Orange County, Calif.—Feb. 17, 2016—Jumpin' Jupiter! Fasten your seatbelts for blast-off as Pacific Symphony, navigated by Assistant Conductor Roger Kalia, takes the audience on a musical journey through the solar system for Family Musical Mornings, “Symphony in Space,” sponsored by Farmers & Merchants Bank. An astonishing experience for ears and eyes, this concert invites the audience to revel in thrilling selections from “Star Wars,” Gustav Holst's epic “The Planets” and more, while watching actual footage from NASA projected onto the giant screen and enjoying a story about a boy who manages to get lost in space. Joining the orchestra are the gifted young musicians of Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PSYO) in a side-by-side performance for this awesome galactic experience. This event is sure to inspire awe in both the magnificence of the universe and the wonder of music.
Grammy-, Golden Globe- Drama Desk- and three-time Tony Award-winning actress and singer Bernadette Peters-known for her raw talent and ability to knock the socks off an audience with her glorious voice-joins Pacific Symphony just in time for Valentine's Day weekend!
Orange County, Calif.-Jan. 19, 2016-Swashbuckling pirates, bumbling policemen, innocent young lovers and an eccentric major-general join in the boisterous fun for Pacific Symphony's next Family Musical Mornings presented by Farmers and Merchants Bank, "The Pirates of Penzance: Opera for Kids!" This campy, comedic morning featuring the popular comic operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan is sure to send kids off singing the catchy tunes by the famous duo. Favorite songs include "I am a Pirate King!" and "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General." This production for kids, led by the Symphony's new Assistant Conductor Roger Kalia, is appropriate for all ages, but especially those ages 5-11. It includes costumes, scenic elements and projected visuals, and features both professional singers and talented students from Chapman University. The script was written and directed by Peter Atherton, and the role of the Pirate King is played by Symphony favorite, baritone David Stoneman.
Orange County, Calif.—Feb. 3, 2016—Pacific Symphony partners with South Coast Chinese Cultural Center/Irvine Chinese School to present the “2016 Lantern Festival” commemorating the end of the Lunar New Year celebration. This free, family-friendly Lantern Festival—featuring the traditional dragon dance, riddles and lantern making usually associated with the end of the Lunar New Year—takes place Saturday, Feb. 20, from 3-6 p.m., in the lobby of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, prior to the Symphony's opera production of Puccini's “Turandot.” Musical highlights include string quartet performances by Pacific Symphony and Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra, as well as Chinese folk dance and customary Chinese songs sung by the Irvine Chinese Chorus. Lanterns on display are curated by artist and curator Trinh Mai and include lanterns created by Irvine Chinese School students, as well as seniors from Nguoi Viet who are part of the Bowers Museum Treasures program.
have been and where we are going? Or how certain kinds of music fit into this diverse universe of sound? These are some of the important questions that music raises, and each year, Pacific Symphony, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, attempts to shed light on the answers by exploring a different facet of American music through the American Composers Festival (ACF). This year's ACF spotlights organ music through four highly acclaimed organists and the splendor of the king of instruments-in this case, the one-of-a-kind William J. Gillespie Concert Organ, located in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Built from steel, tin, oak, poplar, maple, lead and carbon fiber, the astounding instrument found in the Symphony's concert hall required three years and 42,000 hours of labor by a team of organ builders at C.B Fisk in Gloucester, Mass., before making its debut with Pacific Symphony in 2008.
On the heels of Segerstrom Center's inaugural Jazz Weekend this past October, Orange County audiences can look forward to two special concerts in May that will highlight the best of jazz, blues and R&B music. The first concert is May 7 at 7:30 p.m., and features venerated bluesman Charlie Musselwhite, Grammy®-nominated R&B vocalist Bettye LaVette and 'The Godfather of British Blues,' John Mayall. On May 8 at 3:00 p.m., Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Lisa Fischer, legendary Hammond B-3 organist Dr. Lonnie Smith and Grammy Award-winning vocalist and songwriter Gregory Porter will take to the stage. Both concerts take place in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. KJAZZ's Bubba Jackson will serve as MC.
County, Calif.—Jan. 20, 2016—Pacific Symphony musicians are taking their instruments out to the local hot spot for a fun evening of hand-crafted music, trivia and signature cocktails during the second installment of Music Mixology. A music-inspired game show, Music Mixology is what happens when a group of classical musicians hijack the local trivia night. Each round, audience members compete by answering music-inspired trivia questions, and the winner gets to choose what the musicians play next. Equipped with more than 27 songs ranging from classical, rock, pop, soundtracks and more, Symphony musicians are prepared to perform the winner's choice live, on the spot, and have a few surprises in store. A hit when it debuted last April at 4th Street Market in Santa Ana, Music Mixology returns to a new neighborhood today, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. at the Boathouse Collective, 1640 Pomona Ave., Costa Mesa.
Music Director Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony today unveil the 2016-17 Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation Classical and Sunday Casual Connections series and special events. This season celebrates the orchestra's 38th season and its 10th year in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Inaugurated by the Symphony in September 2006, this magnificent venue—with its exceptional acoustics and beautiful architecture—changed the world of symphonic music forever in Orange County. Both the orchestra and its audiences suddenly felt the ceiling to their musical opportunities open up to limitless possibilities. The trajectory of the orchestra sped up, allowing for broader choices in repertoire, greater ensemble excellence and immersive audience experiences—culminating, 10 years later, in this momentous season.
Grammy-, Golden Globe- Drama Desk- and three-time Tony Award-winning actress and singer Bernadette Peters-known for her raw talent and ability to knock the socks off an audience with her glorious voice-joins Pacific Symphony just in time for Valentine's Day weekend! The ageless Peters, who boasts a decades-long successful career on the Broadway, film and television stage, recently starred in the critically acclaimed Broadway production of "Follies" after a highly successful run at the Kennedy Center, and can be seen in the Golden-Globe winning TV series, "Mozart in the Jungle." Recent hit performances (backed by orchestras) have included Peters turning up the heat for Peggy Lee's "Fever"; Rodgers and Hammerstein's "There is Nothin' Like a Dame" (from "South Pacific"); "Children Will Listen" and "No One is Alone" (from "Into the Woods"); "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Losing My Mind" (from her turn as Sally Durant Plummer in the 2011 revival of "Follies"); and "Let Me Entertain You" (from the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast album "Gypsy"), among many, many others.
County, Calif.—Jan. 20, 2016—Pacific Symphony musicians are taking their instruments out to the local hot spot for a fun evening of hand-crafted music, trivia and signature cocktails during the second installment of Music Mixology. A music-inspired game show, Music Mixology is what happens when a group of classical musicians hijack the local trivia night. Each round, audience members compete by answering music-inspired trivia questions, and the winner gets to choose what the musicians play next. Equipped with more than 27 songs ranging from classical, rock, pop, soundtracks and more, Symphony musicians are prepared to perform the winner's choice live, on the spot, and have a few surprises in store. A hit when it debuted last April at 4th Street Market in Santa Ana, Music Mixology returns to a new neighborhood on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. at the Boathouse Collective, 1640 Pomona Ave., Costa Mesa.
Orange County, Calif.—Jan. 19, 2016—Swashbuckling pirates, bumbling policemen, innocent young lovers and an eccentric major-general join in the boisterous fun for Pacific Symphony's next Family Musical Mornings presented by Farmers and Merchants Bank, “The Pirates of Penzance: Opera for Kids!” This campy, comedic morning featuring the popular comic operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan is sure to send kids off singing the catchy tunes by the famous duo. Favorite songs include “I am a Pirate King!” and “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General.” This production for kids, led by the Symphony's new Assistant Conductor Roger Kalia, is appropriate for all ages, but especially those ages 5-11. It includes costumes, scenic elements and projected visuals, and features both professional singers and talented students from Chapman University. The script was written and directed by Peter Atherton, and the role of the Pirate King is played by Symphony favorite, baritone David Stoneman.
have been and where we are going? Or how certain kinds of music fit into this diverse universe of sound? These are some of the important questions that music raises, and each year, Pacific Symphony, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, attempts to shed light on the answers by exploring a different facet of American music through the American Composers Festival (ACF). This year's ACF spotlights organ music through four highly acclaimed organists and the splendor of the king of instruments—in this case, the one-of-a-kind William J. Gillespie Concert Organ, located in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Built from steel, tin, oak, poplar, maple, lead and carbon fiber, the astounding instrument found in the Symphony's concert hall required three years and 42,000 hours of labor by a team of organ builders at C.B Fisk in Gloucester, Mass., before making its debut with Pacific Symphony in 2008.
Segerstrom Center's annual Off Center Festival returns today, January 16, through January 30, 2016 with an all-new line-up of creative, contemporary and sometimes controversial artists and shows.
Lauded the world over for his eloquent playing and superb musicianship, Taiwanese-American violinist Cho-Liang Lin joins Pacific Symphony to kick off the New Year by serving as both conductor and featured soloist for a superb program that includes both Mozart's brilliantly figured Violin Concerto No. 4 and his grand and festive 'Haffner' Symphony, considered one of his great symphonic achievements.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts has announced that the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School is accepting new students for the second half of the 2015 - 2016 school year. As well as applications for the 2016 Spring Sunday Intensives.
Also, Sunday Casual Connections takes place Jan. 10, at 3 p.m., offering the return of Lin as he leads a further exploration of Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4, his “Haffner” Symphony and Wagner's “Siegfried Idyll.” For more information or to purchase tickets, please call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts is the first stop for legendary singer-songwriter David Crosby on his West Coast tour, performing intimate solo acoustic for the first time on tour. Crosby comes to the Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on Saturday, March 5 at 8 p.m. Using just his voice and guitar, the show will feature repertoire spanning Crosby's entire career, including new songs from his critically-acclaimed 2014 solo album, Croz, and his 1971 solo debut, If I Could Only Remember My Name, as well as selections from The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. 'This is about the songs. The tale telling,' said Crosby. 'Taking you on a voyage to my world for a moment'.
Genre-bridging musical sensation Mark O'Connor brings his celebrated Appalachian Christmas Tour to Segerstrom Center for the Arts tonight, December 15 in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
Pacific Chorale, the resident choir of Segerstrom Center for the Arts, will be presenting its family holiday extravaganza, 'Tis the Season!' on Sunday, December 20 and Monday, December 21 at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
American Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker, co-presented by Segerstrom Center for the Arts and ABT, and choreographed by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, will be given 14 performances at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, tonight, December 10-20, 2015.
