Pacific Symphony Receives $1.3-Million Concert Grant

The Santa Ana-based Pacific Symphony has been awarded a $1.3-million grant from the newly formed Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation, orchestra officials said Wednesday.

The grant, the first to be made by the foundation, will be given over five years. Funds will underwrite the 20 classical subscription concerts presented yearly at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

The orchestra also announced an expanded 2001-2002 concert season that includes a weeklong Dvorak festival and a new five-concert chamber orchestra and chamber music series to take place in two locations--Founders Hall at the center and the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

To open the Dvorak festival, which will focus on the composer’s years in the United States, Mstislav Rostropovich will play the Cello Concerto at a special non-subscription concert April 17, 2002, at the center. The program also will include the “New World” Symphony. Music director Carl St.Clair will conduct. The festival will continue with a pair of subscription concerts in Segerstrom Hall and two chamber music concerts to be announced.

Highlights of the 2001-02 concert series at the center include a world premiere in November from Richard Danielpour, culminating his three-year tenure as composer-in-residence with the orchestra, and in October, Michael Kurek’s “That Which Remains Unspoken,” commissioned by the Pacific.

Roberto Minczuk and Max Pommer will be guest conductors, on Jan. 9-10 and April 3-4, 2002, respectively. Guest artists will include violinists Kyung-Wha Chung and Robert McDuffie; cellist Allison Eldredge; and pianists Angela Hewitt, Hsing-ay Hsu, Benjamin Pasternack, Pascal Roge and Lilya Zilberstein.

South Coast Repertory co-founder and producing artist director David Emmes will direct a semi-staged production of Mendelssohn’s music for Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on March 6-7.

Information: (714) 755-5799.

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The 2001-02 Symphony Season

Carl St. Clair will conduct all concerts except as indicated. Concerts begin at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center, Costa Mesa. Concert previews start at 7 p.m. Series tickets: $140 to $865. Single tickets, $21 to $56, go on sale in late August (714) 755-5799.

* Oct. 3-4: Robert McDuffie, violin: Overture to Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino”; Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto; Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.

* Oct. 24-25: Kyung-Wha Chung, violin: Kurek’s “That Which Remains Unspoken” (world premiere); Beethoven’s Violin Concerto; Mussorgsky/Ravel’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”

* Nov. 14-15: Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano; Mark Oswald, baritone; Pacific Chorale: William Schuman’s “Be Glad Then America” from “New England Triptych”; Bolcom’s “Graceful Ghost”; Ticheli’s “There Will Be Rest”; Ellington’s “Giggling Rapids” from “The River”; Bernstein’s “Let Your Garden Grow” from “Candide”; Gershwin’s “I’m on My Way” from “Porgy and Bess”; Danielpour’s “American Requiem” (world premiere).

* Dec. 5-6: Pascal Roge, piano: Brahms’ Symphony No. 3; Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 2; Suite No. 2 from Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloe.”

* Jan. 9-10, 2002: Roberto Minczuk, conductor; Lilya Zilberstein, piano: “Polovtsian Dances” from Borodin’s “Prince Igor”; Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3; Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade.”

* Jan. 30-31: Ben Pasternak, piano: Mozart’s Concerto Rondo in D, K. 382; Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 (“Age of Anxiety”); Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

* March 6-7: David Emmes, director; Women of the Pacific Chorale: Courtly Dances from Britten’s “Gloriana”; Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet” (fantasy overture); Incidental Music to Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

* April 3-4, 2002: Max Pommer, conductor; Angela Hewitt, piano: Handel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks”; Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23; Elgar’s Serenade for Strings; Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony.

* April 24-25, 2002: Allison Eldredge, cello: Chadwick’s Scherzo in F; Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 2; Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony.

* May 22-23, 2002: Hsing-ay Hsu, piano: Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor; Strauss’s “An Alpine Symphony.”

Carl St.Clair will conduct all concerts except as indicated. Concerts begin at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center, Costa Mesa. Concert previews start at 7 p.m. Series tickets: $140 to $865. Single tickets, $21 to $56, go on sale in late August. (714) 755-5799.

The 2001-02 Beethoven Chamber Music Series

All concerts begin at 3 p.m. Series tickets: $135 to $180. Single tickets, $30 to $40 go on sale in early August (714) 755-5799.

In Founders Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center:

* Sept. 16: Christopher O’Riley, pianist; Pacific Symphony principal musicians: Beethoven’s Violin Sonata in G Major, Opus 96; Cello Sonata No. 2; Septet, Opus 20.

* Jan. 20: Clarinet Trio, Opus 11; “Waldstein” Piano Sonata; Trio Version of Symphony No. 2.

* May 19, 2002: “Eyeglass” Duo, WoO (works without opus numbers) 32; Variations on “The Last Rose of Summer” for Flute and Piano, Opus 105, No. 4; Serenade, Opus 25; “Archduke” Trio, Opus 97.

At the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive:

* Oct. 14: Carl St.Clair, conductor; Raymond Kobler, violin; chorus and soloists to be announced: Symphony No. 1; Two Romances for Violin and Orchestra; Excerpts from “The Ruins of Athens” (with chorus); Choral Fantasy for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra.

* March 24, 2002: Claremont Trio; soprano to be announced: Contradances; Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano, Opus 56; “Ah, perfido,” Opus 65; Symphony No. 8.

All concerts begin at 3 p.m. Series tickets: $135 to $180. Single tickets, $30 to $40, go on sale in early August. (714) 755-5799.

SPECIAL EVENT

Mstislav Rostropovich will play Dvorak’s Cello Concerto on April 17, 2002 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. St.Clair will conduct. This event, Rostropovich’s only Southern California engagement, will open the Pacific’s weeklong festival on Dvorak’s years in the United States.

Tickets, $21 to $125, will be offered initially only to renewing season subscribers. Any unsold tickets will be offered to the public in the fall. (714) 755-5799.