Arizona Arts & Culture News: Scottsdale Museum expansion; Preserving language; Safe space for young musicians

January 26, 2024

By Jessica Vaile

Assorted-color Bricks

A ‘historic day’ in Old Town marked by groundbreaking of expansion at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West / Arizona Digital Free Press

Scottsdale community stewards this month broke ground on a highly anticipated expansion at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West. The 11,360-square-foot extension of the museum will include the construction of two new galleries, to be named the Louis Sands IV Center.


AZ Philharmonic names Abby Coffey executive director / Signals AZ

 Abby Coffey has been named executive director of the Arizona Philharmonic, a Prescott-based regional professional orchestra in its sixth season presenting large and small concerts in Prescott, Scottsdale, and Gilbert.


After centuries of erasure, Arizona tribes fight to preserve culture through language / Tucson Sentinel

Arizona tribes are making efforts to preserve their languages, including creating dictionaries and textbooks to teach new generations, while a Pascua Yaqui member raps in the Yaqui language hoping to appeal to the youth.


Saguaro Land: This Arizona instrument maker can create didgeridoos from agave stalks / KJZZ

Kyle Bert, a Tucson native and owner of Desert Mountain Didgeridoos, talks about what makes the agave stalk so good for making these long, thin wind instruments.


Romancing the desert: Upcoming Museum of Northern Arizona exhibit confronts commodification of the Southwest / Arizona Daily Sun

Selling the Southwest, an exhibit opening on Jan. 28 at the Museum of Northern Arizona, will feature art from the 1900s through the 1940s with most of it coming from the Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe Railway collection of brochures and paintings.


Tucson choir revisits two defining works for 20th anniversary / Arizona Daily Star

Tucson Chamber Artists was in its third season in 2006 when founder and music director Eric Holtan decided it was time to dance with Mozart. This weekend, the now 20-year-old ensemble, which changed its name to True Concord Voices & Orchestra in 2015, will revisit the C-minor Mass in “Mozart & Hagen: Two Important Encores.”


Behind the Scenes of Arizona Opera’s Performance of The Barber of Seville / Phoenix Magazine

Elvis, The Beatles, Rossini. Their impact on pop culture is enormous. While the influence of the first two artists is apparent, the effect of the Italian composer, who wrote the comedic The Barber of Seville, which Arizona Opera will perform on January 27-28 at Symphony Hall in Phoenix, is harder to spot.


Providing a safe space for youth and young musicians alike: Groundworks / The Daily Wildcat

When entering the venue, on your right you’ll find an art gallery room with beautiful art from local artists for sale. On your left is where the musical magic happens. The nonprofit Groundworks has become home to many musical and artistic youths that never had a place to represent themselves in Tucson. 


Sign up to receive Arizona Arts & Culture News

Tags: