Entry Deadline May 21st 2012

­ Registration is open for the Ocean Institute’s Art, Science and the Sea summer camp, a program that combines art and science into a three-hour exploration, on July 5 & 6; July 11, 18 & 25; and August 1,8, & 15; programs available for ages 7-12.

The program is based on the Institute’s popular Artist by the Sea for Kids series.  Each day, aspiring young artists work alongside a different featured artist who uses his/her own unique format to introduce a different element of ocean stewardship.  Preceding the art lesson is a hands-on lab that explores each topic in depth.

$35/day, or $60/two days (and material fees, if applicable).  Programs available 9 a.m. – noon & 1 – 4 p.m.  Register online at www.ocean-institute.org or call (949) 496-2274.

Ocean Institute Open to the Public on Weekends – The Ocean Institute is open to the general public on Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.  Weekend visitors can enjoy special seasonal exhibits, as well as hundreds of living ocean animals, and shark and jellyfish feedings.  Cost:  $6.50 adults, $4.50 children ages 3-12.  Or, with the purchase of a membership, a family can enjoy year-round free admission, benefit from member-only events and receive discounts on all other programs.

Visitors can also board one of the Ocean Institute’s sea-going vessels, the state-of-the-art R/V Sea Explorer or the historic tall ship Spirit of Dana Point.  Cruises are an additional charge. For information, visit www.ocean-institute.org.

Founded in 1977, the Ocean Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to ocean preservation through education, setting the standard for educational excellence and serving as a leading resource for universities, museums, teachers and all others seeking to increase their knowledge of the ocean.

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Jim Graves

Mission San Juan Capistrano held its eighth annual Battle of the Mariachis Festival on Saturday, May 12, as a record number of visitors attended the popular event. More than 4,000 enjoyed the Festival, which featured talented mariachi bands from throughout Californiathat competed for cash prizes before a panel of judges. The Festival was made possible thanks to the generous support from the Thomas J. and Erma Jean Tracy Family Foundation.

Battle of the Mariachis Festival winners included: First place: Plaza de la Raza Youth Mariachi, Los Angeles Second place: Mariachi Juvenil Azteca, San Diego Third place: Mariachi Chula Vista, San Diego Honorable Mention: Mariachi Juvenil Mestizo, Delano, CAThomas J Tracy Shining Star: Soloist Matthew Real, Mariachi Juvenil Azteca, San Diego Held in the Mission’s Central Courtyard, festivities began with a welcoming by Mission Executive Director Mechelle Lawrence-Adams and the National Anthem by vocalist Genesis Codina. The historic Mission Bellswere rung in revelry to mark the start of the Festival.

The event was emceed Laura Sobrino, who was first dubbed the "Mariachi Queen" in 1995 by the LosAngeles Times. In 1996, an NBC national morning show featured a segment on her as a pioneer female mariachi and as a positive role model for the new generation of mariachi musicians. This year marked her third appearance as the Festival's emcee.

About Mission San Juan Capistrano:

Known as the “Jewel of the Missions,” Mission San Juan Capistrano is a historic landmark and museum that boasts of quality permanent exhibits featuring original artifacts as well as traveling and temporary exhibits on a wide variety of topics. The site itself serves as a living outdoor museum with original buildings constructed by Native Americans in the 18thcentury including the Serra Chapel, Great Stone Church, and the original padres’ quarters of the South Wing.

The Mission was founded on November 1, 1776 by Padre Junipero Serra as the seventh in the chain of the twenty one California missions established by Spain, and is Orange County’s only mission. Every year, over 50,000 students visit the Mission and engage in an inspirational learning experience via the Mission Matters programming,as part of their State required California history studies. Mission San Juan Capistrano is owned by the Diocese of Orange and is supported by the Mission Preservation Foundation, which is comprised of business and community leaders committed to ensuring the long term preservation and viability of Orange County’s only Mission.

The Mission receives no funding from either the Church or the State of California and charges admission funds as a means of providing public access. Mission San Juan Capistrano is located at 26801 Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675. Open Daily 8:30a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Good Friday afternoon. Admission is $9 adults; $8 seniors(60 years or over); $5 children (ages 4 to 11); and children ages 3 and under are admitted free. Free audio guide with senior and adult admission.

For more information, call (949) 234-1300 or visit www.missionsjc.com.

Joe Haakenson

JUVE Creative, Inc.

The Taming of the Shrew

Shakespearean wit and humor crack the whip on a feisty roaring shrew

By William Shakespeare  |  Directed by Kevin Slay

Shakespeare’s unmistakable wit and humor come into full play as wildly clever characters navigate their way through a sea of comical situations. Hazards and unexpected twists and turns come up along the way, but dowries and disguises are deployed to ensure that each couple arrives together at their proper port. This Shakespearean favorite delights the funny bone as it delivers a message about the inner beauty that can be found in even the most shrewish of shrews.

Lyceum Theater Costa Mesa

on the Vanguard University campus off Newport Boulevard

5 Weeks -- June 8 through July 8, 2012

Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm  |  Sundays at 2:00 pm

Saturday, June 23, 30, July 7 at 2:00 pm

General $20.00  |  Senior/Child/Groups $15.00

Purchase tickets online now at www.ACTCtickets.com

To purchase by phone call 714-619-6424

ACTC is the resident professional theatre company at Vanguard University.

“Like” us on Facebook/ACTCTheatre    |    On Twitter at ACTCTheatre

Bill Hughes  |  Theatre Manager  |  American Coast Theater Company

www.AmericanCoastTheater.org

PSYO spotlights three Concerto Competition winners

Orange County, Calif. Talented and inspiring young musicians of Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PSYO) demonstrate their artistry in a performance of Respighi’s alluring “Pines of Rome,” a shimming portrait of the trees and fountains of the city, for their final concert of the 2011-12 season. Led by Music Director Maxim Eshkenazy, the concert features the three soloists who won PSYO’s 2011 Concerto Competition, Ian Striedter (trombone), David Chang (violin) and Chloe Hong (cello), performing concertos by Grøndahl, Mendelssohn and Dvorák, respectively. Taking place on Sunday, May 13, at 7 p.m., in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, tickets are $18 general admission (without reserved seating), $30 Box Circle. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.

“Our final performance will be very heart-warming,” says Melissa Craig, director of youth ensembles. “It’s our annual recognition of graduating seniors as well as three Concerto Competition soloists. We are highlighting our concerto performers’ artistic excellence as representatives of the many quality musicians we have in PSYO. The ensemble this season has held up to their usual standard of excellence. They always meet a challenge head-on and never cease to succeed.”

The program begins with Striedter performing the upbeat and jazzy Trombone Concerto by Grøndahl, followed by Chang’s rendition of the third movement of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, one of the composer’s most popular and frequently performed pieces. Cellist Hong then shines as she performs the final movement of Dvorák’s Cello Concerto, filled with longing and haunting beauty. The concert concludes with Respighi’s second of a trio of famous orchestral poems on Italian subjects, “Pines of Rome.”

“I have been working on Grøndahl’s Trombone Concerto now for over a year and a half,” says Concerto Competition winner Striedter. “The piece captivated me from the first time I heard it and it just hasn’t let go. Grøndahl’s incredibly challenging and beautiful concerto combines musicality and technicality extremely well. It carries the listener on an intense journey of darkness and light, aggression and tenderness, confidence and sorrow, and countless other emotions that only music can describe.”

Serving as the principal trombone for PSYO, Striedter began his first musical studies at the age of 5 by joining the Southern California Children’s Chorus, where he continued singing until the age of 10. He first discovered the trombone in a fifth-grade band class at Turtle Rock Elementary School and quickly fell in love with the instrument. He currently attends University High School in Irvine and has participated in All-Southern, All-State and All-National honor groups. He plans to continue studying music in college.

“Thanks in large part to the inspiring nature of my experiences in PSYO, I will be attending the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University for my Bachelor of Music degree in Trombone Performance,” says Striedter.

Co-Concertmaster Chang began his violin studies at age 12, and since has won the VOCE music competition, the IKPA competition and has received numerous awards in the Southern Youth Music Festival. Under the guidance of his teacher, Margaret Batjer, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, he gained the opportunity to participate in many summer music festivals and master classes. In 2008, he was soloist with the All-Southern Middle School Honor Orchestra and also performed many times in the Irvine Unified School District honor’s music concerts.

Co-Principal Cellist Hong began her musical journey at the age of 5 playing piano, and by the age of 8 had moved on to cello. Her first solo debut was at the concert “Young Stars of the Future” in 2008 at the age of 11 with the South Coast Symphony. In the same year, she performed with the Montecito Youth Orchestra for the Montecito Music Summer Festival, followed by a third concert, the “Festival of Music,” with the Torrance Symphony Orchestra in 2009, where she performed the Haydn Cello Concerto. In 2010, she received the top prize in the Edith Knox Performance Competition and had the opportunity to perform the full movement of the Elgar Cello Concerto as a soloist with the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra. Hong has performed in Kennedy Hall at Washington, D.C., as well as in New York’s renowned Carnegie Hall with her Junior Chamber Music trio.

“Before I came to PSYO, I was used to performing by myself or in small ensemble groups such as trios or quartets. In an orchestra, you have to play with 50 plus musicians, and PSYO helped me learn how to communicate, listen and perform with others,” says Hong.

PSYO is one of three Youth Ensembles programs offered by Pacific Symphony, which also includes Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble and Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings. Founded in 1993, PSYO has emerged as the premier training orchestra of Orange County, consisting of some of the most talented young musicians (ages 13-18) in the area. The year 2011 marked PSYO’s inaugural tour to Bulgaria—Maestro Eshkenazy’s home country. This 10-day, three-concert tour took the orchestra to Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv where they played three standing-room-only performances. Under the artistic direction and guidance of Pacific Symphony’s Music Director Carl St.Clair, PSYO is quickly being recognized as one of the most outstanding youth orchestras in the country.

In honor of Mother's Day on Sunday, May 13, moms will be treated to free entry to the Aliso Viejo Aquatic Center.

The spectacular facility at 29 Santa Barbara will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Moms will get in free with a paid child admission. The Oasis Cafe will serve up tasty specials from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

During the season, which kicked off May 5, folks can take advantage of the swim team, swim lessons, after-school swim, delicious fare at the Oasis Cafe and much more! Visitors enjoy lap and recreational swim, private pool parties and numerous activities and events.

The Aquatic Center overlooks the golf course near Glenwood and Golf Drive. The center boasts a junior Olympic 5-lane lap pool, recreational pool, children's wading pool, toddler splash pad, adult whirl pool, Oasis Cafe, locker facilities, restrooms, and a patio with an outdoor patio fireplace.

For more information about the city facility, call 949-425-2559 or visit http://www.alisoviejoaquaticscenter.com.

Kelly Tokarski

KT Community Relations