The Pacific Symphony is a
symphony orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
located in
Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
. The orchestra performs at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall as a part of the
Segerstrom Center for the Arts Segerstrom may refer to
*Segerström (surname)
*C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, a real estate company in Orange County, California, U.S.
*Segerstrom Center for the Arts, a performing arts complex in Costa Mesa, California, U.S.
*Segerstrom High School in S ...
in
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...
. From 1987 to 2016, the orchestra's Summer Festival concerts took place at the
Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre (formerly known as Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre) was an amphitheater operating from 1981-2016 in Irvine, California. The venue was built in 1980 funded by four local private investors under the Irvine Meadows Partners ...
in
Irvine, California
Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...
.
Since 1990,
Carl St.Clair
Carl Ray St.Clair (born June 5, 1952) is an American conductor.
Early life and education
Born in Hochheim, Texas, St.Clair went to school in Yoakum, Texas, and graduated from Yoakum High School. He attended the University of Texas and later s ...
has been the orchestra's
music director
A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...
.
History
Keith Clark, music director: 1979-1988
Early years
Pacific Symphony was founded in 1979 by
Keith Clark, who was a former student-assistant conductor of
Roger Wagner
Roger Wagner, KCSG (January 16, 1914 – September 17, 1992) was an American choral musician, administrator and educator. He founded the Roger Wagner Chorale, which became one of America's premier vocal ensembles.
Early life
Wagner was born in L ...
at the
Los Angeles Master Chorale
The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional chorus in Los Angeles, California, and one of the resident companies of both The Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one of the t ...
,
and the principal guest conductor of the
Vienna Chamber Orchestra
The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus.
History
The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, Pa ...
. Clark began with the orchestra in his home kitchen in
Fullerton, California
Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617.
Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...
with a grant of $2,000 and personal appeals to local musicians.
The musicians who comprised the orchestra were mainly professional freelance musicians from Southern California who performed in the area's movie studios, universities, and other regional performing arts organizations. Many of these musicians were also former concertmasters, associate concertmasters, and players from prominent orchestras, including the
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...
,
Detroit Symphony
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music ...
, and
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...
.
Clark became the orchestra's first music director.
Pacific Symphony's first performance was in December 1979, at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, California. By 1981, the orchestra played its concerts at the "Good Time Theater" at
Knott's Berry Farm
Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...
to a fanbase of 3,000 people. In 1983, the orchestra moved its concerts to the
Santa Ana High School auditorium, made its first recording, and hired a full-time manager. In the same year, they performed for their first time at the
Music Center of Los Angeles County
The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion ...
as part of the City of Los Angeles' bicentennial celebrations.
James Chute, in a commentary for the ''
Orange County Register
''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digital Fiest/Media News subsidiaries. ...
'', wrote:
" e orchestra's growth continued, as Clark's programs at Santa Ana High School offered an engaging mixture of old and new works, especially American works. The ensemble's recordings of music by Copland, Barber, Ives and Harris were enthusiastically received, while its American music programs attracted large audiences by offering apple pie at intermission and world premieres by respected American composers such as Donald Erb."
Financial problems and Clark's ouster
In 1986, the orchestra became one of the resident companies at the new
Orange County Performing Arts Center
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
* Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...
and gave its first concerts there in October of that same year. Originally, the Center had refused residency to the orchestra, citing elitism from the Pacific Symphony in regards to its membership. However, the Center eventually relented and granted the Pacific Symphony - as well as other regional arts organizations - residency, largely due to Clark's continued lobbying efforts.
This move led to a substantial increase in its fanbase, but also a doubling of the orchestra's budget. Consequently, the orchestra soon experienced financial difficulties, which was heightened by their loss of funding from the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
.
In June 1987, the orchestra hired Louis Spisto, a marketing director of the
Pittsburgh Symphony
The ''Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra'' (''PSO'') is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District, Pittsburgh, Cultural District.
History
The Pittsburgh Sy ...
, as its new executive director. Within months, Clark and Spisto began to clash. Prior to Spisto's arrival, Clark had already developed a difficult reputation with some of the orchestra's board of directors and the orchestra's four prior executive directors, all of whom had resigned after relatively short tenures (one as short as six weeks).
James Chute, writing in the ''
Orange County Register
''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digital Fiest/Media News subsidiaries. ...
'', described the situation:
"The standard of a respectable Clark performance seemed to be that he was prepared and that he didn't get lost. Occasionally he went further, as he did most recently in a Jan. 21, 1988 program of Prokofiev's "Ivan the Terrible" and Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov." But too often, Clark's performances sounded more like readings than interpretations, and sometimes bad readings, such as his Oct. 2, 1986 opening concert in the center, which was drubbed by critics. The opposition to Clark, within the orchestra, according to musicians, has been vociferous but only talked about privately. Most musicians, essentially employed at Clark's pleasure, have no job security in the Pacific Symphony and those who invoked his displeasure have, according to musicians, been pulled arbitrarily from concerts."
In October 1987, Clark signed a one-year contract, giving him a substantial pay raise while also establishing an artistic review process that the board would use to determine the renewal of the contract.
By February 1988, Spisto helped to engineer a vote by the orchestra's board on whether or not to renew Clark's contract as music director through the end of his existing contract. In a vote of 12–11, the board voted against retaining Clark; three days later, Clark tendered his resignation, to take effect at the end of the 1988–89 season.
Interregnum: 1988-1990
Clark's last season and the orchestra's subsequent abandonment of his legacy
Keith Clark continued to conduct the orchestra through its 1988–1989 season. As part of the terms of his resignation, he was given nine months of severance pay and he still maintained the power to hire and fire musicians at his sole discretion. "I will continue as music director in every sense of that word," Clark said.
New musician's contract
During this time the orchestra and Spisto began a transformational period, with aspirations of attaining "world-class" status. The orchestra's first move was to sign the musicians to a traditional orchestra contract, complete with tenure rights in line with typical
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...
agreements. While critics frequently assailed Clark's podium leadership, the musicians themselves were given much credit. Establishing tenure helped to give the orchestra a more stable reputation.
"Tenure will put to rest the notion that this is a pick-up orchestra," Spisto said. "It will also give the players a sense of security and a better understanding that they are a major part of our future."
Search for a new music director
In May 1988,
Kazimierz Kord
Kazimierz Kord (18 November 1930 – 29 April 2021) was a Polish conductor. Between 1949 and 1955, he studied piano at the Leningrad Conservatory. He also studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków.
He held major conducting positions with the ...
, the then music director of the
Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra
The Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra ( pl, Orkiestra Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie) is a Polish orchestra based in Warsaw. Founded in 1901, it is one of Poland's oldest musical institutions.
History
The orchestra was conceived on ...
, was named Principal Guest Conductor and Music Advisor for the 1989–1990 season.
During this time the orchestra also began its search for a permanent music director. Some established conductors, including:
Lawrence Foster
Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. He is currently the artistic director and chief conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the music director of the Marseille Opera and the ...
,
Sergiu Comissiona
Sergiu Comissiona (June 16, 1928 – March 5, 2005) was a Romanian-Israelis, Israeli-Americans, American Conducting, conductor and violinist.
Biography
Early life
Born in Bucharest, Romania in a Jewish family, he began violin studies at the ag ...
,
Zdeněk Mácal
Zdeněk Mácal (; born 8 January 1936) is a Czech people, Czech Conducting, conductor.
Mácal was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and began violin lessons with his father at the age of four. He later attended the Brno Conservatory and the Janáč ...
, and
Stuart Challender, were considered along with lesser known names, such as
Christopher Seaman, Richard Buckley,
Vakhtang Jordania
Vakhtang Jordania ( ka, ვახტანგ ჟორდანია; born 9 December 1943, Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union – 4 October 2005, Broadway, Virginia, United States) was a Georgian conductor.
Biography
Born in the Soviet repu ...
,
Toshiyuki Shimada
is a Japanese-born American orchestral conductor. He is Music Director of both the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra in New London, CT; the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes in Corning, NY; and the New Britain Symphony Orchestra. H ...
, and
Carl St.Clair
Carl Ray St.Clair (born June 5, 1952) is an American conductor.
Early life and education
Born in Hochheim, Texas, St.Clair went to school in Yoakum, Texas, and graduated from Yoakum High School. He attended the University of Texas and later s ...
. Kord repeatedly said that despite his new titled position, he was not a candidate.
The board originally wanted a strong musician that would also be willing to spend significant time with the greater Orange County community.
Zdeněk Mácal
Zdeněk Mácal (; born 8 January 1936) is a Czech people, Czech Conducting, conductor.
Mácal was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and began violin lessons with his father at the age of four. He later attended the Brno Conservatory and the Janáč ...
was considered a front-runner, as he was a resident nearby in
Laguna Niguel
Laguna Niguel () is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The name Laguna Niguel is derived from the words "Laguna" (Spanish for "lagoon") and "Niguili" (the name of a Native American village once located near Aliso Creek). As of ...
in addition to being a conductor with a strong resume. However, by that time he already had a number of other positions to his name, and his busy schedule was thought to be a likely deterrent. Mácal pulled himself out of the running before the 1989–90 season began.
In December 1989, the orchestra offered
Lawrence Foster
Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. He is currently the artistic director and chief conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the music director of the Marseille Opera and the ...
- the odds-on favorite - the position of music director. Foster accepted, in principle. Contract negotiations began, and Foster began planning his schedule and the orchestra's programs for the coming years. However, in February 1990, Foster revealed that the offer had been rescinded, largely due to concerns about his salary and level of commitment:
"I gave them a total package," Foster said. "I was given to understand that the board regarded it as too exorbitant." ... "I am brokenhearted," he added. "From the very beginning I became extremely excited about the project... But that is their right. It is their organization. I can't do anything about it." . . . "Besides the salary issue, Foster said, "There was some distrust about my commitment to building the orchestra, that I am regarded as a European person and would not be sufficiently committed here."
"I think they wanted more time, but it was impossible with my family commitments and my other activities," Foster said. "And I told them I wasn't able to move to Orange County. With my work in Europe, that would have been impossible. But my wife and I had gotten so excited about the possibility that we were considering moving back to the United States in a couple of years, to New York, so we could be midway between Southern California and Europe."
The news of the orchestra's decision to pull Foster's offer came on the heels of
Carl St.Clair
Carl Ray St.Clair (born June 5, 1952) is an American conductor.
Early life and education
Born in Hochheim, Texas, St.Clair went to school in Yoakum, Texas, and graduated from Yoakum High School. He attended the University of Texas and later s ...
's debut with the orchestra on January 31 and February 1. By all accounts, the concerts went well; despite changes in programs, concert soloists, and concertmasters, his conducting was well received by musicians, board, and audience alike. Moreover, he had indicated a willingness to move to Orange County and seemed enthusiastic about being a part of the county's burgeoning arts and cultural scene.
On February 26, 1990, the orchestra named
Carl St.Clair
Carl Ray St.Clair (born June 5, 1952) is an American conductor.
Early life and education
Born in Hochheim, Texas, St.Clair went to school in Yoakum, Texas, and graduated from Yoakum High School. He attended the University of Texas and later s ...
as its second music director, effective October 1 of that year.
Carl St.Clair, Music Director: 1990-present
Carl St.Clair has been music director with the Symphony for several years. He has been recognized for his musically distinguished performances, his commitment to building outstanding educational programs, and his innovative approaches to programming. Among his creative endeavors are: the vocal initiative, “Symphonic Voice”; the creation of a series of multimedia concerts featuring inventive formats called “Music Unwound”; and the highly acclaimed American Composers Festival. In 2013–14, the Symphony launched the music festival //Wavelength//, blending contemporary music and Symphony musicians in unique collaborations.
St.Clair led the orchestra's historic 2006-2007 move into its home in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at
Segerstrom Center for the Arts Segerstrom may refer to
*Segerström (surname)
*C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, a real estate company in Orange County, California, U.S.
*Segerstrom Center for the Arts, a performing arts complex in Costa Mesa, California, U.S.
*Segerstrom High School in S ...
. The move came on the heels of the landmark 2005–06 season that included St.Clair leading the Symphony on its first European tour—nine cities in three countries playing before capacity houses and receiving extraordinary responses and reviews.
From 2008 to 2010, St.Clair was general music director for the
Komische Oper
The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal tra ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, where he led successful new productions such as
La Traviata
''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...
(directed by
Hans Neuenfels
Hans Neuenfels (; 31 May 1941 – 6 February 2022) was a German writer, poet, film producer, librettist, theatre director, opera director and theatre manager. As a director, he first focused on drama, staged at prominent houses such as the Vien ...
). He also served as general music director and chief conductor of the German National Theater and Staatskapelle (GNTS) in
Weimar, Germany
Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg an ...
, where he led Wagner's Ring Cycle to critical acclaim. He was the first non-European to hold this position at the GNTS; the role also gave him the distinction of simultaneously leading one of the newest orchestras in America and one of the oldest in Europe.
In 2014, St.Clair became music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
. He was the principal guest conductor of the
Radio Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart from 1998 to 2004, where he completed a three–year recording project of the Villa–Lobos symphonies. He has also appeared with orchestras in Israel, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South America, and summer festivals worldwide.
In North America, St.Clair has led the
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
, (where he served as assistant conductor for several years),
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
,
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...
,
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...
and the San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver symphonies.
A strong advocate of music education for all ages, St.Clair has been essential to the creation and implementation of the Symphony's education programs. These include Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles, Sunday Connections, OC Can You Play With Us, arts-X-press and Class Act.
New music
Pacific Symphony focuses on developing and promoting both young and established composers while expanding the orchestral repertoire. Its focus on new works is illustrated by the Symphony's commissions and recordings, as well as in-depth explorations of American artists and themes at the American Composer Festival and the Young American Composers Competition. The Symphony's support for new compositions has been recognized and rewarded by the ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming in both 2005 and 2010.
Recordings
The 2013–14 season saw the continuation of a recent slate of recordings that began with two newly released
CDs
The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...
in 2012-13 featuring two of today's leading composers,
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
’ “The Passion of Ramakrishna” and
Michael Daugherty
Michael Kevin Daugherty (born April 28, 1954) is an American composer, pianist, and teacher. He is influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Daugherty's notable works include his Superman comic book-inspired ''Metropolis Sym ...
's “Mount Rushmore,” both the result of works commissioned and performed by the Symphony, with three more recordings due to be released over the next few years. These feature the music of Symphony-commissioned works by
William Bolcom
William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...
, “Songs of Lorca” and “Prometheus,”
James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, music producer and keyboardist. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores ...
's “I Would Plant a Tree” and
Richard Danielpour
Richard Danielpour (born January 28, 1956) is an American composer.
Early life
Danielpour was born in New York City of Persian Jewish descent and grew up in New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida. He studied at Oberlin College and the New E ...
's “Toward a Season of Peace.” The Symphony has also commissioned and recorded “
An American Requiem
An American Requiem is a choral work by composer James DeMars.Trey Graham, "The Washington Post," August 5, 1995.
Following the 1992 Los Angeles riots subsequent to the Rodney King trial, Dr. James DeMars, a professor of Music Composition at A ...
,” by Danielpour, and Elliot Goldenthal's “Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio” with
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma (''Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...
. Other recordings have included collaborations with such composers as Lucas Foss and Toru Takemitsu. It has also commissioned such leading composers as Paul Chihara, Daniel Catán, William Kraft, Ana Lara, Tobias Picker, Christopher Theofanidis, Frank Ticheli and Chen Yi.
Symphonic Voices
“Symphonic Voices”, an initiative to reintroduce opera to Orange County, was inspired by St.Clair's career as an opera conductor in Europe. The initiative began with the successful debut of a concert production of
Giacomo Puccini's “La Bohème" in 2012, followed by Puccini's “Tosca" in 2013, in 2014, with
Giuseppe Verdi's “La Traviata", and in 2015 with
Georges Bizet's
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...
“Carmen". The entire orchestra is usually present onstage during these productions, which have featured the Pacific Chorale and renowned opera stars.
Innovation and Music Unwound
For five years in a row, the symphony offered three new innovative Music Unwound programs, designed to contextualize and enhance the musical experience. This series of enhanced concerts, underwritten by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, continues to deliver creative new formats and thematic programming as part of the concert experience. By creating contextual backdrops, Pacific Symphony endeavors to give the audience a better understanding and the music deeper meaning. In 2010, a study by the League of American Orchestras, “Fearless Journeys,” included the Symphony as one of the country's five most innovative orchestras.
Education and community engagement
Pacific Symphony provides various education 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 American Symphony Orchestra League.
In addition to the
Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra
With its debut in 1993, the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PSYO) became the first educational program of Pacific Symphony and is now one of four youth orchestras in the Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles (PSYE) program. Pacific Symphony Youth Orc ...
, in 2007–08, St.Clair added to the list of programs the Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble and Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings, and in the summer of 2012, added the Santa Ana Strings. The Pacific Symphony Youth Concert Band was launched in 2022. Other community engagement programs include arts-X-press, OC Can You Play With Us, and Strings for Generations.
Music directors
*1979-1988:
Keith Clark
*1990–present:
Carl St.Clair
Carl Ray St.Clair (born June 5, 1952) is an American conductor.
Early life and education
Born in Hochheim, Texas, St.Clair went to school in Yoakum, Texas, and graduated from Yoakum High School. He attended the University of Texas and later s ...
Principal pops conductors
*1989-1990:
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''.
Early life
Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) a ...
*1991–present: Richard Kaufman
Principal guest conductors
*1989-1990:
Kazimierz Kord
Kazimierz Kord (18 November 1930 – 29 April 2021) was a Polish conductor. Between 1949 and 1955, he studied piano at the Leningrad Conservatory. He also studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków.
He held major conducting positions with the ...
Assistant/Associate conductors
*2002-2008: Michael Hall
*2009–2012: Maxim Eshkenazy
*2012-2015: Alejandro Gutierrez
*2015-2020: Roger Kalia
*2020–present: Jacob Sustaita
*2021–present: Manuel Ixtacuay
References
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
Musical groups from Orange County, California
Musical groups established in 1978
Orchestras based in California