BIG BUDGET AND BIG YEAR EXPECTED FOR CAMERATA

Moving the Mozart Camerata’s 1987-88 season to Santa Ana High School will double the chamber orchestra’s costs, but founding director Ami Porat is counting on a sizable increase in ticket sales to help cover the difference.

“The new budget is approximately $120,000, double last year’s,” Porat said in a recent interview. “But I expect ticket sales to be eight to 10 times the number of last year’s.”

Porat said he is counting on the auditorium’s acoustical appeal and central location, and also on holding steady the cost for subscription tickets to the four-concert series, featuring such prominent soloists as Sidney Weiss, concertmaster for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and cellist Nathaniel Rosen.

“The $48 cost is the same as last year,” Porat said, adding that ticket sales are expected to account for one-third of the budget, with the remainder coming from private and corporate support.

Is he worried about the huge jump in the budget and the hoped-for increase in ticket sales? “Nervousness doesn’t come into play,” Porat said. “A conductor takes risks. This is a natural progression for us.”

When it was founded in 1980 by Porat, the Mozart Camerata performed in homes and other private venues. Following a reorganization in 1985 it began performing at Laguna Beach High School, and last season divided its four-concert season between the Santa Ana High School auditorium and Newport Harbor High School.

For the upcoming season, Porat said, the ensemble chamber orchestra will vary in size from 21 to 37 members in its four programs.

“During our past two seasons, we have been essentially a string orchestra, with extra winds added for the all-Mozart programs,” Porat said.

“This year, only our March 21 program is for strings only. For the Jan. 9 program, for instance, the orchestra will be 37 members, which is the size of Mozart’s largest orchestra used for his operas. It was the ‘Philharmonic’ of his day, although for us it is a classical chamber orchestra.”

All the Camerata’s concerts will take place at 8 p.m. at Santa Ana High School Auditorium, 520 W. Walnut St. Program dates and repertory is as follows:

Oct. 24--”Season’s Overture”: Johann Christian Bach’s Symphony in B-flat, Op. 3, No. 4; Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D, K. 218, with soloist Yukiko Kamei; Haydn’s Symphony No. 43 in E-flat, “Mercury,” H. 43; and Franz Benda’s Symphony in C.

Jan. 9--Annual “Happy Birthday Mozart” concert: All-Mozart program. Overture to “The Marriage of Figaro”; Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466, with pianist Jerome Lowenthal, and Symphony No. 39 in E-flat, K. 543.

March 5--Tchaikovsky Serenade in C for strings, Op. 48; Mendelssohn Sinfonia No. 10 in B Minor for strings, and violinist Sidney Weiss in a work to be announced at a later date.

April. 9--Haydn’s Concerto in D for cello and orchestra, with soloist Nathaniel Rosen; Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 in B-flat, and Mozart’s Divertimento in D, K. 136.

For more information, call (714) 581-2600.