June 1st, 2006

PERFORMANCES It is our reward that we have the opportunity to watch so many artistic events on stages across Orange County. Young talented people come from all walks of life to perform in varied venues. Because talent does not take sides, each one of them achieves different levels of perfection. As we look forward to their achievements we can look back at a now-famous star who began her profession as a young girl on stage in Laguna Beach.

ÝÝI Dream of Jeannie came to life at the recent Laguna Playhouse Gala. The famous ìJeannie,î Barbara Eden, took her ìSentimental Journeyî as the Playhouse honored her for her extraordinary achievements as a performer and for her generous humanitarian work. Many years ago, a 20th Century Fox producer spotted her on stage at the Laguna Playhouse and signed her to a contract. That young girl went on to become our favorite ìJeannie,î among the many roles she has performed. OC attendees at the gala included Rick and Wendy Aversano, Sid and Nancy Petersen, Laguna Beach Mayor Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider and Laguna Playhouse board president Andrew Donchak. Larry and Sophie Hall CripeÝwere honored as major supporters of the Playhouse.

ÝÝThree-hundred young, artistically gifted high-school students from the Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA) will take the stage at the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Sunday, June 4 to showcase their talent. Student performances and works of art from each of the schoolís 11 conservatory programs will be featured. By the way, OCHSAís Symphony Orchestra has just returned from performances at The Church of St. Paul the Apostle and at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Now, thatís a pretty heady experience.

ÝÝSaint Joseph Ballet will showcase nearly 200 spirited dancers ages 9 to 18 years, as well as the members of newly formed Alumni Dance Company, in its 23rd Annual Concert at The Barclay Theatre June 1 to 4. In her first year with the company, artistic director Melanie RÌos GlaserÝorganized the Alumni Company and created a new work called ìBy leaps and bounds,î which will debut at the concert. Explains RÌos Glaser, ìIt is through this process that self discovery, transformation, and play create a journey for our studentsÖand build trust and a spirit of collaboration especially considering that these alumni performers live separate and independent lives.î

PROFILESÝBaroque music expresses the fundamental order of the universe. Yet it is always lively and tuneful. ìPerhaps some of the elements that are attractive to modern audiences are the dramatic dynamic effects, surprising harmonic changes, and virtuoso brilliance that was demanded of players and singers,î explains Dr. Burton Karson, artistic director of the Baroque Music Festival in Corona del Mar. The festival will offer five concerts in eight days, June 18 to 25.

ÝÝDr. Karson talks about the art form, explaining that ìComposers of the period invented great and memorable tunes, loved constant beats, above which often were complex rhythms and off-beats, plus inventive variations on themesómuch as in jazz. ìBaroque,î he explains, ìis applied to the style of the arts from the 17th and early 18th centuries. In the visual arts, one sees vivid colors and dramatic contrast between light and dark, realism and aristocratic versus bucolic and folksy styles. In music, one hears much contrast between instrumental and vocal timbres, high-low pitches, loud-soft levels, and musical textures.

ÝÝThe differences between sacred music for church and secular for court/concert hall/home were slight. Masses often sounded like operas with florid arias and fugal choruses, and church sonatas contained dance-like movements, thus providing religious entertainment that was dramatically different from the somewhat more restrained church music prior to this period.

ÝÝThere were political overtones to many of the compositions that often were created for specific occasions to please royal, noble, or ecclesiastical patrons like Handelís Water Music and Bachís Birthday Cantatas or for public celebrations of battles or wars won by famous or royal leaders. Even Johann Sebastian Bach sent his fabulous Brandenburg Concertos to a Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg, from Berlin in order to gain a court position and perhaps his greatest composition, the B-Minor Mass, was put together with the intention of gaining a court appointment from the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.î

ÝÝThe festival orchestra is made up of ìperiodî instruments, many of which actually are antiques from the Baroque period, and others that are remarkable modern historical duplications that exhibit a resulting sound that is exactly what 18th century audiences would have heard.

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POSTINGSÝThe Laguna College of Art & Design presents its classic Collectorís Choice Dinner & Auction on June 10. This festive summer evening features a fine-art raffle and auction. Guests energetically compete for the artworks contributed by local and regional professional artists.

ÝÝMission San Juan Capistrano brings us six ìMusic Under the Starsî evening concerts from June 24 to September 2. The concerts feature live music, including Big Band, Latin, Motown, R&B, Swing, and Top 40, in the beautiful Mission courtyard. First up is the Max BishopÝOrchestra with that great Big Band sound.

ÝÝPack up your firecrackers. The celebration is upcoming. The Pacific Symphony begins its 19th annual Summer Festival with the ìJuly 4th Extravaganza,î featuring the American Tenors.

ÝÝThrough programs offered in collaboration with more than 30 hospitals, treatment facilities, and non-profit agencies, Art & Creativity for Healing has facilitated ìArt for Healingî guided fine-art workshops for over 10,000 children and adults in the Southern California region since 2000. The Zagon Method of Art & Creativity for Healing was originally developed by Laurie ZagonÝin New York City in 1987 as a workshop designed to help busy Wall Street executives deal with stress. Laurieís organization raised $67,000 at a recent gala here in Orange County. Those funds will go to offer painting classes and workshops free of charge to OC children and adults suffering from abuse, illness, grief, or stress.

ÝÝThe UC Irvine School of Medicine and the Susan SamueliÝCenter for Integrative Medicine presented the 4th Annual Womenís Wellness Day and Health Expo recently. Featured keynote speakers spoke on the subjects of the health of the brain, eating light, and the cellulite solution. The Center focuses on scientific research and education in the areas of complementary and alternative medicine‚‚‚and on the scientific study and education in areas of health care, lifestyle factors, and mind/body factors.

ÝÝSeen in the crowd were Dr. Daniel G. Amen, Dr. Christine Horner, Dr. Howard Murad, and Cynthia Graff. Our healthy table hostess, Donna Phelps, gathered her friends and family around for the healthy luncheon: Claudia Sommers Marks, Whitney Mandel, Dr. Michelle Phelps Hawkins (Donnaís daughter), JoAnn Kreun, Pat Lane, Patricia Ellis, Jerri Dwan, Melanie Loox, and Nancy Fussell.

ÝÝBallet Pacifica recently appointed Evelyn Cisneros-Legate as academy director after Ethan Steifel resigned from his position as artistic director in April 2006. Cisneros-Legate was one of the best-known principal dancers at the San Francisco Ballet during her 23 years there. The NutcrackerÝwill have 21 performances by Ballet Pacifica at Irvine Barclay Theatre in December 2005.

ÝÝItís not all about mummies, Asian torques, Egyptian materialism, or tribal beauty at the Bowers Museum of Art. Thereís ìSunday at the Movies with Michael Berlin,î and the upcoming jazz series in the courtyard. On June 23, listen to the lively Jennifer YorkÝQuartet Straightójazz with a contemporary edge. Stay cool in June with intellectual stuff and a little night music.