UCI Plans Free Outdoor Concerts
UC Irvine officials are working to revive a series of free outdoor summer concerts devoted to American popular music for 1993.
School of Fine Arts development director Debora Steckel said last week that the university hopes “to have funding in place by November, and artists contracted by February of next year.” The concerts would be given in Aldrich Park, in the center of the campus, and would be geared toward families, Steckel said.
“The emphasis,” she said, “would be on American music and would run the gamut: rhythm-and-blues, soul, classic rock ‘n’ roll, big band, country and jazz.”
UCI hosted a similar series in the mid-1980s, sponsored by the Irvine Co., held in Aldrich Park and featuring such performers as Ray Charles, Tony Bennett and Sarah Vaughan. Those shows often drew between 15,000 and 20,000 people. After the series was canceled in 1988 because the Irvine Co. withdrew its support, the university sponsored three scaled-down concerts in 1990 as part of its 25th anniversary activities.
“We hope this would be the first in a series of annual events,” Steckel added. “We hope we’re able to continue it for many years to come.”
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