Segerstrom Center for the Arts celebrates 40th anniversary with Ruby Jubilee
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Four decades of performing arts and music will be commemorated at Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ Ruby Jubilee on Sept. 13.
The free, campus-wide community event will showcase all the Center has to offer, along with special participation from Segerstrom’s resident partners including Pacific Symphony, Philharmonic Society of Orange County, Pacific Chorale, South Coast Repertory, UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art, ABT William J. Gillespie School, and Studio D: Arts School for All Abilities.
The party starts at 2 p.m. Sunday and continues until 8 p.m., with plenty of flashbacks to Segerstrom’s beginnings.
In the mid-1970s, the Segerstrom family donated a 5-acre parcel of land, formerly lima bean fields, for the future site of a new Orange County performing arts center.
As educational institutions were establishing themselves in the area and major businesses opened headquarters in the county, local leaders thought a world-class arts venue could bring greater prestige to the community.
Local groups, like the Newport Harbor Foundation, united to form the Orange County Arts Alliance, a precursor of Arts Orange County. The goal was to work toward establishing a venue that could be home to the Pacific Symphony, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Pacific Chorale.
The Costa Mesa farmland was one of 19 locations considered for what was at the time being called the Orange County Music Center. Santa Ana, Irvine and Newport Beach were all in the running at some point, but construction began on its current site in 1983.
By 1986, the Orange County Performing Arts Center was open. In honor of the opening of the the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall, Henry Segerstrom commissioned artist Richard Lippold to create a sculpture specially integrated into the venue.
“Fire Bird” is a three-ton, 60-foot-high sculpture of aluminum and stainless steel with a wing span that fills the frame of the building’s red-granite arch to this day.
Inside, the stage went on to host international ballet companies, national tours of Broadway musicals, jazz legends, children’s theater and more.
In 2006, the Center opened the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and the Samueli Theater. In 2011, the name of the Center officially became Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Expansion continued with the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza, completed in 2017. Today the campus is also home to the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art.
All of the venues on the extensive campus will participate in Sunday’s celebration.
In Segerstrom Hall, audiences can look back on opening night with screenings of the 1986 red carpet broadcast accompanied by performances by OCSA ensembles, an interactive technology lab, and an open ballet masterclasses from ABT William J. Gillespie School.
Pacific Symphony and Philharmonic Society youth ensembles will perform in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. David Ball and the Christ Cathedral Organ Scholars will also present demonstrations on the William J. Gillespie Concert Organ.
Studio D: Arts School for All Abilities will transform the Samueli Theater into a sensory-friendly environment, with activities and performances designed for guests of all abilities. Outside in the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza, attendees can enjoy performances from the Mater Dei High School Band, Mariachi Orgullo de UCI and Pacific Chorale’s Big Sing, or take a dance lesson.
The UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art will offer a hands-on art-making activity for all ages on the lower grand staircase. Guests can participate in a collaborative growing garden installation, inspired by the plaza’s former life as a lima bean field, along with drawing activities, snacks and tours of current exhibitions taking place inside the museum.
Beginning at 6 p.m, the party will shift into a 1980s-themed birthday bash, hosted by ABC Eyewitness News anchor David Ono. The throwback party will celebrate with food, drinks and a performance by the cover band M80s. When night falls, the evening will end with a drone show lighting up the Orange County sky.
For more details on the Ruby Jubilee 40th Anniversary Celebration at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, go to scfta.org
