Noting down the seasons

Young Chang

The Pacific Symphony Orchestra’s 2002-03 season has all the

climates of a full year.

Through the works of everyone from Mozart to Neil Sedaka, the

season will offer music fitting for the chilliest of winters, the

prettiest of springs, the most romantic of falls and the most

blazingly intense of summers.

“We make our own independent judgments as to what a balanced

season looks like,” said orchestra president John Forsyte. “We try to

have different styles.”

With three separate series to book performers for, the styles

really do run the gamut.

The 2002-03 Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Classics Series

starts Wednesday with Arnaldo Cohen performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto

No. 1. Conductor Carl St. Clair will then lead the symphony Oct. 5 in

a performance of Strauss’ tone poem “A Hero’s Life.”

“We’re really excited to hear the orchestra play one of the most

sonorous and rich works in the repertoire,” Forsyte said of the

Strauss piece. “That’s a test piece, a piece which every musician

will play at their very best. It tests every instrument.”

Guest conductor Angel Gil-Ordonez will lead the symphony in

flamenco works including Joaquin Turina’s “Orgia” and Roberto

Gerhard’s “Alegrias” on Oct. 16 and 17.

Pianist Andre Watts will perform Nov. 13 and 14.

Guest conductor and violinist Jean-Jacques Kantorow will lead the

symphony in a program titled “Immortal Mozart” on Dec. 4 and 5.

Mozart’s “Overture to Don Giovanni,” Concerto No. 4 for Violin and

Orchestra in D Major are among the pieces to be played.

Violinist Sarah Chang will perform Jan. 8 and 9 with the orchestra

to perform Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Ravel’s “Tzigane,

Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra.”

The American Composers Festival will begin Feb. 5 and 6 with the

West Coast premiere of composer William Bolcom’s “Songs of Innocence

and of Experience.” The American Composers Competition will be held

March 12 and 13.

On April 3 and 4, Beethoven interpreter Stephen Kovacevich will

perform Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5 for Piano and Orchestra with the

symphony. The next month, St. Clair and the symphony will perform

Stravinsky’s “The Fairy’s Kiss” and Tchaikovsky’s “Suite from Swan

Lake.” Symphony concertmaster Raymond Kobler will also perform those

nights (May 7 and 8) with Prokofiev Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra in D Major.

The classics’ season ends June 4 and 5 with Brahm’s Symphony No. 1

in C minor, Wagner’s Prelude to Act III of “Lohengrin,” Chopin’s

“Adante Spinato and Grande Polonaise in E-flat Major” and Christopher

O’Riley’s “Ode to Liberace.”

The Symphony’s 2002-03 Pops Season will run Friday through May 10

at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

The Righteous Brothers will perform Friday and Oct. 5. Three

Broadway stars will perform the hits of Rodgers and Hammerstein and

Andrew Lloyd Webber on Nov. 15 and 16. Michael Feinstein’s Holiday

Romance, a night of holiday music, will happen Dec. 13 and 14 and

Anne Murray, who Forsyte calls “one of the most beloved

multi-platinum singers” will make her Pacific Symphony debut Feb. 7

and 8.

The Canadian Brass will present some New Orleans blues March 14

and 15, Ann Hampton Callaway will perform April 4 and 5 and Neil

Sedaka will conclude the series May 9 and 10.

The symphony’s 2002-03 Mervyn’s Musical Mornings series, an active

and interactive concert experience for kids between ages 4 and 11 and

their families, is just as mixed up in mood and melody. “The Lone

Ranger’s Triumph” will happen Nov. 16, “Heroes for the Holidays” will

take place Dec. 14, “Sleeping Beauty” on Feb. 8, “Masterminds of

Music!” on March 15, “The Magic Flute” will be presented on April 5

and “Red, White and Blue Heroes” will conclude the series on May 10.

For more information on any of the series, call (714) 755-5799 or

check out www.pacificsymphony.org.