The opening notes sound today

The red carpet was rolled out Thursday as construction workers continued to tinker with and clean the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in preparation for tonight’s grand opening when the Pacific Chorale, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and Plácido Domingo will take to the stage.

Workers paused as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach city council members and Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor joined philanthropists and guests as they listened to the civic dedication of the $200-million hall.

Wearing cowboy boots with his gray suit, Schwarzenegger cut a red ribbon — held on either end by two people onstage — after waiting for musicians playing their horns to finish the song.

Twenty years ago, the original Segerstrom Hall opened at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and about half of the Pacific Chorale singers sang in celebration. Tonight, they’ll reprise their role at the new concert hall, this time built with their voices in mind.

“When we walked in to rehearsal, there were a lot of us who were instantly in tears,” said Newport Beach resident and chorale singer Mary Lyons. “It’s the most beautiful hall and the acoustics are wonderful, we all sound like we would dream we would and we can all hear each other.”

The dream came to fruition through private donors, something marveled about by speakers at the dedication. In 1998, Henry Segerstrom donated 6 acres of land for the hall, and in 2000 he gave the lead gift of $40 million.

Construction began three years ago.

“This is the way Orange County does things,” Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell told Schwarzenegger and the audience at the dedication.

The hall was built with “informed architecture,” meaning every aspect was checked out by Artec Consultants Inc., a firm specializing in the design of performing-arts venues. Every fountain, light and electrical system was evaluated for its noise level and altered accordingly. The acoustics can be adjusted to accommodate any performance, from a soloist to a full orchestra.

More than 120 acoustical doors and three adjustable canopies help the acoustics in the hall, which stands five stories high. More than an acre of glass was used to create the hall, with each of the 650 panes hung vertically.

The difference in the sound from Segerstrom Hall and the new hall is evident to the singers and musicians who have used both.

“Segerstrom Hall is huge and, like any multipurpose hall, it’s never going to give you the clarity and beautiful sound of, say, a recording studio,” Lyons said. “This [Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall] really sounds like that.”

Lyons, who has served as the chairwoman of the Pacific Chorale board of directors and has sung since Segerstrom Hall was opened, was onstage when the original hall opened.

“I never thought we would have this in Orange County — it was astonishing and wonderful,” she said about her feelings when the first hall opened. “My husband and I gave a gift to the building, and it was exciting to watch it happen.”

At Thursday’s dedication, speakers commended Segerstrom and the other donors, who, they said, will bring Orange County to the forefront as an arts and cultural center for the country and the world.

“Because of you, arts and music will continue to flourish in California,” Schwarzenegger told the audience.

Pacific Symphony musical director Carl St. Clair welcomed audience members to his “new office” and called the hall “the new heart and soul” of Orange County.

Lyons is just as excited as her call to the stage draws nearer. Tonight she, along with about 170 other singers — there are 11 who live in Newport-Mesa — will sing American composer Aaron Copeland’s “The Promise of Living,” which many singers find an appropriate tribute to the opening.

“It’s about growing and helping one another and sharing joy and singing…. It’s about coming together and doing all those things, so that’s why I think it’s appropriate for this new hall and the people that helped raise funds for this,” said singer Kellee Schildknecht of Costa Mesa. “They are the ones who want the music and culture to be more than it is in Orange County, and they’re coming together and doing it, and I’m thankful and singing and enjoying it.”

UPCOMING CONCERTS

FRIDAY: “Inspirations”

Led by John Alexander, the Pacific Chorale and the John Alexander Singers will perform “The Star Spangled Banner” and Aaron Copeland’s “The Promise of Living.”

Plácido Domingo will sing the world premiere of composer William Bolcom’s song cycle based on Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca’s works.

SATURDAY: “Reverberations”

The Pacific Symphony and the Pacific Chorale will perform the world premiere of “The Passion of Ramakrishna,” by Philip Glass.

Violin star Midori will join the orchestra, playing a Beethoven concerto.

SUNDAY: “The Magic of Mozart”

Celebrating the composer’s 250th birthday, the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg and conductor Ivor Bolton will perform pieces written by the famous Austrian.

Pianists Louis Lortie and Angela Hewitt will play the Concerto for Two Pianos. The hall will also introduce soprano Mojca Erdmann to North America.

QUESTION

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