The Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Highways and Dierks Bentley Team Up for Virtual Performance
During this season of thanks, The Phoenix Symphony has found a new way to express its admiration and pride for the great state of Arizona.
The Symphony’s 66 musicians have created a virtual performance of the Rex Allen, Jr. song “I Love You Arizona” — often referred to as “Arizona” and one of the state’s official songs — in partnership with Arizona Highways magazine, accompanied by the musical voice of critically acclaimed singer/songwriter and Phoenix native Dierks Bentley.
The multimedia project highlights the talent of The Phoenix Symphony, vocals sung by Bentley — a three-time Country Music Association award winner — and images provided by Arizona Highways contributors.
“We are all so proud of this uplifting project that showcases the exquisite beauty of our state and the talented artists that enrich our community,” said Suzanne Wilson, President and CEO of The Phoenix Symphony. “Our meaningful collaboration with Arizona Highways and Dierks Bentley exemplifies the unity, passion and fondness we all have for Arizona. The Phoenix Symphony is grateful to our partners for their invaluable contributions to this special presentation.”
Robert Stieve, editor in chief of Arizona Highways, said the publication was excited to collaborate with The Phoenix Symphony to make this video a reality.
“Arizona Highways has a long history of showcasing the natural beauty of our state,” Stieve said. “Usually, we do that with words and photographs. This collaboration, however, adds an incredible soundtrack to the mix. We’re proud to work with The Phoenix Symphony on this exciting project. And we’re grateful to our photographers, who, in the spirit of solidarity, donated so many beautiful images. I can’t think of better way to tell the ‘Arizona Story’ than a video like this. It’ll be a point of pride for Arizonans around the world.”
The Phoenix Symphony invites people from all over to submit and share what they appreciate and treasure most about Arizona. Please post photos and videos via social media using the hashtag #iloveaz and tag The Phoenix Symphony (@thephoenixsymphony).
The video team that produced the video was Shandor Garrison and Sarah-Rose (SR) Meredith, and the audio engineer was Eric Romani.
The Symphony has been collaborating with Rex Allen Jr. since 2013 on a number of different projects. Allen Jr. wrote the song in 1981. According to the Secretary of State’s Office, the Arizona Legislature named the song an official state song in 1982. Rex Allen Jr. and his father, Rex Allen, are natives of Willcox and are known for their famous renditions of cowboy songs. Rex Allen Jr. sang the song at Centennial events in 2012.
