Core Purpose

Pacific Symphony enriches the human spirit through superior performances of symphonic music and community engagement.

History

Pacific Symphony, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2008-09, is the largest orchestra formed in the United States in the last 40 years. Recognized as an outstanding ensemble making strides on both the national and international scene as well as in its own burgeoning cultural community of Orange County, Calif., the orchestra launches a significant and celebratory season in 2009-2010. The season - a milestone year for Music Director Carl St.Clair, who marks his 20th anniversary with the orchestra - includes inventive, forward-thinking projects including the launch of a new series of multi-media concerts called "Music Unwound," featuring new visual elements, varied formats and more to highlight great masterworks.

In addition to classical music, Principal Pops Conductor Richard Kaufman leads a spectacular Pops season in 2009-10 - one of the most elaborate ever, starring some of the world's leading entertainers and enhanced by a state-of-the-art high-definition video and sound system. Each season also includes a three-concert chamber music series and "Classical Connections," which offers an intimate exploration of selected works hosted by St.Clair. And rising star Assistant Conductor Maxim Eshkenazy brings a new energy to the highly popular Family series - featuring holiday favorites and a number of new concert programs designed for families - as well as the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra.

It was at the start of the 2006-07 season that the orchestra first moved into the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, an acoustical gem designed by architect Cesar Pelli with acoustics by the late Russell Johnson. "Pacific Symphony is rising to meet the ambitions of its new home" - The New York Times. In September 2008, the Symphony debuted the hall's stunning new 4,322-pipe William J. Gillespie Concert Organ.

In 2005-06, the Symphony not only made its debut appearance in Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles by special invitation from the League of American Orchestra's 2006 National Conference, but also embarked on its first European tour. Performing in nine cities in three countries, the Symphony received rave reviews - 22 in all - expanding its reach to an international level. Timothy Mangan, classical music critic for The Orange County Register, who accompanied the orchestra on tour, said at the conclusion, "The tour has ended in something very close, or maybe even right on the nose, to triumph. All that happened on tour... showed that this band can really impress."

"Pacific Symphony clearly wanted to be measured against Europe's greatest. And they can be!"-Neue Rhein Zeitung, Dusseldorf, Germany.

The Symphony offers moving musical experiences with repertoire ranging from the great orchestral masterworks to music from today's most prominent composers, highlighted by the annual American Composers Festival. The Wall Street Journal said, "Carl St.Clair, the Pacific Symphony's dynamic music director, has devoted 19 years to building not only the orchestra's skills but also the audience's trust and musical sophistication - so successfully that that they can now present some of the most innovative programming in American classical music to its fast-growing, rapidly diversifying community."

With a vision for the future, the Symphony is dedicated to developing and promoting today's young and established composers and expanding the orchestral repertoire. This commitment to new works is illustrated through the Symphony's commissions and recordings, in-depth explorations of American artists and themes at the American Composers Festival. The Symphony's innovative approaches to introducing new works to audiences received the prestigious ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming in 2005. In 2009, the League of American Orchestras named the Symphony as one of five innovative orchestras to be profiled in an in-depth study.

The orchestra has commissioned such leading composers as Michael Daugherty, James Newton Howard, Paul Chihara, Philip Glass, William Bolcom, Daniel Catán, William Kraft, Tobias Picker, Frank Ticheli and Chen Yi, who composed a cello concerto in 2004 for Yo-Yo Ma. The Symphony has also commissioned and recorded An American Requiem, by Richard Danielpour, on the Reference Recordings label in 2002, and Elliot Goldenthal's Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio with Yo-Yo Ma for SONY Classical.

The Symphony's award-winning education programs are designed to integrate the Symphony and its music into the community in ways that stimulate all ages and form meaningful connections between students and the organization. St.Clair actively participates in the development and execution of these programs. The orchestra's Class Act residency program has been honored as one of nine exemplary orchestra education programs in the nation by the National Endowment for the Arts and the League of American Orchestras. Added to Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra on the list of programs in 2007-08 were Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble and Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings.

The Symphony has played a central role in the phenomenal growth of the performing arts in Orange County. Presenting more than 100 concerts a year and a rich array of education and community programs, the Symphony touches more than 275,000 Orange County residents - from school children to senior citizens. In addition to its winter home, the Symphony presents a summer outdoor series at Irvine's Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, the organization's summer residence since 1987.