GOLDEN STATE POPS ORCHESTRA PERFORMS DISNEY MUSIC AT THE EL SEGUNDO PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Los Angeles, California, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) February 16, 2012 --

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GOLDEN STATE POPS ORCHESTRA PERFORMS DISNEY MUSIC AT THE EL SEGUNDO PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

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San Pedro, CA. The Golden State Pops Orchestra (GSPO) announces an expansion into the Beach Cities with the addition of a Saturday, April 14th presentation of Disney in Concert: Tale as Old as Time at the recently renovated El Segundo Performing Arts Center. As the ten-year-old non-profit orchestra sought new spaces to produce their unique brand of entertainment, the city of El Segundo emerged as a perfect match with GSPO’s family-friendly approach to accessible orchestra music. “We have been planning to expand our audience area to more of the South Bay and West L.A.”, says GSPO Executive Director Linda Grimes, “El Segundo is a very walkable city with charming shops and restaurants to compliment an exciting evening of affordable entertainment.”

Artistic Director and GSPO Founder Steven Allen Fox has a close relationship with the community, serving as the El Segundo Band High School Director and the Music Director of the El Segundo Concert Band. Said Fox, “We wanted to find a way to ‘give back’ to this area because they have faithfully supported music education and are active patrons of GSPO concerts in San Pedro.” Added GSPO Board Member Erland Wittig, “The Board was won over by El Segundo’s support of live music and the business communities’ willingness to embrace the performing arts.” The El Segundo school district recently celebrated a $7 million renovation to its high school auditorium, now called the El Segundo Performing Arts Center. The improvements made possible by a 2008 voter-approved bond measure paid for a new backstage area and rigging system, as well as modernized lights, sound and seating.

El Segundo schools chief Geoff Yantz said “We are proud of the way Steve Fox has improved music education in our area and are astonished at the quality of GSPO shows at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro. We feel this is a way to show our students how to pursue their passion and make lifelong dreams a reality.” Bill Watkins, current El Segundo School Board President and former School Superintendent said, “Steven Fox has brought the El Segundo High School instrumental music program to the highest level I have seen in my 48 years in the district. By bringing Disney in Concert: Tale as Old as Time to our district, he has added another star to his crown. Thank you Mr. Fox for all you are doing for the children and community in El Segundo.”
ABOUT THE CONCERT:
GSPO is thrilled to reprise the very popular Disney in Concert: Tale as Old as Time. A concert of friendship and romance as seen through the eyes of Disney, Tale as Old as Time is a story of hopes and dreams, meeting new friends, finding true love and living happily ever after. All of the 2011 cast will be returning, including narrator Chase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space 9) and solo vocalists Araceli Applegate, Natalie Taylor, Drew Tablak and Stephen Van Dorn.

The concert will feature video portions of favorite Disney films, such as Aladdin, Snow White, The Lion King, Winnie The Pooh, Beauty and The Beast, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Pinocchio, sure to rekindle your fondest Disney memories. Song selections include A Whole New World, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, Bella Notte, Part of your World and Beauty and the Beast. Disney villains have their moment of glory, peaking with the dramatic Battle with the Forces of Evil from Sleeping Beauty, adapted by Disney composers from the Tchaikovsky ballet. The show will also include music by Michael Giacchino from the animated film UP, as well as a suite of music by Hans Zimmer from the successful Pirates of the Caribbean films. The Disney Concert Library has been licensing music directly to orchestra organizations worldwide since 1992.

ABOUT THE DISNEY CONCERT LIBRARY:
The Disney Concert Library (DCL) catalog was started in 1990 with a new arrangement of "The Little Mermaid." For several years prior, the DCL had noticed ASCAP live performance payments for concert performances of Disney copyrights. Knowing that some of these arrangements were educational-grade and not intended for professional orchestras, DCL – with composer Alan Menken’s encouragement - began to prepare high quality arrangements for the orchestra community.

DCL-produced special event shows around the world (Antwerp, BBC London, Hollywood Bowl) and the Disney On Classic concert series then brought further attention to the catalog and led to frequent requests from orchestras around the world wishing to create their own Disney concerts. In 2007, DCL developed its first show package, Around the World with Disney, to meet the mutual needs of Disney and these orchestras in a financially and artistically beneficial way.

Using the finest instrumental arrangements from the DCL catalog, Around the World with Disney features a projection DVD with film montages that compliment the live performance. Over the past two years, Around the World with Disney has already been performed to over 60,000 people around the world by 26 orchestras in 8 countries.

Developed in 2010, DCL’s second show package, Tale as Old as Time, built on this same success with the addition of vocalists. This show‘s song medleys are based on a thematic concept - friendship and romance as seen through the eyes of Disney - giving the concert a broader arc of emotional thought, rather than snippets of film memories.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN STATE POPS ORCHESTRA:

The Golden State Pops Orchestra/Friends of the GSPO was formed in January of 2002 and is currently the only year-round pops orchestra in the Los Angeles area. The GSPO focuses on exciting and innovative concerts, designed to entertain both the seasoned enthusiast and the casual music lover. The orchestra’s unique repertoire includes film, television and video game scores, Broadway hits, and popular music of all kinds. The GSPO has presented over 50 world premieres, often with the original composer in attendance or conducting the orchestra. GSPO is the Orchestra-in-Residence at the historic Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro and, along with its orchestral season, frequently programs influential classical pieces in their GSPO Ensemble Series performed in San Pedro at the Grand Annex, First Presbyterian Church and Alvas Showroom, and in Pasadena at KPCC’s Crawford Family Forum. For tickets and more information, please visit www.gspo.com or call 310 433 8774.

More information can be found online at http://www.gspo.com