Pacific Symphony’s 2022-23 season, announced today, captures many of the currents and concerns that have recently swept through Orange County and the world at large.
While COVID protocols remain in place for Orange County’s major arts organizations, and nobody can predict how long they will endure, the symphony’s 44th season is as robust and wide ranging as any in memory. Beginning in September, 36 concerts are scheduled.
A large list of guest artists includes violinists Dennis Kim and Stefan Jackiw; pianists Jeffrey Biegel, Yefim Bronfman, Claire Huangci, Louie Lortie, Orli Shaham and Conrad Tao; organist Dennis James; cellist Warren Hagerty; and soprano Elissa Johnston.
The organization’s return to normalcy will be celebrated appropriately, with a pre-season concert by pianist Lang Lang in a special performance of Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto on Sunday, Sept. 18. Since his career began in the 1990s, Lang Lang has vaulted to the first rank of classical pianists. He was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and many top American orchestras.
Pacific Symphony will participate in the long-anticipated opening of the Orange County Museum of Art’s new Segerstrom Center structure with a performance of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” in early October. Groundbreaking took place in September 2019 for the 53,000-square-foot museum, which is located next to the symphony’s home, Costa Mesa’s Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
This season marks the beginning of a new composer-in-residence for the symphony, Viet Cuong. The symphony’s opening concert will include Cuong’s “Re(new)al.”
“I could also call him an artist-in-residence because he will be contributing to our musical lives in so many ways,” said Carl St.Clair, the symphony’s music director. “And, as a Vietnamese American, he will help us to engage in new cultural conversations with Orange County’s Vietnamese community, the largest in the world outside of Vietnam itself.”
Other season highlights include world premieres of James MacMillan’s Fiat Lux and John Wineglass’ Violin Concerto and the music of several women composers from outside the U.S., including Mexico’s Gabriela Ortiz, the United Kingdom’s Anna Clyne and Brazil’s Clarice Assad.
St.Clair called the upcoming season “a multicultural mosaic.” Its substantial international programming includes guitarist Milos from Montenegro performing Rodrigo’s famous Concierto de Aranjuez and a work by Polish film composer Wojciech Kilar.
Pacific Symphony president John Forsyte called the new season a “watershed moment” that celebrates a return to regular programming after two tumultuous years of pandemic.
“The resilience of Pacific Symphony is a direct reflection of the affection of this community for its orchestra,” he said. “We are so grateful to all of our patrons and ticket holders who have stayed engaged and supportive.”
Pacific Symphony’s 2022-23 Season:
Sept. 18, 2022: Lang Lang Returns
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Lang Lang, piano
Ravel: Mother Goose – Suite
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2
Mussorgsky (orchestrated by Ravel): “Pictures at an Exhibition”
Sept. 22-24: Beethoven and Bolero
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Dennis Kim, violin
Warren Hagerty, cello
Orli Shaham, piano
Sandbox Percussion
Wagner: Overture to The Flying Dutchman
Beethoven: Triple Concerto
Viet Cuong: “Re(new)al”
Ravel: Boléro
Oct. 20-22: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Claire Huangci, piano
Gabriela Ortiz: “Luz Eólica” from Altar de Viento (“Aeolian Light” from Altar of Wind)
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Oct. 23: Brahms Symphony No. 4
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Nov. 17-19: The Planets
Karen Kamensek, conductor
Stefan Jackiw, violin
Women of Pacific Chorale
Robert Istad, artistic director
Anna Clyne: Pivot
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
Holst: The Planets
Dec. 1-3: Milos Plays Rodrigo
Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
Milos, guitar
Clarice Assad: Sin Fronteras
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
Dec. 4: Handel’s Messiah
Julian Wachner, conductor
Pacific Chorale, Robert Istad, artistic director
Vocal soloists to be announced
Handel: Messiah
Jan. 12-14, 2023: Mahler 9
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Jan. 28, 2023: Lunar New Year
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Feb. 2-4, 2023: Bronfman Plays Schumann
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet
Schumann: Piano Concerto
J. Strauss Jr.: On the Beautiful Blue Danube
Feb. 5, 2023: Romeo & Juliet
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet
Feb. 23-25, 2023: Tchaikovsky & Strauss
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Dennis Kim, violin
R. Strauss: Serenade for Winds
John Wineglass: Violin Concerto (World Premiere) †
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
Feb. 26, 2023: Tchaikovsky’s Fourth
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
March 16-18, 2023: Tao Plays Mozart
Michal Nesterowicz, conductor
Conrad Tao, piano
Kilar: Orawa
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24, K. 491
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3, “Scottish”
April 1, 2023: Nowruz: Iranian New Year
Carl St.Clair, conductor
April 20-25, 2023: Verdi’s Rigoletto
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Cast to be announced
Pacific Chorale, Robert Istad, artistic director
Verdi: Rigoletto
May 11-13, 2023: The Roaring Twenties
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Jeffery Biegel, piano
John Tu and Friends band
Dennis James, organ
Part I:
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Paul Whiteman Band version)
Antheil: A Jazz Symphony (1925 version)
Gershwin: An American in Paris
Additional works to be announced
Part II:
Fox-trot on the Plaza to the sounds of John Tu and Friends band
Part III:
Landmark silent film of the 20s accompanied on the organ by Dennis James
May 14, 2023: The Genius of Gershwin
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Gershwin: An American in Paris
Additional works to be announced
June 1-3, 2023: Grieg Piano Concerto
Teddy Abrams, conductor
Louie Lortie, piano
Teddy Abrams: Overture in Sonata Form
Grieg: Piano Concerto
Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947 version)
June 15-17, 2023: Cathedrals of Sound
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Robert Istad, conductor
Elissa Johnston, soprano
To be announced, baritone
Pacific Chorale, Robert Istad, artistic director
Allegri: Miserere mei, Deus
R. Strauss: Death and Transfiguration
James MacMillan: Fiat Lux (World Premiere)
Paul Hodgins is the founding editor of Arts & Culture at Voice of OC. He can be reached at phodgins@voiceofoc.org.