Michael Christie, who has led the Phoenix Symphony for the past eight years as Virginia G. Piper Music Director, will be conducting his final concerts in Phoenix and Scottsdale next week. Maestro Christie and the Symphony will perform perform Dvorák’s Scherzo capriccioso, Mozart’s elegant symphony No. 38, known as the Prague Symphony, and Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra.

Performances are scheduled for Thursday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. (Symphony Hall); Friday, May 10, 11 a.m. (Symphony Hall as a Coffee Classic); Friday, May 10, 7:30 p.m. (Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts); and Saturday, May 11, at 8 p.m. (Symphony Hall). For tickets, visit http://tickets.phoenixsymphony.org/single/

Maestro Christie will be missed in the community. He was accessible and his love for what he did here was apparent in the symphony's performances.He continues into his 13th season as music director of the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder. His latest endeavor marks the beginning of his tenure as the first music director of the Minnesota Opera.

We wish Maestro Christie all the best.