The Crowd: Pacific Chorale triumphs; heyday of AirCal recalled in recent events
The O.C. captured a beam of the 2022 Grammy Awards spotlight with a win for Pacific Chorale. Artistic Director Robert Istad and the entire Chorale took home the Grammy in the Choral Performance category. It was a first time win for Istad and the Chorale, which serves as the in-residence chorus for Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.
The honor, presented April 3 in Las Vegas at the annual ceremony, was shared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the National Children’s Chorus all collaborating on the winning performance recording under the baton of conductor Gustavo Dudamel. The ensemble of talented voices delivered Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in E-flat Major, “Symphony of a Thousand,” featuring multiple solo performances from members of all chorale groups involved.
“I feel so incredibly honored to receive the Grammy Award for Best Chorale Performance,” offered Istad. “We were nominated with many other incredible artists. When they announced our names, I leapt out of my seat with joy! I cannot describe the way that experience feels: total elation!
“I’ve dedicated my entire life to bringing people together in harmony; lifting up singers to achieve their very best is my great passion. I am so happy the Recording Academy heard our soulful singing shining through in our recording. It is the many singers who performed with their entire souls that make this recording so special, and the Grammy Award is really dedicated to all of them. In some way, this Grammy recognizes the very special artistic and spiritual bond I share with our singers.”
Credit for the historic Grammy win also belongs to Pacific Chorale’s creative team. Chorale CEO Andrew Brown, Vice President Molly Pontin and Director of Artistic Production Alex Nelson stand out among the entire staff contributing to the outcome. Istad further credited the board of directors and long time donors Phil and Mary Lyons, Charlie and Ling Zheng and Lenora Meister, in addition to a major nod to the chorale’s emeritus Artistic Director John Alexander.
On Saturday, May 7, the Pacific Chorale will end its 2022 season at the René and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Conductor Istad will lead the chorale in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Dona Nobis Pacem” along with the world premiere of “The Quickening,” composed by Grammy-nominated former Pacific Chorale composer-in-residence Tank O’Regan, with lyrics by O.C. based poet Marcus Omari, among other works to be performed in the closing program. For more information visit pacificchorale.org.
A nostalgic flight back in time
The O.C.’s own airline, fondly known as AirCal, once again landed, only this time at the Balboa Island Museum, Newport Beach. On March 24, a packed house converged on the local museum for an evening of memories and stories of the glory days of AirCal from 1967 until 1987, flying out of John Wayne, and owned at one time by two of the region’s legendary entrepreneurs, George Argyros and the late Gen. William Lyon.
“We could have sold a ton more tickets,” Balboa Island Museum Newport Beach Executive Director Tiffany Pepys Hoey said, “but you know, the fire marshal is just up the street!”
Former AirCal stewardess and Balboa Island resident Susan Riddle said, “To me, it seemed like an old movie where the psychiatrist can help the patient conjure up an old memory and then the floodgates burst. We seemed to have a collective bursting of the memory dam.”
In documented O.C. 20th-century business history, AirCal ownership landed in the hands of Argyros and Lyon via a 1981 bankruptcy. The ownership legacy reportedly began with five Corona del Mar Air California founders including developer William Myers, and famous architect William Pereira. In the mid-’70s the airline went to San Diego industrialist C. Arnholt Smith, notorious former owner of the San Diego Padres who, according to his 1996 New York Times obituary, was convicted of embezzling $8.9 million from his business properties. By 1981, it was again upside down, and Argyros and Lyon came in to pick up the pieces operating the carrier successfully for the next six years and then selling to American Airlines.
A panel of local experts including pilots Larry Bufton, Scott Bergey, Roger Nilson and Wayne Chase joined Susan Riddle as moderator before the very inquisitive crowd. Among those attending was Bill H. Lyon, Gen. Lyon’s son, with Lyon Air Museum President Mark Foster.
The AirCal exhibit at Balboa Island Museum will run through the spring. Go to balboaislandmuseum.org
for more information.
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