OCTOBER 2010 - APRIL 2011

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OCTOBER 2010



SANKAI JUKU – HIBIKI: JAPANESE MODERN BUTOH DANCE
Irvine Barclay Theatre
 Saturday, October 30, 2010, at 8 p.m.


The West Coast Festival begins with a mesmerizing performance of modern Japanese dance entitled Hibiki by the exciting Butoh troupe Sankai Juku. Performing in white-body makeup and accompanied by music and sound effects, Sankai Juku dancers will use slow hyper-controlled motion to display playful imagery.

Funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional funding from the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Community Connections Fund of the MetLife Foundation.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society and the Irvine Barclay Theatre
TICKETS: $60, $45, $35
For tickets and information, CLICK HERE


NOVEMBER 2010



JapanOC Partner Event
JAPANESE ANIME FEATURE FILM
Regency South Coast Village
Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Orange County Film Society will showcase one of the leading contemporary anime feature films from Japan. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with industry notables.

Presented by the Orange County Film Society
For more information, please visit: www.OrangeCountyFilmSociety.com

JapanOC Partner Event
ZENSHINZA KABUKI THEATRE FROM JAPAN: Two Kabuki Classics: Narukami and Chatsubo
Aratani/Japan America Theatre, Los Angeles (Little Tokyo)
Friday, November 5, 2010, at 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 6, 2010, at 1 p.m.

Narukami (1724), presented in the aragoto (heroic) style, is one of the 18 greatest kabuki plays. This classic drama, in which a fiery priest captures the dragon rain god and brings drought to Japan, showcases the superhuman strength and valor of the kabuki hero.

In Chatsubo (The Tea Jar), a country bumpkin encounters many challenges when he comes to the city. A dance dramatization of a kyogen farce by the same title, it provides a light, comic counterpoint to the more serious drama.

Presented by the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC)
For more information, please visit: www.jaccc.org
or call (213) 628-2725.

JapanOC Partner Event
ZENSHINZA KABUKI THEATRE FROM JAPAN: Historical Drama: Honen & Shinran
Aratani/Japan America Theatre, Los Angeles (Little Tokyo)
Saturday, November 6, 2010, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, November 7, 2010, at 1 p.m.

Written by Tajima Ei, Honen & Shinran (2006) is a powerfully moving historical drama that depicts the upheaval of 13th-century Japan and two priests who opened a path to freedom. Honen and Shinran established the most widely practiced form of Buddhism in Japan today. Because of the break from monastic tradition and the founding of a lay ministry, they are often compared with Calvin and Luther. Produced in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the death of Honen and the 750th anniversary of his student, Shinran.

Presented by the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC)
For more information, please visit: www.jaccc.org
or call (213) 628-2725.


DECEMBER 2010



TRIBUTE TO TŌRU TAKEMITSU WITH KAZUMI WATANABE, GUITAR
Samueli Theater, Orange County Performing Arts Center,
part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Sunday, December 19, 2010, at 8 p.m.
Kazumi Watanabe, guitar

Japanese guitarist Kazumi Watanabe comes to Orange County to introduce works by the late composer Tōru Takemitsu, renowned for his avant-garde work and “the first Japanese composer fully recognized in the west.” Kazumi Watanabe’s works during the 80s have built him a reputation as the precursor of jazz-fusion in Japan, especially with "TOCHIKA", one of his record-breaking hit albums. Playing in the US and Asian countries under his own leadership and performing with numerous top musicians of the world, Watanabe was prized Nanri Fumio Award in 1991 and Grand Prix of Jazz Disc in 1984.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society
For more information, please visit: www.PhilharmonicSociety.org



JANUARY 2011



JapanOC Partner Event
JAPANESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
Aratani/Japan America Theatre, Los Angeles (Little Tokyo)
Sunday, January 2, 2011, at 1 p.m.

Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit in Little Tokyo and attend the annual tribute to the New Year, Kotohajime, presented by the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. Literally meaning “the beginning of things,” Kotohajime is an original performance, curated by performance artist and JACCC Artistic Director Hirokazu Kosaka. A blend of Japanese and Western performing arts, and incorporating the traditions of the New Year, Kotohajime is a rich, visually stunning experience.

Presented by the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC)
For more information, please visit: www.jaccc.org
or call (213) 628-2725.

JapanOC Partner Event
Q&A WITH MIDORI
Tateuchi Democracy Forum, Los Angeles
Thursday, January 20, 2011, at 2:30pm

The Japanese American National Museum will present violinist Midori in a festival-related question and answer session at the Tateuchi Democracy Forum in Los Angeles.

Presented by the Japanese American National Museum and Philharmonic Society
For more information, please visit www.janm.org


FEBRUARY 2011



JapanOC Partner Event
THE MIKADO
Irvine Barclay Theatre
February 4-5, 2011

The Mikado (1885) is arguably the most popular of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas. The two-act comic opera about the preposterous carryings—on in the mythical Japanese village of Titipu won favor with Americans from its first major New York performance at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in 1885 for a run of 250 performances. Performed by students from the Orange County High School of the Arts.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society and Orange County High School of the Arts
For more information, please visit: www.PhilharmonicSociety.org
or www.ocsarts.net

BROOKLYN RIDER WITH KOJIRO UMEZAKI
Laguna Playhouse
Thursday, February 10, 2011, at 8 p.m.

Returning to Orange County after performing in the Philharmonic Society’s 2009-10 season, Brooklyn Rider will headline the 2011 Laguna Beach Music Festival. The performance will feature Shakuhachi master, composer and UCI faculty member Kojiro Umezaki.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society and Laguna Beach Music Festival
For more information, please visit: www.LagunaBeachMusicFestival.com


MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY
South Coast Repertory
February 24 - 27, 2011

The Martha Graham Dance Company presents a four-day residency at South Coast Repertory, which will include two ballet performances featuring sets by Isamu Noguchi. In addition, the Martha Graham Dance Company will host education classes during the day at Noguchi’s California Scenario, and conclude with a joint-performance by the Martha Graham dancers and the students. Founded in 1926 by dancer and choreographer Martha Graham, the Martha Graham Dance Company is the oldest and most celebrated contemporary dance company in America.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society
For more information, please visit:www.PhilharmonicSociety.org


JapanOC Partner Event
NOGUCHI EAST MEETS WEST
Laguna Art Museum
February 27 - May 15, 2011 (Museum hours: Monday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m)

Noguchi East Meets West features approximately 50 sculptures and 50 drawings, spanning just over 60 years of Noguchi’s career dating from 1927-1988. The works in this exhibition are drawn largely from the Noguchi Museum in New York.

As described in the title of this exhibition, Noguchi East Meets West not only speaks to the artist’s own dual ancestry (his mother was American, his maternal grandmother was part Native American, and his father was Japanese), but reflects the influences of various cultures from Noguchi’s extensive travels. Similarly, Noguchi’s use of different media became just as varied and fused, such as brass and marble, bones and string, or aluminum and maple. In addition to sculptures featuring these combinations as well as sculptures singularly depicted in alabaster, onyx, or clay; the exhibition will also include Noguchi’s architectural designs for gardens and playgrounds.

Presented by the Laguna Art Museum
ADMISSION: $12.00 general; $10.00 students, seniors, active military;
Free for Museum Members and children under 12
For more information, please visit: www.philharmonicsociety.org or www.LagunaArtMuseum.org

JapanOC Partner Event
CALIFORNIA SCENARIO: THE COURAGE OF IMAGINATION
Laguna Art Museum
February 27 - May 15, 2011 (Museum hours: Monday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m)

Situated between two office towers at South Coast Plaza Town Center in Costa Mesa is Noguchi’s California Scenario (1980-1982). Commissioned by Henry Segerstrom, Isamu Noguchi offered a plan that challenged everyone’s notions of a garden. California Scenario: The Courage of Imagination will be curated by Bonnie Rychlak and will feature a model of the park, memorabilia, photographs, and film footage of Noguchi’s California Scenario. California Scenario is celebrating its 30th anniversary. In 1980, when Henry Segerstrom envisioned a garden for the site of the family land that had once been a lima bean farm, he saw it as a lushly green and shady place. Instead Noguchi created a bare, stone covered plaza that with time has grown into a magical landscape. Together the artist and the developer created a garden surpassing anything that had been projected and, in Noguchi’s words, “Henry Segerstrom had the courage to imagine the ultimate within our limits.”

Presented by the Laguna Art Museum
ADMISSION: $12.00 general; $10.00 students, seniors, active military;
Free for Museum Members and children under 12
For more information, please visit: www.philharmonicsociety.org or www.LagunaArtMuseum.org


MARCH 2011



GUSTAVO DUDAMEL AND THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center,
part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Saturday, March 5, 2011, at 8 p.m.
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

Maestro Gustavo Dudamel comes to Orange County for the first time as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic as they pay tribute to Tōru Takemitsu with a performance of Requiem. Other works include Webern: Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10, and Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E major.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society
TICKETS: $150, $140, $100, $90, $80, $70, $55, $250 (box seats)
For tickets and more information, please visit: CLICK HERE

MIDORI IN RECITAL
Samueli Theater, Orange County Performing Arts Center,
part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Wednesday, March 9, 2011, at 8 p.m.
Midori, violin

World renowned violinist Midori returns to Orange County for a recital which includes performances of Watkins: Coruscation and Reflection, Hosokawa: Vertical Time Studies III, MacMillan: After the Tryst, and Adams: Road Movies.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society
TICKETS: $68 and $60
For tickets and more information, please visit: CLICK HERE


JAPANESE SACRED COURT MUSIC: GLORIES OF JAPANESE MUSIC HERITAGE (GAGAKU)
Samueli Theater, Orange County Performing Arts Center,
part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Saturday, March 19, 2011, at 8 p.m.
Hitomi Nakamura, hichiriki
Takeshi Sasamoto, ryuteki
Remi Miura and Mayumi Miyata, sho
Columbia Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble
Additional artists to be announced

Classical music of the Imperial Japanese Court, a tradition stretching back 1,000 years, will be performed by a renowned ensemble of gagaku musicians in a program entitled “Glories of the Japanese Traditional Music Heritage: Japanese Sacred Court Music and Ancient Soundscapes Reborn,” which will include the definitive gagaku piece Etenraku.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County
For tickets and more information, please visit: www.PhilharmonicSociety.org


JAKE SHIMABUKURO, UKULELE WITH THE UKULELE ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center,
part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Thursday, March 24, 2011, at 8 p.m.

Recognized as one of the world’s most exciting and innovative ukulele players and composers, Jake Shimabukuro is bringing his lightning-fast fingers and revolutionary playing techniques to Orange County with the all-singing, all-strumming Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society
TICKETS: $35, $30, $20, $10, $100 (box seats)
For tickets and more information, please visit: www.PhilharmonicSociety.org


APRIL 2011



TOSHIKO AKIYOSHI – SOLO, TRIO & QUARTET
Samueli Theater, Orange County Performing Arts Center,
part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Monday, April 11, 2011, at 8 p.m. Toshiko Akiyoshi, piano
Lew Tabackin, tenor saxophone, flute
Paul Gill, bass
Mark Taylor, drums

Legendary Japanese-American pianist and composer Toshiko Akiyoshi comes to Orange County with her husband, tenor saxophone virtuoso Lew Tabackin, bassist Paul Gill and drummer Mark Taylor for an evening of jazz music. Among a very few successful female instrumentalists of her generation in jazz, she has received 14 Grammy nominations, and was named an NEA Jazz Master by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts in 2007.

Flutist and tenor saxophonist Lew Tabackin’s ectrifying flute playing is at once virtuosic, primordial, cross-cultural, and passionate. His distinctive tenor sax style includes the use of wide intervals, abrupt changes of mood and tempo, and purposeful fervor, all in the service of showing the full range of possibilities of his instrument - melodically, rhythmically, and dynamically.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society
For tickets and more information, please visit: www.PhilharmonicSociety.org

JapanOC Partner Event
Ito Jakuchu: A Man with No Age
MASTERPIECES FROM THE PRICE COLLECTION
Bowers Museum
April 16, 2011 - July 3, 2011 (Museum hours: 10-4 Tuesday – Sunday. Closed Mondays)

The outstanding Japanese screen and scroll paintings from the Etsuko and Joe Price Collection experienced immense success as a traveling exhibition in 2006-2007, attracting over one million viewers. For the first time in the United States, a new exhibit is set to introduce you to one of the Price Collection’s greatest assets – a man considered by many to be one of the greatest artists that ever lived, yet known by very few outside of Japan. His name is Ito Jakuchu. Born in Japan in 1715, he lived as a vegetable seller and a Buddhist monk, all the while living a life devoted to illuminating the beauty of nature with the magical stroke of the artist’s brush. But Jakuchu took his brush beyond just skill, making him different from all others. His works are diverse and so coupled with the heart of nature that they have an ageless quality and appeal to people from all walks of life – no scholarly explanations needed. Jakuchu’s paintings have left their mark, a stroke far beyond the capabilities of ordinary men.

Presented by the Bowers Museum
For more information, please visit:www.Bowers.org


TOKYO STRING QUARTET
Samueli Theater, Orange County Performing Arts Center,
part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Tuesday, April 19, 2011, at 8 p.m.

Martin Beaver, violin
Kikuei Ikeda, violin
Kazuhide Isomura, viola
Clive Greensmith, cello

The Grammy-nominated Tokyo String Quartet has captivated audiences and critics alike since it was founded close to 40 years ago. Regarded as one of the supreme chamber ensembles of the world, the Tokyo String Quartet returns to Orange County with a tribute to Tōru Takemitsu with a special performance of Takemitsu: A Way A Lone, and other works.

Presented by the Philharmonic Society
TICKETS: $40 and $35
For tickets and more information, please visit: CLICK HERE

JapanOC Partner Event
JAPAN FILM SERIES
Various theaters, Newport Beach, CA
April 2011

The 12th annual Newport Beach Film Festival will showcase a special film series featuring the best of classic and contemporary cinema from Japan.

Presented by the Newport Beach Film Festival
For more information, please visit: www.NewportBeachFilmFest.com

All dates, times, programs, artists and prices are subject to change. Single tickets are scheduled to go on sale in summer 2010.