ‘n’ roll period of dance music such as The Twist; Bob Dylan and the folk music revival; heyday of Italian doo-wop, and the beginning of the California Sound. So, step back in time and let’s Loco-Motion to the tunes of the early 1960s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyy7ZVRJciE  

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 provided. Before Musicfest presents Rodgers and Hammerstein's beloved masterpiece, we'll explore the musical that forever changed Broadway. We'll examine its unforgettable songs, groundbreaking treatment of prejudice and social issues, and the extraordinary partnership that created one of America's greatest musicals. You'll never hear "Some Enchanted Evening" quite the same way again.

In the Part 4 (Finale) of this presentation, Nicole highlights film music from modern movie favorites like “Harry Potter”, “The Piano”, “Jurassic Park”, “La La Land”, “The Greatest Showman” and “Oppenheimer”. Once again, the form, structure and magic behind these legendary soundtracks will be examined, along with a look at the composers behind the music; From John Williams to Lady Gaga. The presentations concludes with a glimpse into what the future might look like for the modern-day film composer/pianist and addresses the question on everyone’s mind: “How will AI affect the future of film composition?

Join Arizona Musicfest’s executive and producing director, CEO Allan Naplan for an informative and entertaining look behind the scenes at Musicfest,.  As part of his engaging presentation, Allan will share how he selects artists and curates each annual concert season; he'll walk attendees through the hiring and contract process for celebrity entertainers and distinguished artists; he’ll provide insight into the Musicfest business model; and he’ll offer some personal stories about his experiences working with entitled entertainers, demanding divas, and temperamental talents!

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 provided. We'll conclude our exploration of South Pacific by examining its rich musical architecture, unforgettable characters, and enduring emotional power. Through guided listening and discussion, we'll discover why this remarkable score continues to enchant audiences more than seventy-five years after its premiere—and why it remains one of Broadway's greatest achievements.