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Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio

World Première Recording of Mark Grey’s Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio in Phoenix, Arizona
March 5, 2008

On 7 and 9 Feb 2008, the combined forces of The Phoenix Symphony, conducted by Michael Christie, the Phoenix Symphony Chorus, led by choir director and chorusmaster Gregory Gentry, and baritone soloist Scott Hendricks, gave the première of Mark Grey’s important new work, Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio. The performances were recorded live for Naxos.

Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio was commissioned by The Phoenix Symphony in celebration of its 60th Anniversary. Composer and sound designer Mark Grey, who is Music Alive Composer-in-Residence with the Phoenix orchestra, collaborated for this unique project with Navajo native poet and professor Laura Tohe, who based the libretto on an ancient monster slayer narrative from the Navajo Creation Story.

The recorded performances of this work took place at Phoenix Symphony Hall in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Thomas Moore was the producer and John Pellowe - Meyer Sound Laboratories was the engineer.
From Naxos.com

Navajo oratorio updates creation tale
The Arizona Republic, February 2008

Mark Grey's cutting-edge classical work Enemy Slayer explores a Navajo creation story
Phoenix New Times, February 2008

A Native-Inspired Symphony in Phoenix (pdf)
Native Peoples

Healing Words: Musical statement on the human cost of war fuses Indigenous themes with classical forms (pdf)
Arizona State University newsletter, Spring 2008

Non-Native Son: Composer comes home to a place he’s never been before
Phoenix New Times, February 2008

Enemy Way inspires musical collaboration
Navajo Times, October 2007

The Phoenix Symphony's Enemy Slayer brochure (pdf)

The Phoenix Symphony's Enemy Slayer blog

Colorado Music Festival's Enemy Slayer press release (pdf)


For audio clips and videos on the making of Enemy Slayer, visit the Multimedia page.


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