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Long Beach Symphony Pops Live
Performing more than 100 concerts and events a year, the Long Beach Symphony plays primarily at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center's Terrace Theater, where it premiered in 1978 with a sold-out performance from pianist Van Cliburn. The season comprises a variety of offerings, from classical and POPS! series to family and educational concerts. The diverse repertoire includes works by Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Copland, Beethoven, Brahms and more. The POPS! series sees crossover concerts with music by the likes of Josh Groban, the Rat Pack and George Gershwin. The ensemble has performed with lauded area groups including the Long Beach Camerata Singers, the Jazz Angels and Musical Theater West. A Long Beach Symphony Pops concert is a rousing celebration of classical music in all its crossover forms.
Long Beach Symphony Background
For over 85 years, the Long Beach Symphony has been one of Southern California's greatest regional orchestras. And between its first premiered work in 1939 and the almost two dozen since, the group has sought to support both new and established composers. With music director JoAnn Falletta, who took charge in 1989, the group won the 1998 ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. They would go on to win the Long Beach Heritage Preservation Award in 2012. Conductor Eckart Preu took over the reigns of the group in 2017. Before moving to Long Beach, Preu was the music director for the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He also held posts in numerous other cities, leading groups like the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of Chile, the Wichita Symphony, and the Jerusalem Symphony, performing at esteemed venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Sorbonne in Paris. As part of the Long Beach Symphony's community education initiative, numerous concerts for youth entertain more than 10,000 elementary school children each year.
A friend of mine and I went to see Ladies of Motown Radiance... we were fascinated. The presentation, the songs, and the ladies performing the show were fantastic... Their wardrobe was beautiful... they have a lot of class.
The music was fantastic. The Radiance Ladies were wonderful.
The performance wasjust amazing. I love Billy Joel but Michael definitely makes his songs even better. It was the best!
The concert was masterfully performed. Mike Eldred was fantastic, touching and has a beautiful voice full of emotion. The orchestra's performance was sensitive, powerful and moving. The choir's performance alone was worth the price of admission. The stage actors were dresses beautifully, the dancers excellent and the entire cast showed a lot of heart and emotion in the performance. This holiday concert is always a family favorite, a Christmas treat and a must-see for all.
Having never attended a Long Beach Symphony concert before the Pops Gala last week-end, I was amazed that the LB Arena did not do a great disservice to the wonderful musicianship of the orchestra. LBSO is fortunate to have hired Steven Reineke as the new principle Pops conductor. He is fun! By the size of the crowd it was evidence of a loyal following, and deservedly so. Also, really wonderful to see so many women represented in their ranks. The concert programme was delightful and I was grateful for the large screen coverage as the seating is not typical of performing arts centers in surrounding cities and I was counting on my loge seats to give me a great view of the percussion section. Not so without the aid of cameras. This symphony deserves a first class house! My date and I enjoyed ourselves and felt our drive from Ventura worth the effort, though next time we'll hope for the predictable "hummer" who is in our earshot to be capable of carrying a tune!
This was very good. I was entertained from the beginning until the finale.
