Henry Segerstrom News

Pacific Symphony recently approached Patina Restaurant Group, which handles concessions for Segerstrom Center for the Arts, to discuss ideas to add a sense of occasion to the orchestra's 40th anniversary season. The celebrated Patina Restaurant Group is a master in the creation of special events across the nation.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents the Ahmad Jamal Quartet for one performance only on October 19 at 8:00pm. The extraordinary night of music features jazz legend and celebrated pianist-composer Ahmad Jamal who returns to the center with his quartet which includes James Cammack, bass; Herlin Riley, drums; and Manolo Badrena, percussion.

Pacific Symphony and Classical KUSC 91.5FM have joined forces to launch a new classical music series of three Friday-night concerts designed to trim some of classical music's longhair image to present shorter, engaging programs in a casual and unstuffy atmosphere. Audiences are encouraged to dress casually. Each concert features fun, knowledge-enhancing activities before and after the program, making a complete experience of the evening. The series targets 25- to 45-year-olds who would like to know more about classical music, but these concerts can be enjoyed by everyone.

It's opening night again for Pacific Symphony, Orange County's premiere orchestra, this time for a very special 40th Anniversary season. Music Director Carl St.Clair, now celebrating his 39th year with the orchestra, leads a night of programming that begins with 'Shooting Stars' by Frank Ticheli, originally commissioned for Pacific Symphony's 25th anniversary and now extended in celebration of the orchestra's 40th anniversary.

Kodo -- the world's most celebrated professional taiko company -- will present their program Evolution in North America for the first time, visiting 27 cities in the U.S. and Canada between January and March 2019.  Evolution invites audiences to step into the world of Kodo, created by their past, their present, and their dedication to the future of taiko performing arts. This production showcases Kodo's perpetual creative evolution under the artistic direction of the legendary Tamasaburo Bando.  2019 tour highlights include stops at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Chicago's Symphony Center and National Arts Center in Canada.  Complete schedule below.

During Pacific Symphony's 40th Anniversary Season, the orchestra will celebrate cultural, scientific and historic bridges between old and new worlds. Through the performance and exploration of Antonin Dvo?ak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World," Pacific Symphony and Music Director Carl St.Clair will reveal extraordinary artistic and historic links between United States and Czechoslovakia. The highlight of the concert will be a commemoration of the founding of Czechoslovakia 100 years ago. Dignitaries from the Czech Republic as well as from southern California will join the audience for this unique celebration. Featuring multimedia elements, this special concert entitled, "Bridges of Awakenings: From Czech Lands to America and Beyond," will take place on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 3 p.m. in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.

Paul Lewis's Haydn-Beethoven-Brahms project enters second season with two compelling new programmes. North American engagements in 2018-19 include dates with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Bernard Haitink, Beethoven at Carnegie Hall and Mozart in Montreal, and song recitals with regular duo partner Mark Padmore

Paul Lewis's Haydn-Beethoven-Brahms project enters second season with two compelling new programmes. North American engagements in 2018-19 include dates with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Bernard Haitink, Beethoven at Carnegie Hall and Mozart in Montreal, and song recitals with regular duo partner Mark Padmore.

Celebrate the 30th anniversary of Orange County's premiere resident ballet company with an exciting gala performance where world-renowned ballet artists share their love and expertise of the craft with future, inspired young stars.

Relive the magic of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial on the big screen accompanied by a magnificent, live performance by Pacific Symphony.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts joins The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Dizzy Feet Foundation to celebrate this year's 9th annual National Dance Day (NDD) on Saturday, July 28 from 1 - 8 p.m. National Dance Day is presented by The Dizzy Feet Foundation (DFF), co-founded by Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman. Segerstrom Center is the exclusive West Coast site and The Kennedy Center is the site of the East Coast celebrations.

Celebrate the 30th anniversary of Orange County's premiere resident ballet company with an exciting gala performance where world-renowned ballet artists share their love and expertise of the craft with future, inspired young stars.

Great Performances and Pacific Symphony, led by music director Carl St.Clair, pay tribute to America's history with a performance of composer Peter Boyer's Grammy-nominated contemporary classical work "Ellis Island: The Dream of America," at a free, public screening in Orange County, June 29, 8:00 p.m. at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University.   

THIRTEEN's Great Performances and Pacific Symphony, led by music director Carl St.Clair, pay tribute to America's history with a performance of composer Peter Boyer's “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” a Grammy-nominated contemporary classical work celebrating the historic American immigrant experience.Great Performances – Ellis Island: The Dream of America with Pacific Symphony premieres nationwideFriday, June 29 at 10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) in honor of Immigrant Heritage Month. It will be available to stream the following day via pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps.

Premiere violinist Anne Akiko Meyers returns to play with Pacific Symphony for "A Hero's Life" to close out the 2017-18 Classical series, joined by Concertmaster-Designate Dennis Kim.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts has announced its annual Jazz, Cabaret and Chamber Music series for the 2018-2019 Season. It's another musically absorbing year of great and most gifted artists whose works and performances will canvas a vast range of styles and traditions.

Making his first appearance with Pacific Symphony, Moscow-born Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg brings fresh dynamism to one of the world's best known, most popular and lyrical piano concertos-Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. Giltburg's talents are highlighted in the middle of this program of Russian symphonic music, led by guest conductor Ben Gernon. The evening begins with the massive and sonorous "Russian" Overture by Sergei Prokofiev, and ends with Stravinsky's 1947 version of "Petrushka," a piece driven by its innate theatricality.

The young wind musicians of Pacific Symphony have been blowing up a storm lately. Since last season's milestone 10th anniversary, which culminated in a triumphant European Tour, Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble (PSYWE)-wind and percussion students in grades 8 through 12-has continued to knock its audience off its feet with exciting and diverse programs performed with awe-inspiring talent. After opening the 2017-18 season with John Philip Sousa's march for the inauguration of President Garfield, PSYWE closes with another piece by the American march king, composed for the same president's funeral. The program also includes such gems as "Variations on America" by Charles Ives and a Suite of "Old American Dances" by Robert Russell Bennett.

Pacific Symphony today announced the details of its first-ever tour to China and first international tour since the Symphony toured European capitals in 2006. The five-city tour launches May 9, 2018 with a concert at the Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre, followed by performances in Hefei (capital of Anhui province), Wuxi (Jiangsu province), Chongqing (a major city in southwest China) and Beijing. The final concert takes place at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, colloquially known as The Giant Egg due to its distinctive dome-shaped, titanium and glass architecture. The Symphony's tour will include works by Leonard Bernstein in celebration of his centennial, as well as Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 2; Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky (arranged by Ravel); and Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3, featuring soloist Pinchas Zukerman. The visit to China follows another important tour this season to New York City for the Orchestra's Carnegie Hall debut on April 21, 2018.

THIRTEEN's Great Performances and Pacific Symphony, led by music director Carl St.Clair, pay tribute to America's history with a performance of composer Peter Boyer's “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” a Grammy-nominated contemporary classical work celebrating the historic American immigrant experience. Great Performances – Ellis Island: The Dream of America with Pacific Symphony premieres nationwide Friday, June 29 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) in honor of Immigrant Heritage Month. It will be available to stream the following day via pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps.