MusicaNova Orchestra

10/05/2026

ALERT!!! Tickets are now offered at a 20% discount on the website! Enter the code “GUSTAV” to get yours today! 💯

10/03/2026

Please join us for opening weekend on October 10th at 7pm at the Tempe Center for the Arts! You can purchase your tickets on the website today!

Link: https://www.musicanovaaz.org

10/02/2026

MNO Artistic Director Warren Cohen explains how Gustav Mahler’s symphonies were deeply influenced by the personal experiences he underwent during their composition. Please use the link below to listen to Maestro Cohen's full explanation of some of the differences in versions that Mahler described as "perfect in their own way."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqOrxf9wTGg&t=592s

MusicaNova will be present the fifth performance ever of the 1889 version at 7 pm on Oct. 10 at Tempe Center for the Arts, and we would love for you to join us then!

Tickets: https://www.musicanovaaz.org/

09/18/2026

The Arizona Commission on the Arts has been a great supporter of MusicaNova Orchestra over the years, and they once again stepped up to support our unique programming of new, unjustly neglected, and familiar classical music in fresh contexts. Thank you, thank you!

09/17/2026

09/16/2026

Thank you to City of Phoenix Arts and Culture and the Phoenix City Council for their support of MusicaNova's chamber series and May 2 concert. They're keeping the music alive!

09/15/2026

Did you ever have a friend who talked louder and more aggressively when he wasn't being heard? That was Gustav Mahler with his First Symphony. The audience didn't get the lovely piece of music he wrote in 1889, so he made it bigger and brasher. Still no luck. He did biggest and brashest, and it still flopped -- until Bernstein came along

That first version, though! Gorgeous. Join MusicaNova for a special event: the fifth performance ever of the 1889 version. 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Tempe Center for the Arts.
Get your via musicanovaaz.org

Supported in part by City of Tempe-Community Arts Grants.

09/14/2026

Thank you to for supporting our Oct. 10 and Feb. 12 concerts at the Tempe Center for the Arts. You make the music possible!
Want to know more about the concerts? Visit musicanovaaz.org.

09/09/2026

The next in Warren Cohen's series exploring the stories behind the music: How Bernstein angered Charles Ives

06/08/2026

A nice mention. Thanks Classic Ross Amico!

Wow. My post about Klaus Tennstedt Saturday for his centenary put me up over 800 followers. I can’t even keep up with responses to the comments. Thanks, everybody! I always try to post good or interesting material, but you know, if a tree falls in the woods, etc.

To keep it musical, as today’s 800-pound gorilla, I’d like to share the Symphony No. 5 by Richard Arnell, which the composer subtitled the “Gorilla” – a humorous analogy between the work and a gorilla he visited at the London Zoo. It has a great tune in the last movement, derived from the music hall, that Arnell’s father used to sing and whistle.

It’s a live performance by the Arizona-based MusicaNova Orchestra, which has done so much to champion Arnell’s music over the years (and neglected repertoire in general).

You can learn more about them here:

https://www.musicanovaaz.org/

Then join me in celebrating 800 followers with Arnell’s “Gorilla” Symphony.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1clPi0ZdXQ

On to 900!