MUSIC NOTES : MERVYN’S TO HELP PAY FOR CONCERT SERIES

Pacific Symphony has received a $20,000 grant from Mervyn’s Department Stores to sponsor a series of family concerts at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

Three “Mervyn’s Musical Mornings” will be presented on Saturdays at 11:30 a.m., the first on Dec. 20.

Each concert of approximately one hour is intended to introduce young people to classical music, conductor Keith Clark said.

He said the grant will meet approximately one half of the concerts’ costs. The remainder will be raised through ticket sales.

“These programs are as important as anything we do,” Clark said. “In many ways, they are an investment in the future--in the future of audiences and young musicians.”

This is the third year Mervyn’s has supported Pacific Symphony family programs.

The program on Dec. 20 will include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Leopold Mozart’s “Toy” Symphony, the Overture to Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus” and holiday music from around the world sung by the All-County Children’s Christmas Chorus, a group of 300 local elementary school children.

Other 11 a.m. Saturday concerts to follow:

- March 21: Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” other music to be announced.

- May 2: Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” and Frank Proto’s “Casey at the Bat.”