Tucson Desert Song Festival

Susanna Phillips in Recital

Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 7 PM MST

$35

Metropolitan Opera star Susanna Phillips, with pianist Christopher Cano, tells the story of the Schumann circle through songs of Robert and Clara Schumann and their dear friend Johannes Brahms. Along with this come French songs with a Spanish influence, popular opera arias, and fun settings of Mark Twain texts.

Recital: Justin Austin and a Ricky Ian Gordon Premiere

Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 7 pm

FREE

The Fred Fox School of Music presents Justin Austin, a rising young Metropolitan opera baritone who appeared recently in the Met HD Hamlet and who will sing a full recital accompanied by assistant Metropolitan Opera conductor Howard Watkins. The artists will give a world premiere of a song cycle by renowned opera composer Ricky Ian Gordon, commissioned by the Tucson Desert Song Festival.

Recital: Angel Blue

Sunday, April 1, 2023 at 7 PM MST

$35

Angel Blue is a leading American opera soprano and classical crossover artist. She won the Grammy for Best Opera Recording for the Metropolitan Opera production of Porgy and Bess in the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Her Tucson Desert Song Festival recital is hosted by Arizona Opera.

Fatma Said, soprano and Rafael Aguirre, guitar

Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 7 PM

$35

Egyptian soprano Fatma Said is thrilling audiences in the world’s great concert halls and opera houses with her expressive warmth and rich tone. She will make her Carnegie Hall and Arizona debuts in April 2023 alongside celebrated Spanish guitarist Rafael Aguirre with a program that features Spanish and Middle Eastern songs:

Falla: Seven Spanish Popular Songs
Rodrigo: “Adela” from Tres canciones españolas
Lorenzo Palomo: Madrigal and Five Sephardic Songs
Hosni: Yamama beida
Sherif Mohie El-Din: “Could the River Flow Forever?” from Three Poems by Amal Donqul
Obradors: “Del cabello más sutil” from Canciones clásicas españolas
Tárrega: Gran Jota
Villa-Lobos: Melodia sentimental
García Lorca: Selections from Canciones españolas antiguas
Falla: Tus ojillos negros (Canción andaluza)
Serrano: “La Canción Del Olvidó” from Canción de Marinela
Ziad Rahbani: Aatini al nay wa ghanni
Abdel-Rahim: Daughter of the Sultan

The program is subject to change.

Recitals will be at the Fred Fox School of Music, Holsclaw Hall