Countywide : Students, Orchestra Are in Harmony

Elementary school children from the Santa Ana Unified School District performed Tuesday with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, beginning a three-day series of youth concerts aimed at protecting an endangered species--the orchestra.

About 18,000 students from throughout Orange County are expected to attend the free “Ode to Peace” concerts at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, sponsored by Taco Bell.

Tuesday’s two concerts included the premiere performance of “Caras del Sol” by the orchestra’s artist-in-residence Hector Armienta. The composition was commissioned by Pacific Symphony with support from the city of Santa Ana.

Students performed on native instruments such as the Yaqui Indian drum and vocal parts were performed by the Santa Ana Unified School District Honor Chorus.

Support for the arts in schools and in the community is at an all-time low, according to Louis G. Spisto, vice president and executive director of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. He said the county bankruptcy is only the latest blow to arts funding.

This is the first year of the corporate-sponsored youth concerts. But Pacific Symphony also brings music education and training to about 100,000 Orange County students each year through 25 youth programs, according to Spisto.

“We’re doing these things in the face of enormous constraints due to the apathy that exists about the arts,” Spisto said, “compounded by the most recent fiscal crisis in the county.”

If students fail to learn an appreciation for orchestral music, there is a danger that many concert orchestras will not survive, according to Spisto.

“The art form is very special,” he said. “This kind of music for young people can be an entry point for a lifelong love for all types of music.”