The Crowd: Celebrating union of bicoastal culture

It is arguably one of the most special spots in all of Orange County. The Noguchi Garden at Pacific Arts Plaza, Costa Mesa, welcomed a distinguished crowd for a luncheon last week celebrating the union of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and New York City's renowned Carnegie Hall. The champagne luncheon, served al fresco under the shade of cream-colored market umbrellas, attracted a who's who crowd of the cultural elite.

Exuberant adjectives defining this remarkable partnership are in no way an exaggeration of the monumental accomplishment achieved in the cultural collaboration between the East and West coasts. Carnegie Hall has never in its long and storied history joined forces with a West Coast cultural center, such as the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. These relationships are the result of the efforts of Henry T. Segerstrom, managing partner of South Coast Plaza, working with Clive Gillinson, executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall.

The program for the 2010-11 cultural festival is called "JapanOC" and will feature a series of artists representing a wide variety of the cultural diversity of Japan ranging from classical music to modern dance to contemporary orchestral composition. Guest performers will include violinist Midori, guitarist Kazumi Watanabe, composer and musician Kojiro Umezaki, among others. The festival will debut in October and run through April 2011.

For information, call the Philharmonic Society at (949) 553-2422 or visit www.philharmonicsociety.org.

The Stars of Santa Barbara will return to the June 9 benefit at South Coast Plaza benefiting the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. This second annual event is expected to attract the stars of the vineyards, not of the movie screen. Organizers create a wonderful summer food and wine event held under the stars in the Garden Terrace.

More than 40 of Santa Barbara's finest wineries will be front and center, pouring glasses of their wines and offering one-of-a-kind silent auction items.

The evening will be completed by fine food provided by AnQi by Crustacean, Marché Moderne, Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale's, Pizzeria Ortica, Pinot Provence, Morton's The Steakhouse, Antonello Ristorante, Hamamori Restaurant-Sushi Bar, Quattro Caffé, Signature Kitchen and others.