California’s Budget is in the Red – Its Arts Programs are Black and Blue
Just two scant years ago, California was sitting plush with a $97 billion budget surplus. The state budget for 2022-23 was a healthy $307 billion and funded a long list...
July 1, 2024
Choral Arts Initiative Premiere | Project Festival Supports Innovations in Composition
Twelve composers will join the Choral Arts Initiative for a three-day festival to develop new work, culminating in a concert with 12 world premieres.
June 17, 2024
Suitors Become Owners of the Old/New Wayfarer
The new Wayfarer owners have a long, personal history with the Costa Mesa music and dining venue that they hope to build on.
June 5, 2024
Summer Preview: A Look at the Best in OC Arts and Culture
We’ve made it past Memorial Day weekend, so what does that mean? The summer season has officially begun! So instead of falling back on the usual, conventional options – movies,...
May 29, 2024
A Look at the First Year of Pacific Symphony’s Search for a New Leader
Several trends in the orchestral world raise the stakes as conductors vie for a coveted position.
May 27, 2024
Tianyi Lu Leads Pacific Symphony in a Singing Account of Sibelius
REVIEW: The young conductor from New Zealand makes a big impression in the composer’s Second Symphony, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.
May 17, 2024
Classical Music is Booming. Theater? Not So Much.
We look at what ails theater, still struggling to recover four years after the pandemic.
May 10, 2024
The City of Irvine and Orange County Music & Dance Celebrate Groundbreaking of New Performing Arts Complex
The sun shone as brightly as the pristine golden shovels Tuesday afternoon at the groundbreaking for two new cultural facilities in Irvine’s Great Park. Last month the city of Irvine...
May 8, 2024
A Former Percussionist Sings the Praises of Pacific Chorale
Pacific Chorale’s new leader made a mid-career switch from instrumental to vocal music with no regrets. Rhett M. Del Campo, the new president and CEO of Pacific Chorale, was a...
May 1, 2024
Víkingur Ólafsson’s Extraordinary Goldberg Year
The Icelandic pianist has devoted 88 concerts to Bach’s keyboard masterpiece, and nothing else. Most concert pianists in the midst of their careers follow a familiar path: performing the warhorse...
April 29, 2024
Shiyeon Sung Leads Pacific Symphony in Impressive Performance of Tchaikovsky
REVIEW: The Korean conductor, the first woman to try out for the orchestra’s music directorship, exhibits authority and intelligence. Shiyeon Sung became the first woman conductor this season to try...
April 26, 2024
Great Park Arts Campus is Finally Taking Shape
After years of planning and negotiations, the Cultural Terrace is a step closer to reality. The city of Irvine has greenlighted construction for two tenants of the Great Park’s dedicated...
April 12, 2024
