HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-14-2016 - City Arts Commission - 13 Staff Report Pacific Symphony Summer ConcertABSTRACT:
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Arts Commission seek City Council approval for a performance by the
Pacific Symphony on the Civic Green on Sunday, August 14, 2016.
FUNDING REQUIREMENTS:
The $60,000 required to fund the concert and ancillary events will be expensed from account 4002-5901
(Arts-Private Donations). The funds, which were transferred to the City from the Newport Beach Arts
Foundation, will be appropriated by budget amendment subject to City Council approval.
DISCUSSION:
The Pacific Symphony is a symphony orchestra located in Orange County, California. The orchestra
performs at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts
(formerly the Orange County Performing Arts Center) in Costa Mesa, California. Since 1987, it has been
playing its summer concerts at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (previously known as "Irvine
Meadows Amphitheater") in Irvine, California. Carl St. Clair has served as the orchestra's Music Director
since 1990.
The Pacific Symphony also stages an annual Symphony in the Cities series. Symphony in the Cities brings
thousands of people together for outdoor concerts in local parks each year. Led by Music Director Carl
St. Clair with classical KUSC-FM’s radio host Rich Capparela serving as the emcee, the concerts are
popular events which draw thousands of attendees. Younger concert-goers are invited to attend the
Symphony’s Musical Playground. The Musical Playground features many interactive and hands-on
activities for children, including instrument making, a drum circle, an instrument petting zoo, and an
opportunity to meet the musicians. By popular demand, children in attendance have the opportunity to
learn how to conduct with Maestro St. Clair and later help lead the orchestra in Sousa’s “Hands Across
The Sea” during the concert.
The fee required to stage Symphony in the City on the Civic Green in Newport Beach is $50,000.00. The
fee includes all sound engineering, staging, and requirements related to the production of the
TO: CITY ARTS COMMISSION
FROM: Library Services Department
Tim Hetherton, Library Services Director
949-717-3810, thetherton@newportbeachca.gov
PREPARED BY: Tim Hetherton
TITLE: Proposal for Pacific Symphony Summer Concert
music. The fee also includes the Musical Playground and the conducting clinic with Carl St. Clair. Staff
recommends that the City Arts Commission request an additional $10,000 to host a post-concert
reception in the Civic Center Community Room. Staff requests that the Arts Commission use the
reception to promote and raise funds for the Newport Beach Arts Foundation.
The fee will be expensed from account 4002-5901 (Arts-Private Donations). This money came to the
City via the Newport Beach Arts Foundation who received the funds from the dissolution of the Balboa
Theatre Performing Arts Foundation. These funds are to be used for performing arts programming in
the City, with a preference for the Balboa peninsula. The concert is being staged in the Civic Green as a
result of infrastructural amenities, such as a stage, a backstage area for the musicians, electrical power,
public restrooms, parking, and access to the adjacent Civic Center Community Room for the post-
concert reception. Because of parking and traffic issues on the peninsula during the summer months, it
may be difficult to stage the concert in the Balboa village area.
Pending City Arts Commission, the proposal will be submitted to City Council requesting a budget
amendment.
NOTICING:
This agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at
which the City Arts Commission considers the item). d a graph describing any methods of notification, if
applicable.]