#GivingTuesdayNow is a new global day of giving and unity that will take place on May 5, 2020 – in addition to the regularly scheduled Dec 1, 2020 #GivingTuesday – as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19.

Pacific Symphony needs your support. In this unprecedented time, the power of music unites and uplifts us. Your generosity during #GivingTuesdayNow and, in fact, during the entire month of our Community Support Month of May, will help to ensure a sound future for Pacific Symphony.

Please consider the role music plays in your life and support your Pacific Symphony with a donation of any amount. The Larry and Helen Hoag Foundation are matching all donations, dollar-for-dollar, up to $150,000.

Please support Pacific Symphony today!

It’s a time for us to remember that we are a community-supported orchestra. Even though the orchestra is not able to perform live concerts right now, the Pacific Symphony community spirit continues online with Pacific Symphony @ Home.

You may have already enjoyed some of the “living room recitals” offered by Symphony musicians on the Watch+Listen page. To additionally support the Orange County community, we’ve added a new section “Music and Arts Learning Online.” This content provides learning and inspiration for music lovers or all ages. Whether you’re home-schooling children, encouraging a budding violinist in your family, or your curious to learn more about music yourself, there is something for everyone in the community.

Support from the Orange County community during these challenging times is more critical than ever. Please consider the role music plays in your life and support your Pacific Symphony with a donation of any amount. The Larry and Helen Hoag Foundation are matching all donations, dollar-for-dollar, up to $150,000.

Please support Pacific Symphony today!

Typically, performing a Beethoven symphony can be challenging. The music is big, bold and explosive, and it requires a ton of coordination. Thanks to 21st century technology, we were able to take some of those same elements through the homes of over 30 different Pacific Symphony musicians and the final product … well, let’s just say it’s glorious.

Even though we’re not together in the concert hall, we’re still coming up with creative ways to bring you Pacific Symphony into your home. Please enjoy this “quarantine” rendition of the finale to Beethoven’s jubilant Seventh Symphony!

Watch our “Beethoven Mosaic” video here!

Verdi’s autographed score of “Otello”

Giuseppe Verdi

With the celebration of Carl’s 30th anniversary this season, we were going enjoy something very special this week: the opening of Verdi’s “Otello” in a new production. This opera is one of Verdi’s crowning achievements, and I thought you might want to watch a fully-staged production with English subtitles.

It’s hard to imagine the power that would have been stirred up in our great concert hall with an electrifying performance of Pacific Symphony, Pacific Chorale and a stellar array of soloists. So, we continue to shed some tears for what might have been, but we know that this great score lives on, and we will get back to it!

To better understand the context of the opera, you might want to watch this terrific preview from the Royal Opera House:

Here is the complete production with English subtitles included:

Enjoy!

—John

John Forsyte
Pacific Symphony’s President and CEO

Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra (EPO) announced today that they have named Roger Kalia as music director of the 87-year-old orchestra. EPO, the largest orchestra in Indiana and the tri-state area, held their official press conference on the virtual platform, Zoom, to make the announcement.

Taking this position means that at the end of this season, Kalia is stepping down from his position as music director of Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PYSO) that he has held for the last 5 years. Kalia simultaneously held the associate conductor role at Pacific Symphony, and was the assistant conductor for three and a half years before that. We are as sad to see him go as we are happy for his wonderful opportunity. His long tenure with Pacific Symphony has been the greatest experience and we are confident in him and his next venture.

“I am honored to be named music director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra,” Kalia said of the new appointment. “This is an innovative and passionate organization with deep roots in the community, and I look forward to being a part of the meaningful, collaborative community connections the EPO offers through its concerts, outreach and family, youth and education offerings. The 2020-21 season promises to be exciting and engaging, and I cannot wait to share this music with you in the concert hall beginning this fall.”

Recently, Kalia was named music director of New Hampshire’s 97-year-old orchestra Symphony NH (Symphony New Hampshire) in May 2019, after an 18-month search. He has served as music director of California’s Orchestra Santa Monica since 2018 and is music director and co-founder of the two-week Lake George Music Festival in upstate New York, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in August 2020.

Keep tabs on Kalia by visiting http://www.rogerkalia.com, or by saying hi to him if you find yourself in Indiana. Best wishes, Roger Kalia!

Lang Lang has consistently been praised for unique ability to engage his audience throughout his career. Back in 2011, he played in an impromptu performance for students on an upright piano outside of the Concert Hall, and the performance went viral!

Lang Lang returns Oct. 4, 2020, to play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Tickets are available for Classical season subscribers. Read more here:
https://www.pacificsymphony.org/tickets/concert/langlangbeethoven/22571

Pacific Symphony announced the launch of a new online initiative called Pacific Symphony @ Home that curates free digital content to provide audiences with musical and emotional connection through the current period of uncertainty.

“We’re pleased to share Pacific Symphony @ Home with our audiences,” commented President and CEO John Forsyte. “The generosity of our Symphony musicians sharing their artistry from their homes is profoundly touching at this unprecedented time. I think those who go online to Pacific Symphony @ Home will be astonished when they experience anew the world-class talent that makes up this orchestra.”

Pacific Symphony’s new collection of free digital content is evolving and expanding on a daily basis. Audiences are encouraged to check back frequently for new additions of content.

At present some of the highlights include:

• “Quarantine Clips” of Symphony musicians recording videos of performances and messages from their homes.
• Videos shot by Music Director Carl St.Clair on his cell phone from his home in Laguna Beach, providing YouTube listening picks and Spotify playlists.
• Alexander Romanovsky, who was set to play all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos with Pacific Symphony on March 19-22, sent a video from his home in Italy of an excerpt of the cadenza of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
• From the music room of his Irvine home, concertmaster Dennis Kim plays Beethoven’s Romance No. 2 in F Major, which was originally scheduled for the March 20 concert.
• “The Bach Project”—Principal Cellist Warren Hagerty is offering a movement a day from the Six Bach Cello Suites for a total of 36 movements.
• Facebook Watch Parties hosted by Associate Conductor Roger Kalia and his musicologist wife Christine and their adorable pup, Burney (named after the famous English music historian, Charles Burney).
• Concert highlights from this season’s concerts with newly curated content not posted online previously.
• Articles to entertain and inspire on the Symphony’s “Pacific Overtures” blog.
• “Arts Online” providing links to streaming music and culture from all over the world.
• Education and community resources to be added soon.

Currently, Pacific Symphony is dreaming of the day in the very near future when they will be performing for audiences again live. The poet Langston Hughes was right: a dream never dies, it’s just deferred.

Until then, let your laptop be your concert hall. #StartDreamingAgain

Visit our Pacific @ Home page here!