Announcing Grammy-Winning Conductor Michael Christie's 2021-2022 Season

Grammy-winning conductor Michael Christie announces his 2021-22 season with audience-building initiatives and a kaleidoscopic array of musical masterworks. Christie is a thoughtfully innovative conductor, equally at home in the symphonic and opera worlds, who is focused on making the audience experience at his performances entertaining, enlightening, and enriching.

The 2021-22 season is Christie's third as Artistic and Music Director of the New West Symphony (NWS), and will also see him lead performances of Mason Bates' groundbreaking opera, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs in Atlanta, GA and Kansas City, MO.

Christie returns to Lyric Opera of Kansas City (March 11, 12, 13, 2022) and makes his debut with Atlanta Opera (April 30, May 3, 6, 8, 2022), in Mason Bates' The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, for which he won a 2019 Grammy Award (Best Opera Recording) for the world premiere recording with The Santa Fe Opera (PENTATONE). In 2017, he led the world premiere performances at The Santa Fe Opera, "with suave assurance" (San Francisco Chronicle), with "precision and pizzazz" (Santa Fe New Mexican), and "preside[d] over an expertly executed performance" (The Financial Times).

The New West Symphony's 2021-2022 six-concert Masterpiece Series marks the orchestra's return to a full season of live performances following a season of seven virtual festivals (Global Sounds. Local Cultures.) during the pandemic. A new December offering will kick off the holiday season with a program of symphonic wintertime delights and beloved holiday traditions in what promises to be a new tradition for the Symphony. The remainder of the season through November 2022, will present programs ranging from the familiar melodies of Hollywood's Silver Screen and the Great American Songbook to the pinnacle of symphonic masterworks, Beethoven's beloved Ninth Symphony, in Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, CA.

The season will feature performances of works by four American women composers: Joan Tower's Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, Jessie Montgomery's Strum, Reena Esmail's Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz (My Sister's Voice), and a world premiere collaborative performance of Pauline Frechette's Tales of Winter. Other works on the season include Dvořák's Suite in A Major, "American;" Sibelius' Third Symphony; Mozart's "Jupiter" Symphony; selections from Scott Joplin's Treemonisha; and music by Vivaldi, Vaughan Williams, Bottesini, and Korngold.

"This exciting and varied season emphasizes two goals: first, welcoming our devoted fans back to the concert hall to relish in the artistry of live performance; and second, to build the orchestra's audience for the coming years," said Christie. "I have selected iconic favorites and expanded our programming to embrace families, first time concertgoers, and the large numbers of new residents to the region, many of whom are already avid classical music lovers. Joining our extraordinary musicians to enhance the experience is an exceptional group of guest artists and ensembles performing an array of musical styles."

Acclaimed guest artists making their New West Symphony Masterpiece Series solo debuts include violinist Elena Urioste, guitarist JIJI, New West Symphony principal trumpet James Grinta, double bassist Xavier Foley, the ensemble Hermanos Herrera, Hindustani soprano Saili Oak, soprano Toni Marie Palmertree, mezzo soprano Sarah Coit, tenor Yongzhao Yu, and baritone Craig Irvin. Pianist Andrew von Oeyen returns to perform Sergei Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto. Vocal ensembles from California Lutheran University and Pepperdine University will provide the choral forces for the Beethoven Ninth Symphony performances.