Pacific Symphony's Lunar New Year Concert Welcomes The Year Of The Pig

Pacific Symphony's "Lunar New Year," an evening of rich, colorful and festive music and dance, welcomes the Lunar New Year with a special, inspiring concert performance. Ushering in the "Year of the Pig" (according to the Chinese zodiac), Music Director Carl St.Clair leads the orchestra as it is joined by a range of talented dancers and singers for a program that is both a visual and aural spectacle. Intertwining Eastern and Western cultures for a celebration unlike any other in Orange County, this concert offers a program of considerable breadth, covering a wide spectrum of entertainment, all in celebration of the Lunar New Year, the first day of which falls on Feb. 5.

The "Lunar New Year" concert takes place Saturday, Feb. 9, at 8 p.m., in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Tickets range from $28-$108. (This popular annual concert is predicted to sell out.) For more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org. This event is made possible through the generous support of Charles and Ling Zhang.

The night's program will be emceed by returning hosts Cheer Pan and Tan Ye, who will lead the audience through cultural celebrations with artistic partners such as brass musicians of the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra and Youth Wind Ensemble, longtime collaborators Pacific Chorale, the talented dancers of the Yaya Dance Academy (Yaya Zhang, artistic director), the all-female Silk Road Band, American Feel Young Chorus (Sam Wei-Chih Sun, director) and the violin students of local arts school Orange County Music & Dance (Wendy Castille, director). Soloists appearing in the concert include jinghu player Zhang Shunxiang, soprano Wei Feng and violinist Suli Xue.

Enjoy cultural performances ranging from traditional Chinese folk dance to contemporary K-pop before the concert on the Argyros Plaza from 5:30 until 7:45 p.m., presented by Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Pacific Symphony.

CONCERT PROGRAM

Li Huanzhi: Spring Festival Overture (with dancers)

The Classical Chinese (with the Silk Road Band)

Korean Folk Song: Arirang

Puccini: "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi

Zheng Quifeng: I Love You, China

Far Away (with solo dancer)

Celebration (Zhang Shunxiang, jinghu)

Wang: Wusuli Barcarolle (with Suli Xue, violin and violin students of OCMD)

~ Intermission ~

Lawson Madlener: Soaring (with dancers)

Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor (with chorus)

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture (with chorus)

Liu: My Homeland (with chorus)

Arr. Mack Wilberg: America the Beautiful (with chorus)