Press Release
April 28, 2008
Concert Attendance Soars For Jung-Ho Pak And San Diego Chamber Orchestra
The San Diego Chamber Orchestra, under the leadership of Artistic Director, Jung-Ho Pak, has just completed one of their most successful seasons ever. Since Maestro Pak’s arrival for the 2006-2007 season, the average attendance per concert has increased by 21.5%. All concerts at St. Paul’s Cathedral were sold out this season, and two of the three Messiah performances were sold out. Concertgoers are enthusiastic about this “new generation of the classical music experience,” as exemplified by Dick Pinney who called the Orchestra’s performances “…the most exciting classical music experience in San Diego!”.
By almost any measurement, however, the season was a stunning success. The Orchestra’s musicians reflected their excitement about performing in this Orchestra with a vivacity and connection with the audience that has become very evident to those in the audience. “Nowhere have we ever felt such a wonderful connection between the musicians and an audience,” say Charles and Francine Frasier. To further this feeling, Pak and the musicians greet concertgoers before and after the concerts, a real rarity in the world of music performance of any genre.
Young people are attending the concerts in increasing numbers as the Orchestra has reached out to them with special events for Young Professionals, special ticket prices for students and an expanding education program. Major ground-breaking education programs, involving thousands of students and teachers throughout the county, will be launched this fall.
Innovative programming that always includes beautiful classical music, but has some surprises slipped in to intrigue the audience, is just part of Maestro Pak’s vision for providing concertgoers with an extraordinary experience that is full of joy and passion. Who else would surprise the audience members with the performance of a beautiful Baroque piece during the “Baroque Pearls” concert that wasn’t in the program, then ask the audience to guess where the composer had lived, followed by the introduction of a young man in jeans and a baseball cap from Long Beach who plays in a jazz club, but loves Baroque music and had written this piece on the computer? The audience was enthralled with his explanation of how Baroque music and jazz are so much alike.
The Orchestra will be celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary with a season of celebrations in 2008-2009.Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn all have anniversaries that will be a special part of these celebrations. And, of course, there will be some surprises!
The media reach for the Orchestra is expanding, and several bold new initiatives on the Internet and with other media will be announced during the 2008-2009 season.
The Classics Series concerts are performed in three venues: St. Paul’s Cathedral, Downtown; Sherwood Auditorium, La Jolla; and Del Mar Country Club, Rancho Santa Fe. Pops Concerts at the Center will be performed at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, and Masterpiece Messiah will be performed in two local churches and at the CCAE.
The Classics Series concert, The Mozarts: All in the Family, will open the season at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, October 3, at 7:30 p.m. This concert, to be billed as a “biotech night” will offer repertoire from three generations of Mozarts and, as concertgoers have come to expect from Maestro Pak, will feature some surprises.
Attached is a Word document with all 2008-2009 concerts, including venue, date and time and repertoire.
Visit our web site, www.sdco.org or phone 858-350-0290, ext. 7, for tickets. Contact us for photos.
