PRESS RELEASE
PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY ANNOUNCES 2024/25 SEASON
SEASON INCLUDES MAJOR INTERNATIONAL & U.S ORCHESTRAS FEATURING AN EXCLUSIVE CALIFORNIA TOUR WITH VIENNA PHILHARMONIC CONDUCTED BY YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN
PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY DEBUTS PIANIST YUNCHAN LIM, CELLIST PABLO FERRÁNDEZ, VIOLINIST PATRICIA KOPATCHINSKAJA & CHINEKE! ORCHESTRA WITH TRUMPET SOLOIST AARON AZUNDA AKUGBO
FAMILY FRIENDLY PERFORMANCES BY KODO, CANADIAN BRASS, AND VOCTAVE
23RD ANNUAL LAGUNA BEACH MUSIC FESTIVAL WITH ARTISTIC DIRECTOR CAROLINE SHAW
IRVINE, CA (January 24, 2024) – Philharmonic Society of Orange County and President & Artistic Director Tommy Phillips announce the upcoming 2024/25 season line up of concerts and special events.
“We are delighted to share this season with our subscribers and patrons,” said Tommy Phillips, President & Artistic Director. “The programs were curated with our audiences in mind while showcasing our commitment to presenting renowned artists and ensembles from the U.S. and around the globe. The Philharmonic Society looks forward to creating wonderful and memorable musical experiences with the Orange County community.”
Artists and Debuts
The Philharmonic Society will welcome the return of classical music’s top artists, including Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Ray Chen, Randall Goosby, Anthony McGill, Anne-Sophie Mutter, and Conrad Tao. Itzhak Perlman revisits his Emmy Award-winning project In the Fiddler’s House with a performance featuring klezmer instrumentalists and vocalists from around the world. Celebrated artists and ensembles make their Philharmonic Society debut including winner of the 2022 Van Cliburn Piano Competition Yunchan Lim, Pablo Ferrández (cello), Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), and Europe’s first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra Chineke! Orchestra with soloist Aaron Azunda Akugbo (trumpet).
Chamber Ensembles & Orchestras
2024/25 brings ensembles including the Tetzlaff Quartet, Modigliani Quartet with Fabio Bidini and Orange County favorite, the Danish String Quartet, for a series of chamber concerts. The Mutter-Bronfman-Ferrández Trio, made up of esteemed soloists Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yefim Bronfman, and Pablo Ferrández will debut at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Programs include chamber works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Ravel, and Stravinsky. This season also sees the return of major international orchestras London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic, and Israel Philharmonic orchestras; plus, two U.S. orchestras, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, performing a wide range of works by Vivaldi, Mahler, Dvořák, Richard Strauss, Schubert, and Tchaikovsky. New works by Tania León and Joseph Pereira share the stage along with appearances by renowned solo artists to perform concertos by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Shostakovich.
Recitals
The upcoming season features collaborations from award-winning artists Emanuel Ax (piano) and Anthony McGill (clarinet) in a duo recital. Prominent classical soloists Alina Ibragimova (violin) and Cédric Tiberghien (piano) come together to showcase their synergy as a musical pair. Violinists Ray Chen and Randall Goosby also return to Orange County for recital performances of the finest pieces in the violin repertoire.
Special Concerts
In December, perennial favorite Canadian Brass will return for a holiday concert, plus a cappella sensation Voctave fills the concert hall with songs of the season. Taiko performing arts ensemble Kodo takes the stage for an exciting performance of Japanese drumming in February, and in partnership with Laguna Beach Live!, the 23rd annual Laguna Beach Music Festival features Pulitzer Prize-winner and multi-Grammy Award-winning composer Caroline Shaw, in three unique concerts, February 14–16, at Laguna Playhouse.
Season Highlights
Yunchan Lim & London Symphony Orchestra At just 18 years old, Yunchan Lim became the youngest competitor to take home the gold medal at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. His performances of Liszt and Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 earned him the Audience Award and have amassed over 10 million views on YouTube. Lim will make his Orange County debut playing Rachmaninoff’s beloved Piano Concerto No. 2, under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano. Recently named Musical America’s 2024 Conductor of the Year, Pappano will also lead the orchestra in a performance of Mahler’s First Symphony.
Celebrating 100 years of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue The iconic American masterpiece turns 100 years old in 2024, and Philharmonic Society is celebrating with critically acclaimed pianist Conrad Tao and choreographer and dancer Caleb Teicher. Tao will perform multiple versions of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which include arrangements for solo piano, chamber ensemble, and tap dance, featuring Teicher. Tao and Teicher’s version of Rhapsody in Blue was featured on NPR’s popular “Tiny Desk” series and is also part of the pair’s larger collaborative project, “Counterpoint.” This collaborative project between Tao and Teicher explores the dichotomy of their different perspectives and artistic practices, expanding their individual expressive capacity through a collective experience. During a portion of the concert, audiences will experience harmonic, rhythmic, and theatrical counterpoint between the artists with stylistically diverse music by J.S. Bach, Ravel, Tao/Teicher, Art Tatum, and more. The “Counterpoint” program was featured at the 2021 Laguna Beach Music Festival, where Tao served as the Festival’s Artistic Director.
Duo recital with Emanuel Ax and Anthony McGill In an evening of firsts for Orange County audiences, major artists Emanuel Ax and Anthony McGill will perform a duo recital. The two friends and collaborators will play a diverse program of piano and clarinet music by Florence Price, Franz Schubert, Leonard Bernstein, and living composers James Lee III, Jessie Montgomery, and Adolphus Hailstork.
Vienna Philharmonic with Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Maria Manetti Shrem and Elizabeth Segerstrom California Orchestra Residency) Philharmonic Society in partnership with Cal Performances bring Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin to California for an exclusive residency and tour in the Spring of 2025. The residency is a vision of Philharmonic Society President & Artistic Director Tommy Phillips and Cal Performances Executive and Artistic Director Jeremy Geffen and is made possible by major funding from longtime California arts enthusiasts and philanthropists Maria Manetti Shrem from the San Francisco Bay Area and Elizabeth Segerstrom from Orange County. The extraordinary level of generosity and support from Manetti Shrem and Segerstrom has been instrumental for both organizations’ artistic endeavors and their missions to bring world-renowned artists and musical excellence to California residents.
“The longtime support and commitment of Elizabeth Segerstrom and Maria Manetti Shrem to each of our organizations has been invaluable,” said Phillips. “We are thrilled that these two arts lovers have come together to share their passion for classical music and are making this vision a reality for our audiences.”
The tour begins in Northern California with three performances at Zellerbach Hall hosted by Cal Performances, March 5–7, and concludes in Orange County with two performances at Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, March 9 and 11, hosted by Philharmonic Society. Grammy Award-winning pianist Yefim Bronfman will join the orchestra in both venues showcasing his unparalleled virtuosity with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Also in these concerts, the Vienna Philharmonic will perform Richard Strauss’s epic Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), Mozart’s glorious Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter,” Schubert’s exuberant Symphony No. 4, and audience favorite, “New World” Symphony by Dvořák. The five concerts in California are Vienna Philharmonic’s only appearances in the U.S., outside of Carnegie Hall.
Both Philharmonic Society and Cal Performances will celebrate the residency with a host of festivities, including annual Gala fundraising events. More on the Maria Manetti Shrem and Elizabeth Segerstrom Orchestra Residency, special partnership, and events can be found here.
Additional support for Vienna Philharmonic’s Residency in Orange County is provided by the Donna L. Kendall Foundation.
Laguna Beach Music Festival with Artistic Director Caroline Shaw The 23rd annual Festival in partnership with Laguna Beach Live! sees Caroline Shaw take the helm as Artistic Director. The week-long festival will take place in February with a series of events that culminate in three curated concerts by Caroline Shaw at Laguna Playhouse. Shaw is known for her collaborations, compositions, and both vocal and instrumental contributions which appear on projects with major artists such as Dolly Parton, Beyonce, Upton Shaw and many more. Their collaborations have won them a Pulitzer Prize in Music as well as three Grammy Awards. The Festival will include collaborations with Sō Percussion and songwriter Gabriel Kahane.
Mutter-Bronfman-Ferrández Trio Chamber Concert Four-time Grammy-winner and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter along with her protégé, cellist Pablo Ferrández, and long-time friend pianist Yefim Bronfman, join forces for a chamber concert in Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Members of the trio have performed in partnership with well-regarded composer John Williams, and have performed individually and collectively with LA Phil, New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, and Israel Philharmonic.
Aaron Azunda Akugbo and the Chineke! Orchestra Europe’s first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra’s mission is “Championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music.” The Chineke! Orchestra performs a mixture of standard orchestral repertoire along with the works of Black and ethnically diverse composers both past and present. Their Orange County performance includes pieces by living composers Brian Raphael Nabors and Valerie Coleman, Symphony in A by British-Sierra Leonean composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Sussex Landscape by his daughter, Avril Coleridge-Taylor. The concert also features 27-year-old Nigerian-Scottish trumpetist Aaron Azunda Akugbo playing Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto. Chineke! Orchestra and Akugbo have performed together at BBC Proms, Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Kölner Philharmonie.
The 2024/25 Season starts in October 2024 and will run through May 2025 with concerts taking place at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Soka Performing Arts Center, Irvine Barclay Theatre, and Laguna Playhouse.
Season ticket packages are now available for purchase over the phone or online. Audiences can subscribe to curated packages or create their own ticket package with a mixture of concerts and dates. Individual concert tickets will be available for sale in late August. To purchase season tickets, please contact Patron Services at (949) 553-2422, 9am – 5pm, M-F, or purchase online at philharmonicsociety.org.