Henry Segerstrom News

Orange County, Calif.—Nov. 4, 2013—The highly talented Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PSYO)—last season lauded as “Classics Alive Youth Orchestra of the Year— returns to open the 2013-14 Cheng Family Foundation Youth Orchestra Series with its “Fall Concert,” featuring favorite classical pieces. Led by Assistant Conductor Alejandro Gutiérrez, PSYO is poised to charm the audience with harmonious and exciting melodies, including the ill-fated love drama of Verdi's Overture from “La Forza del Destino,” the rousing enthusiasm of Grieg's “Norwegian Dances” and the enchanting organ tunes in Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3, featuring guest organist Kristen Lawrence. PSYO's concert takes place on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 3 p.m., in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Tickets are $12 general admission; for more information or to purchase tickets, call the box office at (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.

The highly talented Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PSYO)—last season lauded as “Classics Alive Youth Orchestra of the Year— returns to open the 2013-14 Cheng Family Foundation Youth Orchestra Series with its “Fall Concert,” featuring favorite classical pieces. Led by Assistant Conductor Alejandro Gutiérrez, PSYO is poised to charm the audience with harmonious and exciting melodies, including the ill-fated love drama of Verdi's Overture from “La Forza del Destino,” the rousing enthusiasm of Grieg's “Norwegian Dances” and the enchanting organ tunes in Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3, featuring guest organist Kristen Lawrence. PSYO's concert takes place on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 3 p.m., in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.

Global music phenomenon Celtic Woman will return to North American concert stages in early 2014 with The Emerald Tour, which will encompass over 75 performances in more than 65 cities. Orange County audiences can look forward to the Segerstrom Center engagement on April 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Conductor James Conlon, Music Director of LA Opera, will lead a series of Britten performances across the Southland as part of the Britten 100/LA celebration, in commemoration of the 2013 Benjamin Britten centenary.

It's a party on stage! More than just a ghoulishly great way to celebrate, Pacific Symphony's 'Halloween Masquerade' showcases the music and traditions of Halloween as well as two Latin American holidays-Día de los Muertos and Día de las Mascaradas.

Three of today's leading ladies of jazz, Geri Allen (piano), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums) and Esperanza Spalding (bass), also known as the trio ACS, will take to the stage at Segerstrom Center for the Arts today and tomorrow, October 25 and 26 for four performances in Samueli Theater. Having formed during their work together on Carrington's Grammy Award-winning album The Mosaic Project, the innovative ensemble is now touring and taking jazz to new and exciting heights. In response to their debut at New York's legendary Village Vanguard, The Village Voice remarked, 'the set's expressionistic push-pull turned out to be a show of jazz fealty as disorienting as it was riveting.'

Orange County, Calif.—Oct. 24, 2013—Commanding center stage for Pacific Symphony's upcoming concert is one of the most daring innovations in concerto form--“Beethoven's Triple Concerto”—performed by one of the most successful all-women chamber ensembles in the world, the Eroica Trio. Receiving multiple Grammy nominations for their eight CDs and winning the prestigious Naumburg Award, the Eroica Trio “plays with technical flair, raw driven energy and high spirits,” said The Wall Street Journal. “There is an edge of the seat intensity to every note they produce,” wrote The New York Times. The orchestra is led by one of Canada's brightest young conductors, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, recipient of the Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year, who opens the evening with Beethoven's Overture to “The Creatures of Prometheus.” The Symphony is then joined by the women of Pacific Chorale to perform Debussy's “Nocturnes,” three movements inspired by impressionist paintings, and the evening concludes with Britten's famous “Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra,” in honor of the composer's 100th “Beethoven's Triple Concerto” takes place Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 14-16, at 8 p.m., in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. A preview talk with Alan Chapman begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25-$109; for more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.

Pacific Symphony's 35th anniversary season continues with the sizzling sounds of 20th-century Spain igniting in the hands of Music Director Carl St.Clair as he leads the orchestra into the exotic world of flamenco, guitar and Spanish poetry.

Hilarious star of stage and screen Martin Short makes his Segerstrom Center debut on Thursday, November 21 at 8 p.m. in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall for a special one night only performance of his acclaimed one man-show An Evening with Martin Short. The Tony and Emmy award-winning actor brings to life some of his most beloved characters and performs uproarious skits complete with songs, dance and impersonations. "Above all, Short is very funny," states Vanity Fair.

Praised as 'the new voice of the American rock-and-roll songbook' (Billboard) with both Grammy- and Tony-award nominations, charismatic performer Michael Cavanaugh opens Pacific Symphony's 35th anniversary Pops season with crowd-pleasing pop and rock piano hits during his new show, 'Michael Cavanaugh: Songs of Elton John and More.'

Orange County, Calif.—Oct. 17, 2013—Praised as “the new voice of the American rock-and-roll songbook” (Billboard) with both Grammy- and Tony-award nominations, charismatic performer Michael Cavanaugh opens Pacific Symphony's 35th anniversary Pops season with crowd-pleasing pop and rock piano hits during his new show, “Michael Cavanaugh: Songs of Elton John and More.” Handpicked by another famous pianist, Billy Joel, to star in the Broadway musical “Movin' Out” in 2001, Cavanaugh quickly gained a reputation for his skillful talents on the piano and lead vocals rivaling those of the “Piano Man” himself. After the musical closed in 2005, he began touring on his own, reinterpreting the modern pop/rock songbook, and eventually bringing his “Songs of Billy Joel and More” to a full house at the Symphony's Fourth of July concert in 2009. Cavanaugh returns to bring his exuberant energy to the music of the “Rocket Man,” for a performance of songs such as “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Benny and the Jets,” “Daniel,” “Crocodile Rock,” “Candle in the Wind” and more—all backed by the lush sounds of the Symphony.

Events coming up in the next few weeks for the LA Opera include special celebrations on November 22, Britten's 100th birthday.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the award-winning worldwide smash hit Broadway musical, is coming to Orange County at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Produced by NETworks Presentations, this elaborate theatrical production will come to life on stage at Segerstrom Hall from January 14 - 19, 2014.

Today, on the 200th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, Plácido Domingoannounces the full casting and production details for LA Opera's upcoming production of Falstaff, Verdi's final opera based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. 'All year long, opera houses around the world have been celebrating the bicentenary of Giuseppe Verdi, the greatest of all Italian composers,' said Mr. Domingo, LA Opera's General Director. 'In just a few weeks, we will unveil a new staging of Verdi's comic masterpiece, the crowning glory of his extraordinary career.'

The incomparable Bernadette Peters will make her Segerstrom Center Cabaret Series debut tonight, October 11 at 8 p.m., performing an evening of beloved Broadway songs, including selections by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim and many more.

It's a party on stage! More than just a ghoulishly great way to celebrate, Pacific Symphony's 'Halloween Masquerade' showcases the music and traditions of Halloween as well as two Latin American holidays-Día de los Muertos and Día de las Mascaradas.

It's a party on stage! More than just a ghoulishly great way to celebrate, Pacific Symphony's "Halloween Masquerade" showcases the music and traditions of Halloween as well as two Latin American holidays-Dia de los Muertos and Dia de las Mascaradas. This Family Musical Mornings concert, presented by Farmers and Merchants Bank, is both spooky fun and educational, featuring thrilling and mysterious Halloween favorites such as John Williams' "Hedwig's Theme" from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and Paul Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Plus, selections from Stravinsky's "The Firebird" are magically coupled with famous Latin American compositions to inspire imaginations and introduce children to different cultures. The concert takes place Saturday, Oct. 26, at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Tickets are $19-39; for more information or to purchase tickets call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.

Victoria Burnett, one of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' teaching artists on its Arts Teach roster, will be a featured performer at the 41st National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. The event will be held today, October 4 - 6 at the International Storytelling Center, the prime destination for storytellers around the world who treasure and practice the age-old art of using storytelling to teach, inspire and preserve cultural and historical lore.