May 4th, 2006

PERFORMANCES At any given moment, anyone interested can be privy to an assortment of arts and culture in Orange County, which speaks of the multiplicity of our community. From solo percussionists to dazzling high school performers to local playwrights and magicians to a provocative chanteuse and a brilliant violinist, there is constant culture around us. Those people populate our stages giving us a beautiful side of life. Youll find them on stage, at gala events, behind the curtain, and popping into our world with a magic that represents their very being.

Grammy-winning, eclectic percussionist Evelyn Glennie performed in O.C. recently. She is profoundly deaf. Yet, Glennie is the first person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist. At a recent Pacific Symphony League luncheon Dr. Robert Cutietta, dean of the USC Thornton School of Music, interviewed Glennie. It is a rare experience to hear musicians speak so articulately about their life and particularly exciting to hear this deaf woman discuss her music and her experiences commissioning more than 100 new works.

At the recent Orange County School of Performing Arts Carnivale! Gala, young (12 to 16 year old) musicians, singers, and dancers looked and acted very much like Broadway and Hollywood stars. These kids performed before an audience of worshiping parents and generous patrons. The gala saluted Paul and Daranne Folino, the auction raised close to $600,000, and Ralph Opacic, OCHSAs president and executive director, danced and sang before the crowd. He, too, is talented!

The Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation is raising money for the renovation of the 1928 Balboa Theater to transform it into a 320-seat multi-use venue for the presentation of music, dance, theater, film, and arts education programs. As part of its first in a series of upcoming events, Newport Beach playwright Christopher Trela and Costa Mesa actress Della Lisi will combine the art of theater with the science behind magic and illusion. Presented May 13 in collaboration with the Newport Beach Public Library, The Science of Magic is an official presentation of the 2006 Imagination Celebration of Orange County.

And then there is French chanteuse Morganne, who performed at Irvine Barclay Theatres April in Paris Jade Award recognition gala. Called Hollywoods Divine Diva, she sang throughout dinner on the Barclays gorgeously decorated stage, transported into a music-filled turn-of-the-century Parisian bistro. David Pytott represented the Allergan Foundation. Dr. William Parker, UCI, and David Ritchie of the Wells Fargo Foundation were honored.

Hidden behind a huge music center in Costa Mesa is a little black box theater. There, 21-year-old violinist Sergey Khachatryan performed a profoundly sweet and sensitive concert on his 1708 Huggins Stradivarius. The young Khachatryan is experiencing a major ascent in the music world as he shares the stage with prestigious international orchestras. His performance with his sister Lusine was wholly captivating. Young, already a dramatic virtuoso.

While these artists perform on stage with fanfare, other artistsof the visual artscreate in solitude. Usually they are holed up in their paint-splattered studios and only emerge for a gallery show or two. Every once in a while they come out to join Laguna Beachs First Thursdays Art Walk and meet their adoring public. Often these artists, who welcome visitors on these special nights, meet other artists who create in a similar or a totally different style. It is this camaraderie with other artists that allows them to reap the rewards of their hard labor.

Marion Meyer, former president of Art Walk, explains: People come to Art Walk from Los Angeles and San Diego for a variety of reasons. Some because they are curious about the galleries, some are shopping, some come just for a festive atmosphere. Adds Robin Fuld, director of J. Kamin Fine Art in Laguna, Other cities have tried to replicate it without much success. The galleries have something for everyone: price range, styles, oil painting, watercolor, sculpture, and photography. Our artists are national, international, and local.

Distant from local visual artists creating in remote studios, Carl St. Clair, music director of the Pacific Symphony, knows about exhilarating standing ovations before crowds of adoring fans. He and the orchestra have returned from the first-ever European tour glowing with the critical acclaim. Our recent tour to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria surpassed all my dreams and expectations, the maestro raves. To share stages in some of the most important musical cities in the world with my colleagues of the Pacific Symphony was exhilarating. The orchestra was applauded each and every evening by very discerning audiences and were lauded unanimously by the critical community. To recap words from the review of our concert in the Philharmonic in Cologne, The orchestra was electrifying. It was truly a major step forward in establishing the orchestras importance here at home, nationally, and, now, internationally.

PROFILES When Bonnie Brittain Hall steps up to the microphone, you will hear all about the importance of supporting artists and the arts. As executive director of Arts Orange County, Hall coordinates the Orange County Arts Awards. She speaks to the issue of corporate involvement with the arts. Corporations want to be associated with the arts in order to be good citizens of the communities in which they live and do business. Corporate giving/generosity in our community helps to set those businesses apart. According to Hall, The 12 winning businesses this year collectively allocated an average of 46 and a half percent of their total philanthropic dollars to the arts.

Kirwan Rockefeller, Ph.D., is director, Arts & Humanities Continuing Education, at the University of California, Irvine. He is also chair of the Newport Beach Arts Commission. As such, he and the commission members advise the City Council on all artistic, aesthetic, and cultural aspects of the city. Rockefeller believes that the arts are critical to our emotional health. Art isnt just something nice and pretty to pass the time with or while away the hours. The arts are critical to our well being as humans, since the arts speak to the deepest parts of what make us humanour emotions, dreams, visions, and aspirations. The arts help us make sense of our place in the world, feed our soul, stretch the imagination of children, entertain and enlighten us. The arts cut across all socioeconomic strata of society and bring us together as a people. Try to imagine a world without Shakespeare, film, music, color, laughter, design, dancewed all be living a drab life of black and white. Try to imagine Paris without the Eiffel Tower (a public art installation), Egypt without the pyramids, or Florence without Michelangelos David. Great cultures, societies, and nations are always remembered for their human and artistic contributions.

POSTINGS It is a stunning sight to see the Ocean Institutes tall ship, the historic Spirit of Dana Point, flying in the wind off the shores of Southern California. The Institutes Pyrate Adventure Sails completes that thrill as historical characters in costume introduce guests to the Golden Age of Sail.

Imagination Celebration, an annual spring festival of the arts for children, teenagers, and families, is presented by Arts Orange County and the Orange County Department of Education. More than 50 events in 20 O.C. cities will provide children with a series of professional performances, visual-art exhibitions, and student showcases, theater, dance, music, and film through May 21.