Symphony Mixer is a new virtual social series that brings Pacific Symphony musicians straight into the comfort of your home via Zoom! Hosted by Symphony Principal Flutist Ben Smolen, each virtual happy hour will feature live performances, interviews with artists, musical anecdotes and stories from behind-the-scenes.

Pacific Symphony donors and subscribers are invited to attend each mixer live each Friday at 5 p.m., and they are allowed to ask questions that will be answered by the artists on the spot. All others can experience the mixer on-demand later on our YouTube channel.

In the first virtual Symphony Mixer, Principal Flutist Ben Smolen hosted Café Ludwig host and curator Orli Shaham in conversation and performance. They discussed performing in the Samueli Theater together for Café Ludwig, Orli’s living in New York during the height of the pandemic, how the arts (and artists themselves) are dealing with the stress of quarantine and more!

Guests for upcoming Symphony Mixers are Concertmaster Dennis Kim (May 29) and Principal Cellist Warren Hagerty (June 5).

Go to the Watch+Listen page on the Symphony website and click on the “Virtual Live Events” category to find links to on-demand video of the mixers. Or click here to view the first mixer with Ben Smolen hosting Orli Shaham.

Roger Kalia Completes His Tenure as Associate Conductor and Passes the Baton to Incoming Assistant Conductor Jacob Sustaita

Pacific Symphony recently announced that it is producing its first-ever virtual concert, “John Williams: Maestro of the Movies,” available on May 30 starting at 11 a.m. and continues to be available on demand for 45 days. This 45-minute online concert replaces the live Family Musical Morning series performance originally scheduled on May 30. Audience of all ages will enjoy performances of selections from John Williams’ film scores. The Symphony gratefully acknowledges Farmers & Merchants Bank for its strong support as the presenting sponsor of the Family Musical Morning series.

The program, hosted by Associate Conductor Roger Kalia, features music from some of John Williams’ most popular films, including “Star Wars,” “Jurassic Park,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Harry Potter” and “E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial,” performed by Pacific Symphony and conducted by Richard Kaufman.

The concert opens with Farmers & Merchants Bank President W. Henry Walker welcoming the online audience and recognizing Roger Kalia for his long tenure at Pacific Symphony and congratulating him on his new music director positions with Symphony New Hampshire and Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in Indiana. Woven throughout the program are such features as “Ask the Composer with John Williams,” eyewitness accounts from Pacific Symphony musicians involved in the recording sessions for John Williams’ film scores and an instrument spotlight focusing on the brass family. Roger Kalia interviews Pacific Symphony’s Principal Pops Conductor Richard Kaufman, who discusses conducting John Williams’ music in concert and also relates some entertaining anecdotes about the composer. The concert concludes with a virtual “Passing of the Baton” from Associate Conductor Roger Kalia to the Symphony’s new Assistant Conductor, Jacob Sustaita.

Beginning on May 30 at 11 a.m., the concert can be viewed by signing in with an email address at PacificSymphony.org/VirtualConcert. The program can be viewed on demand for 45 days after that. There will be a Live Chat opportunity available during the initial viewing on May 30. For subsequent on demand viewing the chat function will not be live.

To enhance this concert experience for families, PDFs for download of musical activities that complement the concert will be posted on the Virtual Concert webpage. Activities include:

• A spotlight on the brass family (French horn, trumpet, trombone)
• A Meet the Young Musician video featuring a member of Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles
• A spotlight on composer John Williams
• A STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) activity on movie sound effects
• Links to 17 different movie-themed crafts and coloring pages, each highlights a different movie for which John Williams composed the score

Here’s just 3 of the Symphony’s classically fun Zoom backgrounds on offer

Like most of us, you’ve probably found yourself living an alternate life on Zoom lately. Pacific Symphony has developed some fun virtual backgrounds so you can add some pizzazz to your Zoom calls. You can choose to appear onstage at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, outside on Argyros Plaza at Leatherby’s Café Rouge, or inside the Samueli Theater.

Choose your favorite background here.

Click here to learn how to change your Zoom background!

Pacific Symphony’s longtime photographer Doug Gifford, whose work you’ve seen on our website and all over the Segerstrom campus, has provided video conferencing tips on his blog. He specializes in identifying environments that capture the perfect images or videos. Doug commented, “After being a part of many video calls of late, I found myself wanting to reach out to the people on the call and offer a few easy-to-make adjustments from what I could see in my ‘viewfinder’ to help them enhance what their viewers were seeing. Since that wasn’t possible, I’ve written up some pro-tips you can try yourself to more accurately reflect your personal brand during your next video call.”

Check out Doug’s blog for his list of tips!

Initiative Features Free Educational Resources at PacificSymphony.org/OnlineLearning

Pacific Symphony announces the launch of an online music and arts learning center to provide compelling digital content for teachers, parents and music students as well as resources for lifelong learners. This free and engaging content provides learning and inspiration for music lovers or all ages. Whether you are a teacher in needing to supplement an arts curriculum, a parent who is home-schooling children, a grandparent encouraging a budding violinist in the family, or if you are simply curious to learn more about music yourself, there is something for everyone in the community.

“We’re pleased to share our new online music and arts learning center with the Orange County community,” commented President and CEO John Forsyte. “Well before the pandemic began, our strategic plan prioritized our virtual education initiative. Our highest education priority has been to expand our footprint and impact through media. Hundreds of schools don’t have access to what we offer, and what we learn may unleash a very beneficial outcome to forward our distance learning objectives. This is a really useful moment to experiment and get feedback from the educational community and from parents who are at home with children.”

“Music brings so much beauty into our lives, and engaging and learning with music and the arts allows us to grow as human beings, as well to nourish our souls,” said Vice President of Education & Community Engagement Susan Miller Kotses. “At no time is this more critical than now. In addition to the resources currently found on the Pacific Symphony @ Home Music and Arts Learning Center, Pacific Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement Team will be producing additional content on a regular basis, so please do check back regularly. In addition to what is available to the public, we are also working to create re-imagined digital content for a number of our existing programs including our school partnership program, Class Act. We’ll also be making an announcement soon regarding a digital re-imagining of our beloved summer arts camp, arts-X-press.”

Pacific Symphony’s new collection of free education-focused digital content is evolving and expanding on a daily basis. Audiences are encouraged to check back frequently for new additions of content. Some of the current highlights include:

• Pacific Symphony Home Learning
  Features activities for curious music students, covering composer John Williams, short educational musical activities, STEAM education and further educational resources
• Instrumental Instruction
  Free, online violin instruction videos for our Pacific Symphony Santa Ana Strings program accessible to the public
• Lifelong Learning
  Content for lifelong learners of all ages: including Pre-Concert Talks on SoundCloud, and further educational resources from KUSC and leading institutions such as Harvard, Berklee and MacPhail Center for Music, as well as resources focusing on visual arts, dance and theater
• Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles Online

Members and alumni of Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles (PSYE) record themselves and present their own series of Quarantine Clips. Also featured as zoom sessions with guest artists, composers and conductors interacting with PSYE program students.

You can find all of Pacific Symphony’s education content on our website at https://www.PacificSymphony.org/OnlineLearning.

Check out this excellent overview of Pacific Symphony’s digital initiatives, with extensive quotes from Music Director Carl St.Clair, Symphony President John Forsyte and Senior Vice President of Artistic Planning and Production Eileen Jeanette about how we are continuing to connect with constituencies via online efforts.

You can read the article here!

Carl St.Clair said, “With the symphony musicians, they’re putting together all these wonderful creative short little musical messages, but basically they’re staying in touch with our family members: audiences, colleagues, staff, board members, anyone who’s part of our family. We sometimes speak in unison, like with the Beethoven 7th collage [symphony members played the final movement online, from their homes, in Zoom-like mosaic form], or through the small, short, less-than-five-minute vignettes, but we’re basically saying ‘We care, we’re OK, we love you all, we need each other, and we can’t wait to get back.’ And when that moment happens, it will be jubilation and celebration in a way we haven’t seen since the Leonard Bernstein concert on Christmas Day after the fall of the Berlin Wall. That kind of reuniting. It will have that same historical flavor and flair to it.”

A huge shout-out to Voice of OC for their thoughtful coverage of the massive changes that are happening to the arts world right now, as we all continue to weather this crisis together.

The former Santa Ana United Presbyterian Church, and first “Pacific Symphony Center”

Sad news: this morning, a fire claimed a historic property in Santa Ana, which was formerly the home to Pacific Symphony’s offices, library and rehearsals. I fondly recall hearing my very first awesome sounds of Pacific Symphony in 1998 in that space with slanted floors, and I know many of our musicians also have both warm and humorous memories of what was a property adjacent to a fast-food restaurant. Many will not recall that Santa Ana was a savior for Pacific Symphony, underwriting the rent of this facility while also providing Community Development Block Grants to support our education programs. The city was undoubtedly one of the largest institutional supporters of Pacific Symphony and, by far, the largest public funder.

Photo Credit: Robert Schumitzky, Pacific Symphony violinist

Fortunately, the church was abandoned and no one was hurt, but it is a loss for our collective memories and historic preservation. John Evans, who was on the Board in the days when it served as our home, recalls: “I have substantial memories there … board meetings in the basement with founding board members who were my friends, now gone, rehearsals, and the vote enabling us to bring in Carl as music director. All in that building, all remaining vividly in my mind. I hope they will rebuild.”

Photo Credit: Robert Schumitzky

Carl shared, “This makes me really sad! Honestly! Seeing our former home in flames this morning in the newspaper hit me hard. Like John Evans intimated, so much of our, of my, history with Pacific Symphony was born in that Church. My first meeting and rehearsal with the Orchestra: Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, Mozart! I can still hear the words of Lou (Spisto, first Executive Director) introducing me to the Orchestra. I see the faces of the musicians so clearly. Mahler’s Eighth was rehearsed in that Church!

“So many memories!” Carl continued, “So many moments of great music making all mixed in with the aroma of over and re-used grease from French fries wafting into the Church from the fast food restaurant on the corner. Playing on a slanted floor. And then there was the Saturday morning Mariachi Bands on the Santa Ana streets blending in with the Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth, creating a musical cornucopia, a sound collage Charles Ives would have loved! Maybe, Gustav would have too? Oh, and then there were the rats scurrying overhead in the rafters adding delicate percussion notes to Debussy’s ‘La Mer.’ Sharing our home with the OC Crazies improv theater troupe somehow made it all seem really normal.”

Jim Medvetz, former vice president of strategic planning and special projects for Pacific Symphony, also shared some memories of his time at the old Santa Ana location. “What a tragedy! This building was the first place Pacific Symphony could call ‘home.’ Not the best acoustics by far, even with some effort by an acoustician to improve the situation, but the orchestra had a consistent space to rehearse which helped provide some stability to artistic preparation. So many great performances were rehearsed there.”

“It was quite an amazing building,” Jim continued, “All wood construction and was one of only several large buildings in Santa Ana the survived the famous 1933. earthquake. The Symphony had it as its home for 20 years – until the opening of the Concert Hall. So much of the major evolution of the Orchestra occurred there. Too many tales to tell. While it is physically reduced to rubble and ashes we fortunately have many pictures of the old building with the ‘Pacific Symphony Center’ marquee emblazoned on it. So much history, so much music, so much time spent there – lives on in our memories. A time well spent.”

Here is some official video of this sudden and immense fire, via Twitter.

#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