More Than 600 Performers Help Chapman University’s New Musco Center for the Arts Throw Open Its Doors  With a Day-Long Community Open House & Arts Festival,  Indoors and Out, on Saturday, April 2  FREE Performances by Hundreds of Local Artists and Ensembles on Five Stages -- Including Pacific Symphony and Internationally Acclaimed World-Music Groups – Plus Tours, Family Fun and Food from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.  

Media Alert

Media Contact:          Mary Platt, Director of Communications, Chapman University

(714) 628-7271, platt@chapman.edu

WHO:

More than 600 performers and 50 ensembles on five stage, indoors and out, will help Chapman University celebrate the opening of its new world-class Musco Center for the Arts with a free, family-friendly, day-long Community Open House & Arts Festival. The event is the public’s first opportunity to explore and experience this elegant new 1,044-seat hall, which is already winning critical plaudits for its exceptional acoustics.  Join us as a new arts era begins at Chapman University!

WHAT:

A cavalcade of performances by hundreds of local artists – including Pacific Symphony, Chapman student ensembles, and scores of local Orange County performers and ensembles — will take place throughout the day on five stages, both inside and outside the Center, along with family activities, tours and demonstrations and more. Three internationally acclaimed fusion/rock/jazz/world music groups – Troker, Delhi 2 Dublin, and the Stooges Brass Band, will also be showcased.

WHEN:

Saturday, April 2, 2016

11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

*Full schedule of performances included below

WHERE:

Musco Center for the Arts, Chapman University

One University Drive, Orange, CA 92866

 GENERAL INFO FOR PUBLIC:

For more information, visit www.MuscoCenter.org, or call 1-844-OC-MUSCO (844-626-8726).

MEDIA:

Camera crews and photographers are welcome. Interview opportunities with Musco Center for the Arts staff and the performers will be available.

MUSCO CENTER COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE & ARTS FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

 

Indoors: Julianne Argyros Orchestra Hall

11 a.m. – Performances by Chapman student ensembles and clubs: Chaptones, Men of Harmony, Simply Vocale, SoundCheck, Chapman on Broadway, Players Society, Hawaii Club, Swing Cats, Floor 13

 

12 noon and 1 p.m.  – Guided tours of the Center by Richard Bryant, Musco Center interim executive director.  Meet at front doors.

 

1 p.m.- Ballet and contemporary dance by OC dance companies:  Compass Dance, OC High School of the Arts Commercial Dance, Maple Youth Ballet, Festival Ballet Theatre, Anaheim Ballet

 

2:30 p.m. – Tour, architecture discussion and demonstration of technical capabilities of the hall, by Brian Nichols, Pfeiffer Architects, and Chapman professor Don Guy

 

4:30 p.m. – American Visions/American Voices: Multi-media showcase by Chapman College of Performing Arts ensembles – The Chapman Orchestra, Chapman Wind Symphony, Faculty Brass Quartet, Chapman String Quartet, CoPA dancers and actors – featuring the music of all-American composers George Gershwin and Charles Ives. (Part of the INTERPLAY 2016 Festival presented by Chapman University and Pacific Symphony, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities).

 

7:30 p.m.  – Pacific Symphony, under the baton of music director and conductor Carl St.Clair, performs a program including Grieg’s Piano Concerto, with internationally acclaimed concert pianist Grace Fong of Chapman’s Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music, and Beethoven’s majestic Fifth Symphony. (Free performance is currently SOLD OUT – but stand-by line forms at 6:30 p.m. for any unused seats.)

Outdoors: Milan Panić Amphitheater (Family Stage)

(Located just east of Musco Center on the slope)

 Family-oriented entertainers, including student and local arts and cultural ensembles and child performers.

11 a.m. – El Sol Science & Arts Academy (Santa Ana)

Students from two 3^rd-grade classes perform folk songs and jazz standards

 11:20 a.m. –  Richter Academy Classical Dance & International  Folk Dance Ensemble (Laguna Hills)

From Scottish reels to Hawaiian hulas, these young dancers can do it all.

11:40 a.m. – Priceless Pearls Interfaith Chorus (Santa Ana)

Sponsored by the Baha’i Faith, these singers perform music to inspire unity among all people.

12 noon – SoCal Kids Magic (Anaheim)

Let California Joe take you on a magical journey around the world, with magic from varied cultures.

 12:25 p.m. – Arpana Dance Company (Irvine)

Bringing to life the sights and sounds of India through a tapestry of music, color and movement.

 12:45 p.m. – Duende Flamenco (Orange)

Sharing the joy, passion and dance of Spain through traditional and interpretive flamenco.

 1:05 p.m.-JuxtaPosition Dance Theatre (Orange)

Performing “Earth: Genesis & Les Enfants Jour” – taking us back to Earth’s beginnings.

1:25 p.m. – Orange County Ballet Theatre (all-OC)

Dancing to the music of Mozart’s Concerto No. 2, a beautiful work choreographed by Viktor Kabaniaev.

 1:45 p.m. – Straight-Up Abilities (Los Angeles)

A dance company made up of kids with special needs who train weekly in ballet, hip-hop, jazz and tap.

2:05 p.m. – OC Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center (Santa Ana)

The OCCTAC International Dance Ensemble performs.  OCCTAC empowers children and youth of limited resources to realize their highest potential.

2:30 p.m.- Philharmonic Society of OC California Journeys

BREAK

5 p.m.- Philharmonic Society of OC California Journeys

 

Outdoors: Community Stage

(Located on the Bette and Wylie Aitken Arts Plaza)

Performers and cultural organizations from Chapman University and the surrounding Orange County communities.

12 noon – Lakshya Indian Dance Team (Chapman students)

Chapman’s own Indian dance group performs Bollywood-inspired choreography.

12:25 p.m. – Lac Hong Arts Group (Westminster)

This ensemble’s mission is to preserve, develop and perform Vietnamese traditional dance and music.

12:45 p.m. – Nouveau Chamber Ballet (Fullerton)

Performing “Amused by a Lark,” set to the first movement of Haydn’s “Lark” Quartet.

1:10 p.m. – Chianti Strings (all-OC)

A newly formed quartet whose young members represent different parts of OC communities.           

1:30 p.m. – Calle4Combo (Santa Ana)

Performing the musical genre known as cumbia, a type of Latin-American dance music from Colombia.

1:55 p.m. – Diamonds of the Nile (Santa Ana)

Professional belly dance troupe performing dances from the Middle East, complete with gorgeous costuming.

2:15 p.m.- Relámpagos del Cielo (Santa Ana)

Performing the folkloric dances of Mexico and supporting the preservation of traditional Mexican arts.

 2:40 p.m. – Wimberley Bluegrass Band (Chapman students)

Four siblings, all seniors at Chapman, keeping the traditional sounds of American bluegrass music alive and well.

3:05 p.m. – Naranjita Flamenco (Anaheim)

The premier live flamenco show in OC brings you fast footwork, clicking castanets and flashing fans, and lots of color and excitement.

 Outdoors: Wells Fargo Stage (Choral Stage)

(Located in front of Leatherby Libraries on the Attallah Piazza)

 A dazzling array of choral ensembles and vocal groups from local high schools and surrounding cities.

12 noon – Foothill High School Pentatonix (Tustin)

This delightful a capella group is infused with fun, energetic style and tight harmonies.

 12:25 p.m. – Orange County High School of the Arts Chorus

(Santa Ana)

Ensemble from OCHSA sings a variety of songs, from classical to the best of American stage musicals.

12:45 p.m. – Creative Identity – The Pride Singers (Anaheim)

A group of exceptionally talented singers who have autism, and who perform professionally throughout Orange County.

1:10 p.m. – Saddleback Valley Chorale (Irvine)

A group of singers from throughout Orange County who                                               perform lively patriotic and praise music to uplift all.

1:45 p.m. – Orange Community Master Chorale (all-OC)

This acclaimed chorale is scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall in 2017, under the baton of director Michael Short, a distinguished Chapman music alumnus.

 2:20 p.m. – Chance Theatre (Anaheim)

With highlights from their current season and beyond, these fiercely talented performers from one of OC’s best theatre companies are set to amaze you.

2:55 p.m. – Golden West Pops (Costa Mesa)

A community concert band that performs all over OC, their music ranges from rock to ragtime, Broadway to big-band and much more.

Outdoors:  World Stage

(Located on the Bette and Wyle Aitken Arts Plaza)

 Musco Center presents three internationally acclaimed world music/jazz/rock/R&B fusion groups! 

3:30pm – Troker

A world-class jazz-funk-rock band from Guadalajara, Mexico, Troker blends the traditional brass and mariachi of its homeland with the latest fusion and global influences to create a blazing and danceable sound!

6:00 p.m. – Delhi 2 Dublin 

Filled with high-energy fun, this inventive group from Vancouver, B.C. mashes up the drumming traditions of India with Irish fiddling, keeping it heavy on the Bhangra, Celtic and Dub flavors.

9:00 p.m. – Stooges Brass Band

Come join the party, New Orleans-style, as this elite Crescent City brass band closes out the Musco Center Community Open House with a jazz-rock-Dixieland-R&B blast that will have everyone on their feet!

PLUS: Children’s activities, community booths and food throughout the day until dusk.

 ALSO: Next door in the Fish Interfaith Center:

1 p.m. and 3 p.m.    Labyrinth Walk introduction and discussion.

ABOUT MUSCO CENTER FOR THE ARTS

“An ideal opera house; potentially the best in the West and maybe even something more.” – Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times (March 21, 2016)

Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University is expected to take its place among the nation’s top university arts education and performance venues, offering students and distinguished faculty the opportunity to achieve the highest standard of arts-related education through hands-on, real-world production and performance experience.  At Musco Center, the surrounding community will enjoy large-scale opera and theatre productions, touring dance companies, symphonies, chamber performances, jazz, world and popular music, and much more. For more information and a schedule of upcoming events, visit www.muscocenter.org