8 • Pacific Symphony

pops seriesOCT. 13–14

The performance begins at 8 p.m.

SEGERSTROM CENTER FOR THE ARTSRENÉE AND HENRY SEGERSTROM CONCERT HALL

presents

2017-18 POPS SERIES

Official Television Station

P A C I F I C S Y M P H O N Y P R O U D L Y R E C O G N I Z E S I T S O F F I C I A L P A R T N E R S

Pops Radio SponsorOfficial Hotel

ALBERT-GEORGE SCHRAM • CONDUCTORDAVID FOSTER • VOCALIST

The Saturday night concert is generously sponsored by Ruth Ann Moriarty and Jean Moriarty.

Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825–1899) Overture to Die Fledermaus Percy Grainger (1882–1961) English Country Gardens

Manuel de Falla (1876–1946) Spanish Dance No. 1, from La vida breve Irving Berlin / arr. Healey Tribute to Irving Berlin

David Fosterwith special guests

I N T E R M I S S I O N

Pacifi c Symphony • 9

ALBERT-GEORGE meet the conductor

ALBERT-GEORGE SCHRAMCONDUCTOR

E qually adept at conducting classical and pops programs, Albert-George Schram has led a wide variety of repertoire for many orchestras in the U.S. and abroad. Schram is currently resident staff conductor of the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony and Charlotte Symphony

orchestras. He has conducted classical, pops, holiday and educational concerts for both. He has also served as music director of the Lubbock Symphony and the Lynn Philharmonia (Florida). Most recently, Schram concluded his tenure as resident conductor of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Previously he has held titled positions with the Louisville Philharmonic and Florida Philharmonic orchestras.

Schram’s guest-conducting roster has included the symphonies of Dallas, Charlotte, Tucson, New Orleans (Louisiana Philharmonic), Oklahoma City, Louisville, Spokane, San Antonio and Orlando, among others. His conducting engagements abroad have been with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, the KBS (Seoul) and Teagu Symphonies in Korea, the Orquestra Sinfonica Nacional of Bolivia, the Orquestra Sinfonica Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Mendoza) in Argentina, the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan and the Orchester der Allgemeinen Musikgesellschaft (Luzern) in Switzerland.

Educated at The Hague Conservatory in his native Netherlands, Schram has also studied at the Universities of Calgary and Victoria in Canada, and the University of Washington. His teachers have included Rafael Kubelik, Franco Ferrara, Abraham Kaplan and Neeme Järvi.

On the classical side, Schram has worked with many distinguished artists, including pianists Lang Lang and Olga Kern and violinist Elmar Oliveira, among many others. His vast performance repertoire has included most of the standard symphonic masterpieces, especially the great symphonies of Gustav Mahler, the subject of his dissertation. He has had a lifelong affi nity for performing the great choral-orchestral works, in particular the Requiems of Verdi, Mozart, Berlioz and others. This, in addition to music by such acclaimed contemporary composers as John Corigliano and Jennifer Higdon.

As a pops conductor, Schram has worked with James Taylor, Art Garfunkel, Chris Botti, Boyz II Men, LeAnn Rimes, Kenny G, Olivia Newton-John, Smokey Robinson, Chicago, Aretha Franklin and numerous others. He has created a large variety of themed programs, celebrating everything from “Home for the Holidays” (Christmas), and “That’s Amore” (Valentine’s), to swinging jazz big band, country and soul music.

Schram currently resides in Florida with his wife, Debbie. Their three children are all grown up. In his spare time, he is an avid racquetball player and a certifi ed group-fi tness instructor.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Jean Moriarty & Ruth Ann Moriarty

Pacifi c Symphony is grateful to Jean Moriarty and Ruth Ann Moriarty for their sponsorship of the Saturday Pops performance. We are very appreciative for their many years as supporters of the Pacifi c Symphony Pops Series. As members of the Segerstrom family, they have played a tremendous role in supporting the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and sustaining the arts and other non-profi ts in Orange County. They have our sincere gratitude!

10 • Pacifi c Symphony

DAVID FOSTERVOCALIST

I believe that everyone gets three rounds in their life,” says musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, producer and recording artist David Foster. “For me, two are completed and I’m on to round three. I think you have to change it up every round. My mantra is retreat and attack

in another direction, which I’ve done twice. Now I'm going to do it again.”

Foster’s fi rst round was as a studio musician, arranger and recording artist. His second round was becoming one of the most successful songwriters and record producers in history—shepherding albums that have collectively sold in the hundreds of millions. This period of his four-decade career also found him creating The David Foster Foundation and volunteering his time and talent to more than 400 charities, as well as becoming a household name as a performer throughout Asia, where he tours annually.

For his third round, Foster is gearing up to take on Broadway with several projects. These include writing the music for a new musical about the iconic animated character Betty Boop, which will be directed by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell. He is writing the music for a stage adaptation of the fi lm Doc Hollywood, directed by Emmy Award winner Josh Bergasse, as well as for a musical based on the Amy Bloom novel and New York Times bestseller Lucky Us, directed by Tony Award nominee Sheryl Kaller. Foster is also developing a scripted narrative one-man show based on the story of his career that he will perform himself. And fi nally, he is gearing up to write an original show with Oscar-nominated actor Chazz Palminteri that Foster describes as “a cross between The Bodyguard and The Phantom of the Opera.”

As one of the most illustrious composers of our time, Foster’s skill set of creating hits, writing indelible melodies and building dramatic moments has primed him for this third round. “I think Broadway and I are a perfect fi t,” he says. “The story becomes the co-writer. It’s a new adventure and creative outlet for me that I’ve always believed I could do and now it's become a reality. It’s also exciting because, as a producer, I've spent 35 years in a room with no windows, churning out music. Now I plan to immerse myself in New York theater culture and learn the ropes slowly, and I'm not afraid of that.”

Foster seems constitutionally incapable of resting on his laurels and his relentless drive has propelled him throughout his career. Few other individuals can claim to have their fi ngerprints on more major moments in all of popular music than David Foster. He has created hit songs and award-winning gold and platinum albums for a diverse array of artists including Barbra Streisand; Celine Dion; Whitney Houston; Michael Jackson; Madonna; Andrea Bocelli; Michael Bublé; Josh Groban; Rod Stewart; Stevie Wonder; Earth, Wind & Fire; Diana Krall; Natalie Cole; Michael Bolton; Seal; Chaka Khan; Kenny Rogers; Dolly Parton; Chicago; Hall & Oates; Brandy; ’N Sync; Boz Scaggs and Gloria Estefan. He has escorted singers who have straddled both pop and classical styles like Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban into the mainstream. He has created culture-defi ning soundtracks for blockbuster fi lms like The Bodyguard, Urban Cowboy and St. Elmo’s Fire and has crafted timeless holiday classics, including perennial best-sellers like Josh Groban’s “Noel,” Michael Bublé’s “Christmas,” Celine Dion’s “These Are Special Times,” Rod Stewart’s “Merry Christmas Baby,” Andrea Bocelli’s “My Christmas” and Mary J. Blige’s “A Mary Christmas."

For his remarkable work, Foster has won 16 Grammy Awards, including three for Producer of the Year, an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe, and racked up three Oscar nominations for “Best Original Song.” He has also earned a reputation as a keen spotter of new talent, playing a key role in the discovery and career launches of Celine Dion, Josh Groban and Michael Bublé.

Foster has also been rewarded with professional honors, including being inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2002, The Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2007, The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in the U.S., also in 2010. In 2013, Foster received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Refl ecting upon receiving a star on the Walk of Fame, Foster says, “One hundred years from now, my great-grandchildren will go, ‘Hey, there’s my great-grandpa,’ and having a star next to The Beatles … outside the building where I fi rst got signed … that’s perfect.”

DAVID about the artist

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