Themes in jazz and classical music will...

Themes in jazz and classical music will meet next weekend when the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay presents an unusual program for its final concerts of the 1993 season at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center and the Norris Theatre in Rolling Hills Estates.

The concerts, at 8 p.m. Friday in Torrance and Saturday at the Norris Theatre, will feature a “crossover” program in which the orchestra will perform music that is more jazzy and popular than its prescribed classical fare.

Concert organizers hope that a lighter program will attract a broader audience and more subscribers to the orchestra’s 1994 season at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center, said Robert Miller, orchestra president. The 1992-93 season was the chamber orchestra’s first subscription season at the center. The group has been the resident classical orchestra at the Norris Theatre since 1983.

The season finale program will open with Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” Ballet Suite, which was first choreographed and performed by modern dance pioneer Martha Graham in 1944. The program also will feature a chamber orchestra arrangement of George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” variations for piano, and “Lullabye” for strings.

“Suite for Jazz Trio and Chamber Orchestra” by contemporary French composer Claude Bolling will conclude the program.

Soloists will include Lincoln Mayorga, whom Miller calls “the most outstanding crossover pianist in the country,” and musicians John Leitham and Gene Estes.

Preceding the concerts, Miller will talk on the history and significance of Graham’s original performance of “Appalachian Spring.”

A free wine reception for the audience and musicians is scheduled after the performances. Subscription forms for the 1993-94 season will be available at the reception.

Finale concert tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for senior citizens and $10 for students. The Torrance Cultural Arts Center is at 3330 Civic Center Drive. Information: (310) 781-7171. The Norris Theatre is at 27570 Crossfield Drive, Rolling Hills Estates. Information: (310) 544-0403.