Outsider puts O.C. people and places to music

Nearly two years ago, the Pacific Symphony commissioned Narong Prangcharoen to create music for, and about, the people and places of Orange County.

Symphony officials chose Prangcharoen, the orchestra’s composer in residence, not only for his talents but also because of his outsider status and presumed ability to see the area with a fresh eye. He was born and raised in Thailand and lives in the Midwest — Kansas City, Mo., to be exact. The “City of Fountains.”

But given Orange County’s cultural and topographical diversity, which doesn’t necessarily lend itself to a singular music style — or single inspiration, for that the matter — the seemingly simple task was anything but.

Even Carl St.Clair, the symphony’s longtime conductor, wasn’t sure how it would be accomplished. But he figured Prangcharoen, a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient who first caught the Pacific Symphony’s attention after he won its American Composers Competition in 2005, was the right person to musically capture the area.

“In commissioning Narong, I asked him to compose a work that would embrace Orange County, its beauty, culture and uniqueness, and unite us in music,” St.Clair said in a news release. “In a manner of speaking, to help those of us in Orange County to become connected.”

They called the project “OC in Unison.”

From Oct. 1 to 3, to herald the Pacific Symphony’s 37th season, Orange County will hear “Beyond Land and Ocean,” or how an outsider musically describes this seaside microcosm tucked between Los Angeles and San Diego.

“It’s beyond just the land and the ocean,” Prangcharoen said in an interview, “but also the mind and the spirit of the people.”

Prangcharoen said listeners will hear cues inspired by much of what he saw when he toured the county last year.

They’ll hear sounds that mimic the bells of San Juan Capistrano, which Prangcharoen recorded while visiting the city’s historic Spanish mission.

They’ll discern wave-like and bird-like sounds, much like what Prangcharoen heard during his 4 a.m. kayak trip around Newport Beach’s Back Bay.

“All the nature really inspired me in Orange County,” he said. “All the scenery, how beautiful it is.”

Even the county’s jam-packed freeways — an infamous part of Southern California existence — have their place in “Beyond Land and Ocean.”

“How could people miss a freeway in Orange County?” Prangcharoen said. “You need the freeway experience, the traffic — everything.”

He noted the many Orange County residents he spoke with who feel at home here. The symphony also solicited opinions from residents about what makes this place special and received hundreds of submissions.

“Everyone there was so welcome and delighted to help,” Prangcharoen said of his research process. “They spent their time with me.”

Orange County’s diverse neighborhoods are also incorporated in “Beyond Land and Sea.” Prangcharoen said listeners will hear mariachi music and folk tunes from Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese cultures.

The piece runs about 22 minutes. St.Clair will conduct. Prangcharoen will be in town to attend the premiere.

In addition to “Beyond Land and Sea,” the symphony will perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, accompanied by the Pacific Chorale and soloists Mary Wilson, Milena Kitic, John Bellemer and Kevin Deas.

Aaron Copland’s song “The Promise of Living,” from his 1954 opera “The Tender Land,” is also on the program.

Tickets start at $25.

The symphony will host small preview concerts from noon to 1 p.m. Sunday at the Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove and from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday at Brix Sunset Beach in Huntington Beach.

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IF YOU GO

What: Pacific Symphony’s 37th season opening weekend, featuring “Beyond Land and Sea”

Where: Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: 8 p.m. Oct 1 through 3; Alan Chapman, host and producer at Los Angeles classical music station KUSC, will lecture at 7 p.m. all three nights.

Information: pacificsymphony.org; (714) 755-5799