Symphony in the city

Barbara Diamond

History will be made when the Pacific Symphony Orchestra Maestro Carl

St. Clair raises his baton Sept. 18 on the grounds of the Festival of

Arts.

“This will be the first concert in my 15 years with the orchestra

that we have played in my own town,” St. Clair said.

It will be the orchestra’s first concert ever in Laguna Beach. The

audience is encouraged to bring blankets, lawn chairs and picnics for

the concert on the green, which is filled with artists’ booths during

festival season.

St. Clair will conduct a selection of “Sea Songs” by Vaughn

Williams, Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez” for guitar and orchestra,

a narrated Walton’s Facade, some of Aaron Copland’s “Old American

Songs,” John Philip Sousa patriotic music and sing-alongs to “America

the Beautiful” and “God Bless America.”

“Splashes” co-founder Ken Jillson will narrate. Adam del Monte

will be the featured guitarist.

The concert is part of the “Symphony in the Cities” program,

launched last fall as part of the celebration of the orchestra’s 25th

anniversary, presented in collaboration with local support.

“This may be the first time the symphony has played in Laguna,

hopefully it won’t be the last,” Janice Johnson said.

Johnson, twice orchestra board president, 1992-’93 and 1996-’98,

has spent the last year helping the symphony reach out to Orange

County communities as chair of the Symphony in the Cities.

She estimates the Laguna Beach concert will cost $35,000-plus,

including leasing the grounds and parking. There was no public

funding.

The Laguna Beach Concert Committee, of which Johnson is a member,

raised all but the $5,000 contribution from the symphony to fund

event.

Committee members include co-chairs Jillson and Al Roberts, Vesta

Curry, Kathleen Eiler, Toni and Stanley Flores, Laurie Fusco, Valerie

Imhof, Britney Weil and Susan Davis, Festival of Arts event

coordinator.

“Although we are not a sponsor, we are thrilled to have the event

on the grounds,” Davis said.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. But the gates will open at 5 p.m.

for children’s activities featuring a “musical playground,” that will

include instrument making, face painting, a drumming clinic, musical

games, meeting the musicians and an exhibition of art work by

elementary, middle and high school students.

St. Clair will present a conducting clinic. Children who

participate in the clinic will help conduct the “Washington Post

March” during the concert.

“The biggest thing about the concert is what Carl does with the

children,” Roberts said. “It exposes them to good music and we have

to make that part of their education. It’s so important.”

Exposing children to music is a passion of St. Claire’s, he was

instrumental in organizing the “Class Act” program in Orange County

schools, including Top of the World and El Morro Elementary Schools.

“Laguna is so meaningful for me and my family,” St. Clair said.

“My wife, Susan, and I feel fortunate to have Laguna as our home.”

The St. Clairs’ wedding and reception was held at Tivoli Terrace,

in Irvine Bowl Park, better known as the Festival of Arts Grounds.

“Carl, Susan and [children] Siena and Cade are ‘Lagunatics’ and

very proud of it,” Johnson said.

Johnson and St. Clair joined the symphony the same year, he on the

podium, she on the board.

“He has been of immeasurable value to the orchestra,” Johnson

said. “His personality, his musicianship and dedication to the

orchestra is invaluable, artistically and economically. And he has

attracted stronger board members.”

The orchestra has had a balanced budget for 13 years, some of

those years when nonprofit and cultural organizations were struggling

because of the economy.

“We are now the third largest symphony in the state, measured by

budget,” Johnson said.

The concert is not the first time that classical music has been

presented on the festival grounds. Community activist and businessman

Harry Lawrence and Velma Sun helped found Grand Opera at the Festival

Bowl in 1963. The season ran from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15 until 1970. It

led to the formation of Opera Pacific.

Arts Commissioner Emeritus Doris Shields was the chorus master.

“It was such a thrill,” Shields said.

She also conducted the chorus for the Pageant of the Masters in

the late 1970s -- all classical music.

Expanded use of the grounds was one of the considerations in the

extended lease negotiations between the city, which owns the grounds,

and the festival board.

A concert by a major symphony orchestra is a big step toward

fulfilling the city’s image of itself as an Orange County cultural

center.

Tickets are $10 for general admission or $125 for VIP underwriting

and admission, which includes VIP seating, pre- and post-concert

receptions.

For more information or general admission and nonreserved seating

tickets, call the symphony box office at (714) 755-5799. Credit cards

will be accepted by phone or at the gate on the night of the event if

tickets are available.

For more information about VIP tickets, call Rhonda Halverson at

(714) 876 2366.

Names of all pre-concert ticket purchasers will be listed at the

gate for admittance.