PACIFIC SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA PERFORMS TCHAIKOVKSY’S “SWAN LAKE,” FEATURING ORANGE COUNTY BALLET THEATRE DANCERS—WHILE MAKING FINAL PLANS FOR TOUR TO BULGARIA!
Orange County, Calif.—May 10, 2011—The awe-inspiring Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PSYO), with musicians ages 11 to 21, performs music from one of the greatest ballets of all time—“Swan Lake” —for the final concert of its 2010-11 season, before heading off to Bulgaria on their first international tour. The concert, led by Assistant Conductor Maxim Eshkenazy, features the talented dancers of Orange County Ballet Theatre (OCBT) who help tell the tragic fairytale of Odette, a princess who is turned into a swan by an evil magician (except this time, her prince falls for her evil twin!). The second half of the concert includes works influenced by European nationalism: Sibelius’ “Finlandia” and Dinicu’s “Hora Staccato.” This performance is part of Arts Orange County’s Imagination Celebration. Tickets are $18 general admission, $30 box circle; for more information or to purchase tickets call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.
“‘Swan Lake’ has become very popular since Hollywood adapted it for the film ‘Black Swan,’” says Eshkenazy. “Suddenly everything is relevant. This is not the first time Hollywood has helped us educate kids, but Tchaikovsky’s music is spectacular on its own. It talks about love and passion, and these are emotions that everyone understands from a very early age. ‘Swan Lake’ also has one of the most famous violin solos and our concertmaster is performing it beautifully. The piece has a fabulous cello and violin duet and a very famous harp solo. Each instrument has a lot of bravura and each musician is
playing it brilliantly, so this piece is very good for us. It is extremely technically complicated yet it has fluid emotion.”
The “swans” of the evening are the dancers of OCBT who made their premiere with the Symphony at last year’s Family Musical Morning’s concert, “Firebird,” and performed again at this year’s “Sleeping Beauty.”
“At OCBT’s performance of ‘Firebird,’ I was very impressed by their instructor, Dmitri Kulev,” says Eshkenazy. “Together, we decided that sometime in the future we would do a project with them and the Youth Orchestra, and here we are a year later. The students from that dance studio are so disciplined and just so good at what they do. I’m very excited to have this partnership again.”
OCBT is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting ballet and other forms of dance to audiences of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. OCBT inspires and nurtures an appreciation for the art of dance through outreach activities and performances in the community. Many of these performances reach audiences who might not otherwise experience the beauty of a live performance. Under the direction of Dmitri and Jennifer Kulev, OCBT provides a performing outlet for young talented dancers from the Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy, the official school of OCBT, and from surrounding Orange County communities.
The two pieces on the second half of the concert are reflective of the nationalistic movement of European composers in the 19th century. Sibelius’ “Finlandia” vividly captures the spirit of Finland’s fight for independence and Dinicu’s “Hora Staccato” is an arrangement of a Romanian folk tune.
‘“Hora Staccato’ is orchestrated quite ingeniously by the Bulgarian composer Dinicu. Every nuance is caught and almost every instrument has a solo,” says Eshkenazy. “This is going to be a great concert!”
About the Tour
From June 26-July 5, PSYO travels to Bulgaria, Eshkenzy’s home country, for 10 days to show off the extraordinary work they’ve been doing this season. Along with “Swan Lake,” the orchestra is playing Bernstein’s “Slava! A Political Overture,” Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” “Thracian Dances” by Bulgarian composer Petkov Staynov, The Imperial March from “Star Wars” by John Williams and Badelt’s “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Practice should pay off as the musicians give performances in Plovidiv, Varna and Sofia— teaching them how to adapt to the acoustics in different environments.
“It’s been an incredible year,” raves Eshkenazy. “The tour has put us all in very high spirits. Everyone has been very enthusiastic and trying their best instrumentally as we’ve played all the pieces we will be performing in Bulgaria. For a week leading up to the tour, we’ll have a boot camp of rehearsals every day to make sure we are in spectacular shape. This is my third year conducting PSYO and we’ve grown up tremendously. The orchestra is playing at its best ever.”
About PSYO
Together, the PSYO, Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings and Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble comprise the Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles (PSYE). The mission of the PSYE is to provide young musicians with an ensemble experience marked by educational excellence through a unique relationship with Pacific Symphony.
The oldest of the three ensembles, PSYO, while led by Eshkenazy, also benefits from the artistic vision of the Symphony’s Music Director Carl St.Clair. The PSYO presents a popular three-concert subscription series in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, in addition to other community performances. Members of the PSYO have the opportunity to rehearse, receive coaching sessions and perform “side-by-side” on a Family Musical Mornings series concert with the Symphony’s professional musicians. In addition, students receive free tickets to the Symphony’s concerts, exclusive access to rehearsals and enjoy opportunities to meet world-class guest artists.
