More Information About Cirque de la Symphonie

Website

http://www.pacificsymphony.org/main.taf?p=9,5,6,6&productionID=6297...

Description

The program includes:

Dvorak: Carnival Overture
Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre
Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 2, Danse Boheme (Gypsy Song)
Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 1, Les Toreadors
Khachaturian: Valse from "Masquerade"
Chabrier: Rhapsody for Orchestra from "Espana"
Saint-Saens: Bacchanale from "Samson et Delilah"
Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Reed Pipes from "Nutcracker"
Kabalevsky: Overture from "Colas Breugnon"
Respighi/Rossini: Cancan from "La boutique fantasque"
Williams: Harry's Wondrous World from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"
Rimsky-Korsakov: Danse des Bouffons
Williams: Across the Stars from "Star Wars: Episodes II, Attack of the Clones"
Ravel: Bolero

“I am excited we get to create something that will be extremely pleasing visually, as well as fantastic for our ears!” says Maestro Eshkenazy. “While this may be new to our audience, the combination of acrobats and musicians has actually been around for centuries. This combination of the arts used to be common all over Northern Europe—with circus troupes traveling with musicians—but it disappeared when the orchestra became more modern and transitioned into the concert hall. So we are going back in time and ahead to the future at the same time, to recreate that thrilling synergy that has existed between circus and music for so long.”

“Cirque de la Symphonie” is made up of eight extraordinary performers: Alexander Streltsov, Jaroslaw Marciniak, Dariusz Wronski, Aloysia Gavre, Vladimir Tsarkov, Christine Van Loo, Elena Tsarkova and Larissa Sherman.

“People were sitting on the edge of their chairs watching the exciting action,” raved Mark Kanny of the Pittsburg Tribune-Review about a recent performance of “Cirque de la Symphonie.” “The orchestra was pushed back toward the rear of the stage to create a 15-foot wide strip of stage—and that’s a very narrow space with no safety netting. The most exquisite and artistic moments were in Streltsov’s solo to ‘Across the Stars,’ from ‘Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones.’ He commanded the stage and the space over it, sometimes reaching 30 feet above the stage floor as he maneuvered on a pair of long white cloths held up by rigging.”

Streltsov has performed for three Russian presidents and the Bolshoi Ballet, as well as the star-studded ABC-TV special “Christopher Reeve—A Celebration of Hope” and the PBS nationwide broadcast of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Fourth of July Celebration.

The “Duo Design” act of Marciniak and Wronski, former Polish national hand-balancing champions has been seen throughout Europe and the U.S., winning championships in Evian, France, and Sarasota, Fla. Over the past few years, these prolific performers have thrilled audiences at several NBA halftimes, Cirque du Soleil, Circus Circus, Busch Gardens, and the national tour of Cirque Ingenieux.

Gavre’s acrobatics and graceful maneuvers on the aerial hoop have won her the Special Prize at the International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo. She is best known as a veteran of Cirque du Soleil’s “Quidam” and “O,” establishing her as one of the best aerial artists in the world. She is also a choreographer for Cirque Mechanics and Troupe Vertigo and director of Cirque School in Los Angeles.

Tsarkov’s Red Harlequin act features rings, balls and batons, and is a veteran of Circus Circus and Cirque Ingenieux. He graduated from Russia’s prestigious State College of Circus and Theater Arts and won the gold medal at the Cirque de Demain International Festival in France.

Van Loo is a seven-time consecutive National Champion, Female Olympic Athlete of the Year, and Athlete of the Decade in acrobatic gymnastics. As a professional aerialist and acrobat she has performed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, at two Grammy Awards, at the American Music Awards, the Miss Universe pageant, and Paul McCartney’s European tour.

Tsarkova is a graduate of the famed Moscow Circus School and first-place winner of the prestigious National Russian Circus Festival. She has performed with the Big Apple Circus, Switzerland’s Circus Knie, and Germany’s Circus Roncalli, and her combination of contortion, balance, and graceful dance moves has made her a major star with Cirque de la Mur in Florida and Circus Circus in Las Vegas.

Sherman graduated from the Circus School of Ukraine, specializing in the art of  acrobatics with hoops. Voted “Best New Performer,” she won first place in the Russian Circus Festival, and then traveled the world with the Moscow State Circus, Circo Americano, Cirque du Soleil’s “Balagan” and with other productions such as Circus America, Dreamcast Productions, “Fire and Ice” Show, and Cirque Le Masque. Sherman has been in great demand for specialty performances, such as the opening of Broadway’s “Lion King,” the Latin Music Award Show, Victoria Secrets fashion show, Good Morning Berlin in Germany, and other events around the world.

About the Ticket Supplier: Pacific Symphony

Pacific Symphony, celebrating its 33rd season in 2011-12, is led by Music Director Carl St.Clair. The largest orchestra formed in the U.S. in the last 40 years, the Symphony is recognized as an outstanding ensemble making strides on both the national and international scene, as well as in its own burgeoning community of Orange County. Presenting more than 100 concerts a year and a rich array of education and community programs, the Symphony reaches more than 275,000 residents--from school children to senior citizens.

The Symphony offers a popular Pops season led by Principal Pops Conductor Richard Kaufman. The Pops series stars some of the world's leading entertainers, and is enhanced by state-of-the-art video and sound. Each Pacific Symphony season also includes Café Ludwig, a three-concert chamber music series, and "Classical Connections," an orchestral series on Sunday afternoons offering rich explorations of selected works led by St.Clair. Assistant Conductor Maxim Eshkenazy brings a passionate commitment to building the next generation of audience and performer through his leadership of the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra as well as the highly regarded Family Musical Mornings series.

The Symphony offers moving musical experiences with repertoire ranging from the great orchestral masterworks to music from today's most prominent composers, highlighted by the annual American Composers Festival. The Wall Street Journal said, "Carl St.Clair, the Pacific Symphony's dynamic music director, has devoted 19 years to building not only the orchestra's skills but also the audience's trust and musical sophistication so successfully that they can now present some of the most innovative programming in American classical music to its fast-growing, rapidly diversifying community."

In addition to its winter home, the Symphony presents a summer outdoor series at Irvine's Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, the organization's summer residence since 1987.