On Friday, May 26, 2000, twenty-three years ago to the day, the Sedona Cultural Park opened with a concert by the Phoenix Symphony under the baton of Hermann Michael. Over the next three years, the Georgia Frontiere Performing Arts Pavilion at the Cultural Park would host some of the biggest names in music, including Tony Bennett, Norah Jones and Willie Nelson. It provided the backdrop for the annual Jazz on the Rocks Festival, hosted Shakespeare and Broadway plays, was home to community performances and served as the graduation venue for Sedona Red Rock High School.

To commemorate the park’s grand opening and its intended significance as the Southwest’s premier arts and culture venue, the Sedona Red Rock News published a special section reviewing the park’s history and celebrating the contributions of all those who helped bring the project to a successful conclusion. In the spirit of preserving, remembering and sharing Sedona’s history, that special edition is presented below.

Sedona defines itself as a city animated by the arts. No artistic or cultural project in Sedona’s history has contributed more to establishing that definition than the Sedona Cultural Park.

For Sedonans’ memories of a few of the concerts they experienced at the Cultural Park, see the Friday, May 26 print edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.