Meet ProMusica’s New Leader
An award-winning soprano with a 30-year music career, who is no stranger to ProMusica Arizona, has been named artistic director and principal conductor.
Patti Graetz, who served as interim conductor for the past season, and ProMusica’s assistant conductor and conductor of the women-in-song vocal ensemble, says she feels blessed to be able to give back some of her talent, which she attributed to her own training and mentoring
from several renowned teachers and artists.
When she’s not leading or conducting, Graetz likes to get out of town on her motorcycle. “I ride as often as I can on my Can-Am Spyder [three-wheel motorcycle]… we took a three-week, 5,000-mile-trip on the bikes,” Graetz told In&Out. “That was an experience I will never forget,” She also enjoys action-adventure and superhero movies.
When asked how she keeps classical music interesting in the era of Spotify and fragmented musical tastes, Graetz said creativity and diversity is key in programming, along with performance. “People still love to attend live performances,” she said. “There is something about feeling the power of the instruments and voices resonating in their bodies. They love to hear music they know, but they are also intrigued by newer music, especially if it has unusual instrumentation.”