During this year’s Symphony in the Cities concert and Prelude in the Park on July 26, the City of Mission Viejo will celebrate two milestone anniversaries.
Held on the Village Green at Oso Viejo Community Park, the popular event features a cornucopia of entertainment, activities, food and music under the stars.
This year’s event is even more meaningful as the City commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Olympic Bicycle Race in Mission Viejo and Music Director Carl St.Clair’s 25 years with the Symphony.
The Olympic bicycle race began and ended on Olympiad (formerly O’Neill Road), just outside the entrance to Lake Mission Viejo.
The cyclists raced up through the homes near Crucero Park, down Marguerite to La Paz and back up Olympiad. The men’s and women’s races took place on July 29, and Mission Viejo residents lined the route and helped staff the event.
Guests will enjoy the afternoon Prelude in the Park with live entertainment, family activities and an impressive photographical display capturing the finish line of the 1984 Olympic Bicycle Race. Leading up to the event, the City will mark the original 11-mile bike race with colorful signs and markers reminiscent of the 1984 Olympics.
The community event will also hail Music Director Carl St.Clair’s more than two decades with the Symphony. St.Clair, the conductor from a tiny farming town in Texas, made his debut fronting the Pacific Symphony in 1990.
The concert will include Bizet’s sultry Suite from “Carmen,” featuring mezzo-soprano Ola Rafalo and four talented young violinists from Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings performing Vivaldi’s Concerto in B Minor.
Before the Pacific Symphony takes center stage at 7 p.m., the Musical Playground at 4 p.m. will give kids the chance to make an instrument, play a drum, meet a musician and take part in a conducting clinic with the ever-charming Maestro St.Clair.
Nonprofit organizations and church groups interested in taking part in the celebration should call 949-470-3014. For information about volunteering during the Symphony in the Cities event, contact Vickie Sullivan atvsullivan@cityofmissionviejo.org.
