Pacific Symphony gets $300K grant

The Pacific Symphony is a joint recipient of a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, symphony officials announced Monday.

The Costa Mesa-based orchestra, along with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony and Louisville Orchestra, will apply the NEH funds toward the “Music Unwound” project.

Music Unwound’s three concerts each season seek to contextualize music by correlating it with humanities content like language, literature and visual arts, officials said. The 2011-12 season marks the third year of the three-year project that also partners with museums, other orchestras and universities.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with great Orange County institutions such as UC Irvine, and sharing content with important orchestras throughout the U.S.,” Pacific Symphony President John Forsyte said in a release. “We hope ‘Music Unwound’ will be a template for orchestral institutions to greatly enhance their ability to serve a broader public.”

—Bradley Zint