MusicaNova Joins the Harmony Project-Phoenix Orchestra at AN EVENING WITH THE STARS

Professional members of the MusicaNova Orchestra will join over 80 young musicians of the Harmony Project-Phoenix Orchestra in "An Evening With the Stars," in the South Mountain Community College (SMCC) Performing Arts Center at7:30 PM on Friday, September 16. Proceeds from the concert go to the Students Transforming to Achieve Radiant Success (STARS) scholarship fund benefitting SMCC students. Tickets are $25, available at the door or online at mcccdf.org/colleges/smcc/stars-event.

Event sponsor Dr. Jerome Garrison, SMCC's Chair of Communications, Fine Arts, and Social Sciences, said: "We're excited to have the Harmony Project-Phoenix Orchestra on the stage, and to have support from MusicaNova as well. The concert will help us provide scholarships for SMCC students from similar backgrounds as the Harmony Project kids. It should be an enjoyable night for everyone."

MusicaNova Orchestra musicians will sit in with Harmony Project players to act as mentors and teaching artists. Participants include violinists Daga Suchon, Priscilla Benitez, Vladimir Gebe, Anne Sorensen, and Pat Snyder; cellists Maria Simiz, Wei Shen, and Cindy Leger; and bassists Alberto Allende and Chunyan Wang. MusicaNova Young Artists Bobae Johnson, violin, and Viveca Lawrie, trumpet, are volunteer teachers at Harmony Project-Phoenix.

Harmony Project-Phoenix, a research-based multi-year mentoring program for low-income youth that uses music as a means of positive development and social inclusion,is an educational partner of MusicaNova. A Harmony Project ensemble will perform at MusicaNova's upcoming Chamber Orchestra concert on February 19, 2017 in Scottsdale.

MusicaNova is a professional symphony orchestra founded in the Valley in 2003, presenting its Orchestra Concert Series and Young Artists Concert Series at venues in Phoenix, and Collaborative Concerts Series in Scottsdale. MusicaNova also conducts extensive educational outreach with Valley schools, and sponsors its unique Composition Fellows Program for hands-on mentoring of emerging composers.

South Mountain Community College is at 7050 South 24th Street, Phoenix AZ 85042, just north of Baseline Road.

MusicaNova is supported by a grant from the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture. Call 480-585-4485 for more information, or visit www.musicanovaaz.com.