Press Release
PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OPENS ITS 70TH SEASON FESTIVITIES WITH DREAMERS’ CIRCUS
IRVINE, CA—The Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents Dreamers’ Circus on Thursday, October 12, 2023, 7pm, at Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts. All ticketholders are invited to a special pre-concert reception at 6pm with complimentary light bites and a signature drink. This concert is part of the Eclectic Orange Series sponsored by the Jelinek Family Trust, with support from The Segerstrom Foundation.
Winners of five Danish Music Awards, Dreamers’ Circus is an ambitiously inventive Scandinavian trio of remarkable, classically trained Scandinavian musicians whose original Nordic folk music is infused with jazz, pop, and classical sensibilities. Their official line-up is fiddle, cittern, and piano/accordion, but collectively, they also play ukulele, guitar, keyboard synthesizer, kannel (a Northern-European box zither), and clog fiddle (a Swedish instrument made from a wooden clog), among others.
The group, based in Copenhagen, is hugely popular and critically acclaimed in Denmark. They made their London debut this summer at Kings Place and were named 2023 Artist of the Year by the Danish national classical radio channel P2 (the first non-classical group to earn that honor). Among the trio, Swedish multi-instrumentalist Ale Carr (cittern) is recognized as one of the leading players of plucked string instruments in Nordic folk music today. He has won five FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DREAMERS’ CIRCUS PSOC 2023-24 SEASON
Danish Music Awards in addition to the ones he earned with Dreamers’ Circus and appeared this summer at the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Nikolaj Busk (piano/accordion) is a composer and pianist who grew up on traditional Danish songs as well as Louis Armstrong and the Beatles before being “adopted,” as he puts it, by folk music. Violinist Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen is probably best known to U.S. audiences as violinist in the Danish String Quartet, which just released PRISM V on ECM records. While the members of Dreamers’ Circus all have various musical backgrounds what unites them is an interest in, and love for, folk and traditional music.
Last fall, Dreamers’ Circus released Handed On: a published book of 58 of their own pieces of Nordic folk music, arranged for varying degrees of difficulty, along with beautiful, professionally recorded videos to accompany each tune. Handed On is about to be introduced into Danish schools to introduce folk and traditional music to young students.
Their most recent recordings of original tunes are Blue White Gold (for which the Trio was awarded the prestigious Carl Prize for Composer of the Year in 2021) and Lost Swans (2022), available to stream and as a double album on vinyl.
In addition to writing and performing their own music, Dreamers’ Circus is also a frequent collaborator on projects with other musicians. For example, playing the music for the video game Chrono Cross which included a collaboration with Japanese composer Yasunori Mitsuda; performing and arranging music for a collaboration with the DR Børnekoret (Danish Radio’s Children’s Choir) on an album of Danish children’s folk songs in June of 2022; as well as collaborating with renowned Danish fiddler Poul Bjerager Christiansen on an initiative to bring traditional folk music to life from centuries-old handwritten scores.
The trio has toured widely, performing not just in their native Scandinavia but also throughout Europe, Japan, Australia, and North America. The group is bringing its talents to North America this fall in a U.S. tour from October 7 to 18, stopping in eight cities in Vermont, New Jersey, Arizona, and California.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, is located at 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Ticket prices are $35 and are available at the Philharmonic Society box office at (949) 553-2422, online at www.PhilharmonicSociety.org, and at the Center box office at (714) 556-2787.
All artists, dates, venues, programs, and prices are subject to change.
ABOUT THE PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY:
Founded in 1954 as Orange County’s first music organization, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents national and international performances of the highest quality and provides dynamic and innovative music education programs for individuals of all ages to enhance the lives of Orange County audiences through music.
Since its inception, the Philharmonic Society has evolved and grown with the county’s changing landscape, presenting artists and orchestras who set the standard for artistic achievement from Itzhak Perlman, Gustavo Dudamel, Yo-Yo Ma, and Renée Fleming to the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and many others. In addition, the Philharmonic Society celebrates multi-disciplinary performances under its Eclectic Orange brand and embraces music from a wide range of countries with its World Music performances. Its celebrated family concerts introduce children to classical music with creative and inspiring performances, instilling music appreciation for future generations.
The Philharmonic Society’s nationally recognized Youth Music Education Programs, offered free of charge, engage more than 100,000 students annually through curriculum-based music education programs that aim to inspire, expand imaginations, and encourage learning at all levels. These programs are made possible by the Committees of the Philharmonic Society comprised of 500 volunteer members who provide more than 90,000 hours of in-kind service each year. As a key youth program, the exceptional Orange County Youth Symphony and String Ensemble provide top-tier training to the area’s most talented young musicians through multilevel ensemble instruction, leadership training, touring opportunities, challenging professional repertoire, and performances in world-class venues. The Philharmonic Society also promotes life-long learning by connecting with colleges and universities to conduct masterclasses and workshops and providing pre-concert lectures to introduce audiences to program selections.
CONTACTS:
Adaora Onyebeke
(949) 553-2422, ext. 105
adaora@philharmonicsociety.org
Marie Songco-Torres
(949) 553-2422, ext. 230