The Okee Dokee Brothers to Return to Segerstrom Center, 9/27

Grammy Award and three-time Parents' Choice Award winners, The Okee Dokee Brothers, kick off Segerstrom Center's 2015-2016 Family Discovery Series on September 27 in Samueli Theater with two performances.

The childhood friends return to Orange County performing family-friendly folk music that celebrates the great outdoors with selections from their Grammy Award-winning album, Can You Canoe?, as well as their Grammy nominated album, Through the Woods. While traveling out west, The Okee Dokee Brothers will be writing new songs for their next Adventure Album Series featuring western inspired songs and videos. During their Segerstrom Center concerts, they will share a couple of these brand new songs for audiences to enjoy.

"Thanks to recent Grammy nominations and wins," say Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing of The Okee Dokee Brothers, "more and more independent artists like us have gained enough momentum to make all- ages music for a living, tour the country performing for large and captivated fan bases, and dedicate our lives toward improving the reputation of children's music."

The Okee Dokee Brothers show is recommended for children ages 4 - 8. Tickets are $20 and will go on sale Sunday, August 30 at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets will be available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket savings for 10 or more, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236. The TTY number is (714) 556- 2746. The 1 p.m. performance will be sign-language interpreted.

Comprised of two childhood friends, Mailander and Lansing, the duo's inimitable passion for the outdoors is at the heart of their singular brand of Americana music, inspiring as many people as possible to get outside to experience the natural world, their communities and themselves. Through The Woods marks the sophomore release in their Adventure Album Series, and captures their recent month-long expedition on the Appalachian Trail. The album features 15 original compositions honoring the old-time music traditions of the Appalachian Mountains with a unique contemporary take reaching a new generation of fans both young and old. An all-star cast of today's biggest names in Americana music appear on Through The Woods, including Hubby Jenkins (Carolina Chocolate Drops), four-time Grammy winner David Holt (Doc Watson/O Brother, Where Art Thou?) and Rosie Newton, as well as two-time Grammy winners Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer.

Audiences are encouraged to arrive an hour before the performance for free creative activities. The Center's Education and Community Programs Department offers these enriching experiences to provide young people and their families more opportunities to play together creatively. Studies show that this is critical in helping to develop the ability to think and problem solve.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds The Charles & Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation, Inc. for its support of the Family Series. OC Family is the Media Partner of the Family Series. Kia is the Official Automotive Partner of the Center and United Airlines, Official Airline of the Center.

Segerstrom Center's 2015 - 2016 Family Series also includes *Room on the Broom, *Big Bad Wolf, *Egg, The Box Brothers, Kid Koala's Nufonia Must Fall LIVE, Pero? (or the Mysteries of the Night) and Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella.

(*These include Sensory-Friendly Performances which are designed specifically to help children on the autism spectrum or others with sensory sensitivity enjoy fully the magic and amazement of live performances.)

Segerstrom Center's Education and Community Programs Department offers a variety of programs to students from elementary school through the university level, teachers, arts administrators and individuals who simply want to broaden their own experiences but not in a structure that is strictly academic. These programs achieve two especially important objectives. First, they develop the audiences of the future. Second, they integrate the arts into the standard curriculum and enhance learning, creative thinking, cognitive and social skills. The Education and Community Programs Department works hand-in-hand with a number of boards of education, providing support and assistance to ensure the success and effectiveness of the Center's programs.

The popular Family Series engages, enchants and inspires youngsters with the magic of live performance. International artists combine music, dance and theater that can be enjoyed by the entire family, creating experiences that instill an appreciation for the arts and create lifelong memories.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is unique as both an acclaimed arts institution and as a multi- disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence on all of its stages, offering unsurpassed experiences, and engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center is Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization and owns and operates the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall and intimate 250-seat Judy Morr Theater, which opened in 1986, and the 2,000-seat Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in 2006 and also houses the 500-seat Samueli Theater, the studio performance space and Boeing Education Lab. A spacious arts plaza anchors Segerstrom Center for the Arts and is home to numerous free performances throughout the year as part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' ongoing Free for All series. The American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center opens in 2015.

The Center presents a broad range of programming for audiences of all ages, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, intimate performances of jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family- friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the plaza and many other special events. The Center's arts-in-education programs are designed to inspire young people through the arts and reach hundreds of thousands of students each year.

In addition to the presenting and producing institution Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 14-acre campus also embraces the facilities of two independent acclaimed organizations: Tony Award®-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Art.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Pacific Chorale, who contribute greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

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