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Opera legend Plácido Domingo will headline Musco Center’s Grand Opening celebration on March 19, along with fellow opera superstars Deborah Voigt and Milena Kitic.



The
Marybelle and Sebastian P. Musco Center for the Arts
officially opens its doors on Saturday, March 19, 2016 with a star-studded Grand Opening celebration to showcase the magnificent new performance venue on the Chapman University campus.
Tickets are available now
for the big event, which features performances by opera legends Plácido Domingo, Deborah Voigt, and Milena Kitic; an orchestra and chorus of more than 150 voices and an array of distinguished artists and Chapman alumni, directed by legendary Grammy®- and Tony Award®-winning conductor John DeMain. Grand Opening ticket information is available by calling
(714) 744-7623
or contacting Michele Wanner at
bautista@chapman.edu
.

“We have an extraordinary line-up of artists for the Opening and Preview Season at Musco Center,” said William D. Hall, the Center’s founding dean and artistic director. “This will be the perfect introduction to the beauty, range, and power of future seasons at this magnificent new center for the arts.”

Tickets for Musco Center’s
Preview Season
from March to May 2016 are also available now. Audiences will enjoy internationally acclaimed virtuosos and ensembles that define excellence, as well as the finest Chapman student performances. The roster of guest artists includes
Pacific Symphony
,
Philharmonic Society of Orange County
,
Los Angeles Percussion Quartet
,
The Stan Kenton Legacy Orchestra
, the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Gold Medal winner
Vadym Kholodenko
, renowned opera baritone
Rod Gilfry
, and
Jeff Corwin
, American animal and nature conservationist and host of the
Animal Planet
  television show.

Orchestra playing music, focus on strings.
CoPA student ensembles and crews will also take to the Musco stage throughout the 2016 Preview Season to produce and perform concerts featuring Chapman choirs, The Chapman Orchestra, Chapman University Wind Symphony, Big Band and Jazz Combo, Opera Chapman’s production of Puccini’s
Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica
, and the department of theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s
The Merchant of Venice
 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death on April 23 in the year 1616.

112712-chapman-university-fall-dance-concert-dress-rehearsal-at-the-waltmar-theatre-chapman-university-orange-ca-2
“Our primary goal for developing this state-of-the-art facility was to provide Chapman students the opportunity to work in a professional-caliber venue,” said Giulio Ongaro, dean of the College of Performing Arts (CoPA). “We want our students in the departments of dance and theatre, and the Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music, to graduate having worked in productions that mirror conditions they’ll find in the real world. Musco Center can accommodate everything from full-scale Broadway-style productions, national touring dance companies, symphonies and operas to chamber performances, jazz and more, and will give our graduates a competitive edge as they begin their
Performers on stage.
professional careers in the arts.”

Soon after the Grand Opening, on April 2, 2016, all of Southern California will be invited to enjoy Musco Center’s
Community Open House &
Arts Festival
– a free, day-long event for all ages, featuring special
performances, behind-the-scenes tours, food, children’s activities and live music, with a grand finale of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony performed by Orange County’s own Pacific Symphony.

Additional details about the Preview Season and tickets can be found at
www.muscocenter.org
.