Two of classical music’s most romantic Russian composers share the stage in this concert that also presents Enrico Chapela’s high-flying “Rotor”, with its intensity and emotion paving the way for more ardent musical expression as the program unfolds. Both Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky are treasured by music-lovers for their deeply felt works that epitomize the heights and depths of human yearning and heroism. Russian-born pianist Natasha Paremski guests.

Take a sneak peek at the PROGRAM BOOK

Long Beach Symphony is thrilled to present an evening of the greatest hits from the legendary Sir Elton John. Get ready to sing and dance the night away to songs that have been at the top of everyone’s playlist for the last five decades.

The Lobby doors will open at 6:30pm for our legendary indoor picnicking. Bring food, drinks, and dancing shoes for this amazingly fun event — and celebrate Pops Pride and the LGBTQ community.

Under the direction of Maestro Eckart Preu, and starring renowned Elton John tribute artist Craig A. Meyer on the piano and on vocals, the symphony will perform a number of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s most beloved 1970s classics (Crocodile Rock, Bennie and the Jets, Honky Cat and Candle in the Wind), as well as Tony winning Broadway hits, including Can You Feel The Love Tonight from “The Lion King.”

This concert is generously sponsored by Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg

Get a head start in reading the EVENT PROGRAM

This is a Free, community event presented by Long Beach Symphony. The evening will start at 4pm on the Long Beach Terrace Theater Plaza delighting participants in the enjoyable “Night Market” spirit. Take part in this event that includes a variety of foods for purchase, as well as entertainment, curated artistic installations on display in the theater lobby,  and good fun. Two concerts will take place, at 5PM and 7PM as entertainment continues on the Plaza till 9PM.

Written and directed by the world-renowned Cambodian American rapper, praCh, KHMERASPORA is a musical performance that tells the Cambodian American experience. Featuring three world premieres by internationally renowned Cambodian composer, Chinary Ung, this artistic collaboration unites musicians from Long Beach Symphony conducted by Music Director Eckart Preu, and Cambodian instrumentalists, dancers, and singers. A documentary film by award-winning filmmaker Caylee So memorializes the project and videographer Robert Chhaing-Carleton’s video will ensure that KHMERASPORA has a global presence and impact.

Artistic Partners

Eckart Preu, conductor

Musicians of Long Beach Symphony

praCh Ly, writer, producer, director, performer

Chinary Ung, composer

Mea Lath, dance choreographer

Chhom Nimol, singer

Chrysanthe Tan, violinist

Kaitlyn Mady, flutist

Kalean Ung, actress

Modern Apsara, Cambodian dancer ensemble

Ho Chan Ensemble, Cambodian instrumentalists

REVIEWS!

This program is part of Long Beach Symphony’s Musical Bridges, a community engagement initiative that celebrates the artistry of the many diverse communities in Long Beach through free, collaborative multicultural performances.

Get ready to “rock and roll all night” to some of the best Classic Rock of the 70’s and 80’s on May 20, 2023. A seven-member band and the power of your Long Beach Symphony will bring the house down for a full party evening at the Long Beach Arena. Symphonic Rock is the perfect dance party to complete the 22-23 Pops Series season.

Conductor Susie Seiter (best known for The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses and Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions and conducting film concerts such as Frozen Live, Pixar in Concert and Mary Poppins Live) leads this fan-favorite rock band and your Long Beach Symphony as audiences sing along to Rock’s greatest hits. And, in our legendary Pops series style, picnicking and side-stage dance floors will get everyone up on their feet rockin’ and rollin’.

The music of Journey, Led Zeppelin, U2, Starship, Pat Benatar, Scorpions, and Lynyrd Skynyrd are just a few of the evening’s top-of-the-charts favorites.

Doors will open at 6:30 for indoor picnicking. Bring your food and libations, or pre-order online, and don’t forget the dancing shoes and your best rockstar look.

Symphonic Rock will blast out on Saturday, May 20th at 8:00pm at the Long Beach Arena (300 E. Ocean Ave.). Doors will open at 6:30 for indoor picnicking. Bring your food and libations, or pre-order online, and don’t forget the dancing shoes and your best rockstar look. 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for families to ring in the holidays with a festive evening of your holiday favorites and sing-alongs. Guaranteed to put you and your family in the holiday spirit!

Get a sneak peek at the program book

And Watch Conductor Morihiko Nakahara’s Welcome / What to Expect Message

Our season finale offers audiences an infectious array of American musical genius. Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann takes center stage performing the Piano Concerto in One Movement by groundbreaking American composer Florence Price. The concert also includes brilliant 21st -century works by Brian Nabors and Nan Schwartz, along with Duke Ellington’s swinging “Harlem” and George Gershwin’s foot-tapping “An American in Paris.” We will send you out dancing!

Audiences will enjoy the Classical Series fun and elegant evening surrounded by the Terrace’s dazzling fountains, live ensemble in the lobby, pre-concert talk to gain greater knowledge on the evening programming, and the ability to “Sip & Enjoy” in the concert hall.  

In this powerful evening of extremes, audiences will be transported by compositions that cross the span of times. Anticipate a highly-charged, exhilarating evening at the Terrace Theater when the symphony embarks on a thrilling musical pilgrimage through Ana Lara’s passionate terrain of fire and ice (listen here); and then, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, or “songs of Bavaria,” sets 24 poetic texts from the Germany of a millennium ago to paint a vivid picture of medieval life, including religious verses, social satires, and bawdy drinking songs. This exhilarating presentation will include three soloists, the Long Beach Camerata Singers, the South Bay Children’s Choir, and returning to Long Beach, the acclaimed Silver-Garburg Piano Duo. Expect an exuberant orchestral panorama of Orff’s pulsating musical journey.   ~ See artist bios at the bottom of this page. Watch the video here:

Audiences will enjoy the Classical Series fun and elegant evening surrounded by the Terrace’s dazzling fountains, live ensemble in the lobby, pre-concert talk to gain greater knowledge on the evening programming, and the ability to “Sip & Enjoy” in the concert hall.  

Music Director Eckart Preu and the Long Beach Symphony launch the 2022-2023 season with a trio of beloved classical masterworks. Opening the concert is Sergei Prokofiev’s ebullient Classical Symphony, among the composer’s most popular works. Next, Concertmaster Roger Wilkie steps into the spotlight in Mendelssohn’s passionate Violin Concerto. The program concludes with the world’s most famous symphony, which may make you jump from your seat as it opens with perhaps the most iconic phrase in the classical repertoire: the majestic “bum bum bum BUM” of Ludwig van Beethoven’s richly triumphant Symphony No.5.

Get an early start on enjoying this concert by reading the Program Notes:

Symphony No. 1 “Classical” (Prokifiev)

Violin Concerto (Mendelssohn)

Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)

The secret power of storytelling through music comes to the Long Beach Arena as we present Bravo! Broadway.  Audiences will be transported to a different place and time by the glitz and raw emotions of the best of Broadway’s iconic musical pieces, performed by those who have commanded the New York and London stages –and accompanied by the grandeur of a symphonic orchestra.

There is something for everyone: From Funny Girl, to The Wiz, Sweeney Todd, Lion King, Rent, Cabaret, Chicago, Westside Story, Les Misérables, and Phantom of the Opera, to Dreamgirls, Hello Dolly, and The Tina Turner Musical.  

The lights will shine bright as Grammy-winning conductor Dr. James Bass leads the amazing Long Beach Symphony and the stage is transformed by Scarlett Strallen (currently Gwendolyn on Broadway’s production of Travesties and who played Mary Poppins in London’s West End), LaKisha Jones (known as an American Idol finalist and for her role in Broadway’s The Color Purple), and Hugh Panaro who played the title role in Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera over 2000 times! Enjoy the best compositions by Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Kander, Bernstein, Elton John, and many, many more. 

Doors open at 6:30pm for our famous indoor picnicking. Bring your baskets with food, sweets, libations, and even costumes and table decorations!

   A warm welcome from LaKisha Jones

   and Hugh Panaro!

Take a peek at the Program Book and learn more.

Music For All Seasons: On this spectacular evening, Long Beach Symphony, under the direction of Maestro Eckart Preu, will rouse audiences with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, a group of four violin concertos embodying each season of the year.  Each of the seasons will be exquisitely presented by Long Beach Symphony’s own stellar lead violinists Roger Wilkie, Agnes Gottschewski, Chloé Tardif, and Chyi-Yau Lee. Vivaldi’s best-known work, Four Seasons (1725) is the world’s most popular and recognized pieces of Baroque music. Audiences will recognize the evolving sounds from movies like Tin Cup, Spy Game, A View to Kill, What Lies Beneath, White Chicks, Saved!, Pacific Heights and The Other Sister; and they will be reminded of many wedding ceremonies attended.

Over 60 years later, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would compose Symphony No. 40 in G minor, one of only two symphonies he wrote in minor keys reflecting the “Storm and Stress” artistic movement and showcasing darker and stronger emotions.

Audiences will enjoy the Classical Series fun and elegant evening surrounded by the Terrace’s dazzling fountains, live ensemble in the lobby, Pre-Concert Talk to gain greater knowledge on the evening programming, and the ability to “Sip & Enjoy” in the concert hall.