The Phoenix Boys Choir bids a fond farewell to Artistic Director Georg Stangelberger during a special concert 6 p.m. Saturday, May 18 in the Memorial Hall at Steele Indian School Park, 300 E. Indian School Road. The Tour and Masters Choirs will perform selections from their upcoming summer repertoire under the direction of Stangelberger before heading to Europe on a three-week tour. Tickets are $15-25 for adults, ages 13 and older. Free for children ages 12 and younger, but they must have a ticket. Visit www.boyschoir.org.
A native of Austria, Stangelberger joined the Phoenix Boys Choir in 1999 as artistic director with international experience of 13 years with the Vienna Choir Boys as deputy artistic director and principal choir conductor. He is the recent recipient of the Decoration of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria.
He led the Phoenix Boys Choir to its Carnegie Hall debut in 2003, in the same year the choir was named “Cultural Ambassador” to the European Union and sang a side-by-side concert with the Vienna Choir Boys in the Court Chapel in Vienna. In July 2007, under his direction the choir was awarded First Place in the International Summa Cum Laude Youth Music Competition at the Musikverein in Vienna.
Stangelberger is retiring at the end of May and will be replaced by new artistic director, Herbert Washington, who was chosen to lead the prestigious choral ensemble after a comprehensive and global search. Washington was a member of the Phoenix Boys Choir from 1991-95.
