Pacific Chorale Opening Concert Pays Homage To Leonard Bernstein

Pacific Chorale, the resident choir of Segerstrom Center for the Arts, will be kick-starting its 50th anniversary season with a bang when it premieres A Celestial Map of the Sky by internationally renowned composer Tarik O'Regan.

The concert also includes a salute to Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday with the concert version of his innovative musical theater work Mass, originally commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy, which premiered at the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971. The October 29 program will be rounded out with a composition by James Hopkins, Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music (and Pasadena native), entitled Songs of Eternity, which was the first choral-orchestral work commissioned by the Chorale and was premiered in 1993 for the organization's 25th season.

"We wanted to launch our 50th Anniversary Celebration recognizing the importance of the modern-day composer," said Rob Istad, Pacific Chorale's new Artistic Director and Conductor. "It has long been Pacific Chorale's mission to not only preserve and perform classical choral music written through the ages, but to also identify and perform newer works by inspirational current-day composers."

The choir will be accompanied by Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Mass will also feature tenor Derek Chester, students from California State University, Fullerton, and the Southern California Children's Chorus. Stage direction will be managed by Cal State University, Fullerton's James Taulli.

The concert will take place at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at 5:30 p.m. Tickets range in price from $25 to $130 and may be purchased by calling the Pacific Chorale offices at 714-662-2345 or visiting www.pacificchorale.org.

Pacific Chorale (PC) has delighted national and international audiences with concerts of great choral music performed at the highest musical standards since 1968. Under the artistic leadership of Robert Istad, the organization produces a series of concerts each year at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, where it serves as the sole resident choir.

Pacific Chorale is recognized for exceptional artistic expression, preserving and performing classical choral music as well as presenting stimulating American-focused programming. In addition to its own substantial performance season and long-standing partnership with Pacific Symphony, the Chorale is sought regularly to perform with the nation's leading symphonies, having performed with such renowned American ensembles as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the National Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and Musica Angelica.

Pacific Chorale has toured extensively to over 19 countries - in Europe, South America and Asia - and has collaborated with the London Symphony, the Munich Symphony, L'Orchestre Lamoureux and L'Orchestre de St-Louis-en-l'Île of Paris, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the China National Symphony, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Estonian National Symphony, and the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Argentina.

Pacific Chorale has received numerous awards from Chorus America, the service organization for North American choral groups, including the prestigious "Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence," the first national "Educational Outreach Award," the 2005 ASCAP Chorus America Alice Parker Award for adventurous programming, and the 2015 "Education and Community Engagement Award."

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