Henry Segerstrom News

The world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis arrives at Segerstrom Center for the Arts tonight, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Segerstrom Hall.

Five-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and keyboardist Michael McDonald lends his husky, soulful baritone to Pacific Symphony Pops for a concert featuring hits from his chart-topping career spanning more than four decades. From his 1970s beginnings singing back-up vocals with American rock band Steely Dan on songs including 'Black Friday,' to enhancing the funky R&B sound of The Doobie Brothers, to his award-winning solo career, McDonald has established himself as a timeless yet distinctive artist in pops music. One of the most popular vocalists to emerge from the '70s rock scene, McDonald commands the stage with his distinctive interpretations of classics like 'What a Fool Believes,' 'On My Own,' 'Sweet Freedom,' 'I Keep Forgettin',' 'Minute by Minute' and 'Yah Mo B There.' His more recent album, 'Soul Speak,' has been acclaimed as an 'impeccable' crossover by BBC Radio since its release in 2008, when it also hit three different charts simultaneously.

Pacific Symphony's newest recording of a three-part oratorio crafted by one of the most sought-after composers of his generation, Richard Danielpour, is set to be released by Naxos on March 25. Written for the Persian holiday of Nowruz in 2012, "Toward a Season a Peace" was premiered by Pacific Symphony, conducted by Music Director Carl St.Clair, in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Orange County, Calif. The work features Pacific Chorale (Artistic Director John Alexander) and Grammy-winning soprano Hila Plitmann. By weaving together sacred passages with texts by the great Sufi poet Rumi, Danielpour explores violence and war in the name of religion, using the season of spring as a metaphor for change and transformation. The work was commissioned for the Symphony's 2012 American Composers Festival, "Nowruz-Celebrating Spring," presented in collaboration with the Farhang Foundation.

Pacific Symphony's newest recording of a three-part oratorio crafted by one of the most sought-after composers of his generation, Richard Danielpour, is set to be released by Naxos on March 25. Written for the Persian holiday of Nowruz in 2012, “Toward a Season a Peace” was premiered by Pacific Symphony, conducted by Music Director Carl St.Clair, in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Orange County, Calif. The work features Pacific Chorale (Artistic Director John Alexander) and Grammy-winning soprano Hila Plitmann. By weaving together sacred passages with texts by the great Sufi poet Rumi, Danielpour explores violence and war in the name of religion, using the season of spring as a metaphor for change and transformation. The work was commissioned for the Symphony's 2012 American Composers Festival, “Nowruz—Celebrating Spring,” presented in collaboration with the Farhang Foundation.

Shades of Jurassic Park! Big booming sounds from the William J. Gillespie Concert Organ and dino-mite music performed by Pacific Symphony combine with authentic footage from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) to create a family-fun musical expedition into the prehistoric world of 'Dinosaurs!' Presented by Farmers and Merchants Bank, this Family Musical Mornings concert features a 66-pound dinosaur puppet, plus videos and still images of dinosaurs, fossils and paleontologists at work, provided by the NHM. Filled with dinosaur-inspired music, children and families are guided by paleontologist Dr. Olivia Mattis (Bree Burgess Rosen) and her young assistant Sammy (Coleton Ray) in a hunt for clues in the music to reveal the identity of a mystery dinosaur. An imaginative spectacle, 'Dinosaurs!' sets the mood for the little T-Rex or Stegosaurus hoping to uncover the mysteries of natural history.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts welcomes the return of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo tonight, March 7 - 9, 2014 under the Presidency of H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover. The company will perform the American premiere of LAC, a new and brilliantly re-imagined telling of the Swan Lake story by Jean- Christophe Maillot, the company's choreographer and director.

Surging with energy, spontaneity and diversity, Pacific Symphony's upcoming concert-'Ravel's Piano Concerto'-is devoted to music from 19th-century France. Guest conductor Thierry Fischer leads the orchestra in an evening of impressionist and romantic music that includes Debussy's dreamy 'Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun' and Berlioz's theatrical Suite from 'Romeo and Juliet.' Maestro Fischer generates a tangible excitement during his concerts. Playing Ravel's masterful Piano Concerto in G Major is French pianist Alexandre Tharaud. Tharaud's individuality shines with stimulating, poised pianism.

Sweet, singing lines stem from the fingertips of Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva as she joins Pacific Symphony to perform the compelling melodies of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair. Winner of the First Prize at the International Frédéric Chopin Competition in 2010, Avdeeva has been praised especially for her Chopin interpretations: “Her pacing is born of intelligent feeling and clarity of thought, and her ability to finesse Chopin's inner voices puts many to shame” (The Guardian). Chopin himself was a prodigy and wrote with glittering aesthetics for piano like no other composer ever would. Following this expressive piano solo, St.Clair takes the orchestra on the courageous journey created by Richard Strauss in his tone poem, “Ein Heldenleben” (A Hero's Life). The work is held dear by St.Clair and the orchestra, who performed it on the European tour in 2006 to glowing reviews, and it features Concertmaster Raymond Kobler playing the solo violin representative of Strauss' wife, Pauline.

Pacific Symphony and Segerstrom Center for the Arts are coming together to present rock star of the pipe organ, Cameron Carpenter. Still only in his early 30s, Carpenter is creating quite a stir in the press. The maverick musician who is causing the music world to sit up and take notice is also the first organist ever nominated for a Grammy Award for a solo album.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts will present LA Opera Off Grand with a special concert performance of Jules Massenet's lyric masterpiece Thais on Tuesday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. The opera tells the story of Thais, a courtesan in Alexandria, Egypt during the Byzantine period whom men find irresistible in the hedonistic way she celebrates life and its most sensual pleasures. The monk Athanael vows to save her soul, but loses his own when his unholy obsession for her overpowers him. The incomparable Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze will sing the title Role alongside LA Opera General Director Placido Domingo in the baritone role as her conflicted savior, Athanael. Patrick Fournillier will conduct the same cast as well as the LA Opera Orchestra and Chorus that will appear in the company's fully-staged production from May 17 - June 7 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The opera is filled with intoxicating melodies, including the well known violin concert piece, Meditation. There will also be a free Preview Talk prior to the Segerstrom Center performance in the Studio Performance Space from 6:30 - 7:15 p.m. Thais will be performed in French with English supertitles.

Two captivating displays of youthful musicality take place this month as Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PSYO) and Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble (PSYWE) perform an impressive range of music for their individual spring concerts.

Pacific Symphony and Segerstrom Center for the Arts are coming together to present 'a madly original organist whose programs careen across centuries of musical history and sashay deep into our popular culture (music writer Alex Ross in his book, The Rest is Noise)'-rock star of the pipe organ, Cameron Carpenter. Still only in his early 30s, Carpenter is creating quite a stir in the press: 'Carpenter is one of the rare musicians who changes the game of his instrument,' wrote Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times. 'He is a smasher of cultural and classical music taboos. He is technically the most accomplished organist I have ever witnessed... And, most important of all, the most musical.' The headline in the Wall Street Journal read:'Not Your Grandma's Organist,' followed by this description of Carpenter: 'Alternately dazzling and subtle, and always fired by a profound musical intelligence.' The maverick musician who is causing the music world to sit up and take notice is also the first organist ever nominated for a Grammy Award for a solo album. Perhaps The New York Times put it most succinctly when they simply called Carpenter 'extravagantly talented.'

Shades of Jurassic Park! Big booming sounds from the William J. Gillespie Concert Organ and dino-mite music performed by Pacific Symphony combine with authentic footage from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) to create a family-fun musical expedition into the prehistoric world of "Dinosaurs!" Presented by Farmers and Merchants Bank, this Family Musical Mornings concert features a 66-pound dinosaur puppet, plus videos and still images of dinosaurs, fossils and paleontologists at work, provided by the NHM. Filled with dinosaur-inspired music, children and families are guided by paleontologist Dr. Olivia Mattis (Bree Burgess Rosen) and her young assistant Sammy (Coleton Ray) in a hunt for clues in the music to reveal the identity of a mystery dinosaur. An imaginative spectacle, "Dinosaurs!" sets the mood for the little T-Rex or Stegosaurus hoping to uncover the mysteries of natural history.

Shades of Jurassic Park! Big booming sounds from the William J. Gillespie Concert Organ and dino-mite music performed by Pacific Symphony combine with authentic footage from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) to create a family-fun musical expedition into the prehistoric world of “Dinosaurs!” Presented by Farmers and Merchants Bank, this Family Musical Mornings concert features a 66-pound dinosaur puppet, plus videos and still images of dinosaurs, fossils and paleontologists at work, provided by the NHM. Filled with dinosaur-inspired music, children and families are guided by paleontologist Dr. Olivia Mattis (Bree Burgess Rosen) and her young assistant Sammy (Coleton Ray) in a hunt for clues in the music to reveal the identity of a mystery dinosaur. An imaginative spectacle, “Dinosaurs!” sets the mood for the little T-Rex or Stegosaurus hoping to uncover the mysteries of natural history.

Five-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and keyboardist Michael McDonald lends his husky, soulful baritone to Pacific Symphony Pops for a concert featuring hits from his chart-topping career spanning more than four decades. From his 1970s beginnings singing back-up vocals with American rock band Steely Dan on songs including "Black Friday," to enhancing the funky R&B sound of The Doobie Brothers, to his award-winning solo career, McDonald has established himself as a timeless yet distinctive artist in pops music. One of the most popular vocalists to emerge from the '70s rock scene, McDonald commands the stage with his distinctive interpretations of classics like "What a Fool Believes," "On My Own," "Sweet Freedom," "I Keep Forgettin'," "Minute by Minute" and "Yah Mo B There." His more recent album, "Soul Speak," has been acclaimed as an "impeccable" crossover by BBC Radio since its release in 2008, when it also hit three different charts simultaneously.

Five-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and keyboardist Michael McDonald lends his husky, soulful baritone to Pacific Symphony Pops for a concert featuring hits from his chart-topping career spanning more than four decades. From his 1970s beginnings singing back-up vocals with American rock band Steely Dan on songs including “Black Friday,” to enhancing the funky R&B sound of The Doobie Brothers, to his award-winning solo career, McDonald has established himself as a timeless yet distinctive artist in pops music. One of the most popular vocalists to emerge from the '70s rock scene, McDonald commands the stage with his distinctive interpretations of classics like “What a Fool Believes,” “On My Own,” “Sweet Freedom,” “I Keep Forgettin',” “Minute by Minute” and “Yah Mo B There.” His more recent album, “Soul Speak,” has been acclaimed as an “impeccable” crossover by BBC Radio since its release in 2008, when it also hit three different charts simultaneously.

Yoshiki, Asia's foremost rock icon and multi talented music superstar, will bring his new live show, Yoshiki Classical, to Segerstrom Center for the Arts for a special one-night-only concert on Friday, April 25 at 8 p.m. in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.