Music

Orange County philanthropists David and Darrellyn Melilli opened their coastal estate in south Orange County on behalf of the Pioneer School of Music. The late summer evening gathering attracted 125 guests, including a significant contingent of Newport-Mesa donors coming together to support the music programs of a school considered, "The best-kept secret in Orange County", according to Newport's dynamic Jan Landstrom . Part of the mission of the evening was to get the secret out. Landstrom and David Melilli both serve on the Salvation Army's advisory board, and the Pioneer School of Music is an adjunct to the Salvation Army where young people are given instruction in music.

COSTA MESA — Sitting in on a second-grade class trying out the xylophone might make one reach for Advil, but not that's not the case in Suzanne Rivera's class at Paularino Elementary School. With six students poised in front of different sized xylophones, and the rest sitting "criss-cross apple sauce, pepperoni pizza sauce," Rivera challenged them to use their creativity and create their own tunes on the first try. "I want you to think of your own melody," Rivera told her students.

Jameson Burt's love for music emerged at the age of 12 when his dad, an avid rock fan and hobby guitar player, placed a 1960-something Yamaha acoustic in his hands and encouraged him to start playing. "My desire to be in a band with some kids on my block is what really got me into it," he laughs. "We played instrumental garbage slop. We were terrible. " The singer-songwriter has come a long way since then, singing backup with the popular "melodic rock" band Ecco Ecco, formerly Steve Carson Band, with whom he's released a couple of records, and captivating audiences on solo tours along the West Coast and in New York City with his raw, powerful voice and magnetic stage presence.

Larisa Stow found her true calling quite unexpectedly, during one of the most unsettling moments of her life. It’s difficult to classify Stow’s music. Stow and her band, the Shakti Tribe, combine East and West with “kirtan,” the traditional Indian form of devotional call-and-response chanting; sacred mantras; uplifting lyrics and peace prayers from around the world. She and the Shakti Tribe will perform Saturday at the Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church in Costa Mesa.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — No passersby recognized him, but I didn't find that surprising. They were too busy hustling to and from the last day of Oktoberfest celebrations at the Old World Village. But a few stopped momentarily to hear the group of five French horns play a song of the old world and see the old gentleman conducting them. The gentleman's name isn't instantly recognizable by many, but within the world of classical music — and its subset world of French horn players — Jim Decker is a legend.

Freebie of the Week: Visit lstn.urbanoutfitters.com to stream and download scads of free indie, post-rock and ambient music played in Urban Outfitters stores. The most current collection, LSTN #10, includes musical greats like Windsor for the Derby, the Drums and Stornoway. Along with the special releases, the company releases at least five free tracks every Monday. An iTunes account is required to download music, but the songs also can be streamed online. Stuff to cool off Summer's bound to heat up again, so this is the perfect time to visit the Tidepools Swimwear Warehouse Sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 33041 Calle Perfecto, San Juan Capistrano.

Anomie Belle first realized she had the power to move people with her music at the tender age of 12 when she brought a crowd of 400 Unitarian summer campers to tears with a performance of a song she’d written about the loss of a loved one. “At the time, I felt guilty for making them cry,” she said. “At first I felt like I’d done something wrong, but that experience is what inspired me to write music about issues that are more personal to me.” In those days, the Portland, Ore., native was known by her real name, Toby Campbell, an angst-ridden teenage girl whose poetic songwriting was inspired by musician Ani DiFranco and Christopher Pike suspense novels.

Bringing artists from all over the world to Costa Mesa, the latest vision of the Orange County Performing Arts Center will present an eclectic mix of music during the 2007-08 season. The center recently announced the new World Currents series, which ranges from the somber tunes and lyrics of Portuguese fado to the pomp and pageantry of British cavalry regiments. "The Samueli Theater and the new concert hall are both terrific spaces to explore new and different styles of music," said Aaron Egigian, the center's senior director of music programming.

Suzie Harrison The fifth concert in the 2002-03 Friends of Music "First Sundays at Five" Series at Saint Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church will be held Sunday. Called "A Winter's Night," it will feature the calming and deeply spiritual music of Taize. Tim Getz the church's minister of music said that it's less of a concert and more of a musical expression of worship. "Taize is named for a monastery in France," Getz said. "It's known for meditation through music and silence, and as a pilgrimage site for people from all over the world who want to come to pray with others."

Young Chang Music director Carl St. Clair compares Felix Mendelssohn's composition for "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to a musical magic carpet. Shakespeare's words ride the carpet and so do the actors who utter his writing to life. This experience is what St. Clair, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, actors from South Coast Repertory, the Women of the Pacific Chorale and guest soloists are striving for with next week's "Shakespeare, In Love" concert at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Newport Harbor High School's theater arts department will debut its winter musical "Curtains" at 7 p.m. Thursday in the campus' Robert B. Wentz Theatre in the Norman Loats Performing Arts Center, 600 Irvine Ave. The show is a comedy whodunit put on by 55 students including a live orchestra. Tickets are $10 for children and $15 for adults, and can be bought at the door or http://www.nhhsdrama.com . Advanced ticket purchase is recommended. The musical will run at 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

"Once I get you up there where the air is rarified We'll just glide, starry-eyed Once I get you up there I'll be holding you so near You may hear all the angels cheer 'cause we're together. " - Frank Sinatra, "Come Fly Away" * The creative pairing behind the hit Broadway dance sensation "Come Fly Away" may just be made in heaven. "Come Fly Away" pairs the music of Old Blue Eyes himself with the choreography of Tony Award-winner Twyla Tharp.

The university where he teaches once dubbed him the "man who found the rock in Bach. " Organist Christoph Bull — the acclaimed UCLA music professor who says he's a fan of "organ music, rock music and rocking organ music" — will be performing Sunday afternoon at Concordia University in Irvine. The 4 p.m. concert, titled "Music and Movies: Improvisation and Artistry of Christoph Bull," will have the German native playing his own improvised score to Charlie Chaplin's 1917 silent film, "The Immigrant.

The New York-based Metta Quintet will explore new artistic territory in a one-night show in Orange County on Jan. 27 celebrating the globalization of jazz music. In "JazzReach: Big Drum/Small World" at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, the quintet will perform a multimedia concert paying tribute to the lives and music of eight commissioned jazz composers from around the world. Also included in the lineup is original music from members of the ensemble: Tim Green (alto saxophone), Wayne Escoffery (tenor saxophone)

"He would watch you without winking/And he saw what you were thinking/And it's certain that he didn't approve/Of hilarity and riot/So that folk were very quiet/When Skimble was about and on the move. " — "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat" * Now in its 31st year, Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical "CATS" has seen more than its share of nine lives. Performed across several continents, "CATS" got its start when Lloyd Webber picked up a copy of T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" in an airport bookshop.

NEWPORT BEACH — If the walls of this beachside jazz joint could talk, oh, the story they would tell. Those walls of The Blue Beet date back 100 years, but the music venue and restaurant near the Newport Pier over the years has been shaped by much more than just jazz and steaks, said Scott Lewis, the general manager. "It's been around for a long time, serving as a hangout in one way or another," said Lewis, 32, whose father bought the Blue Beet in the early 1980s, sold it, then re-purchased it in the late '90s.

The Musical Theatre Academy of Orange County welcomed an enthusiastic crowd supporting its work with youth in the community. More than 125 guests converged upon the OASIS Senior Center in Corona del Mar for a pre-holiday dinner and show billed as "Star Gala 2011. " It raised $15,000 in funding for musical theater programs. Producers transformed the OASIS auditorium into a winter wonderland replete with a forest of snow-covered lighted trees. Band leader Richard "Bugsy" Abraham welcomed the crowd with Christmas standards, as the staff of Blueberry Hill prepared and served a seasonal holiday dinner.

Harbor View Elementary School's longtime music teacher, Linda Messenger, was honored with a standing ovation at the recent holiday program - her last school-wide musical assembly before she retires in June. "Harbor View has always been proud of our musical program," said Principal Charlene Metoyer. "This is due to the fabulous direction of Mrs. Messenger. I don't know if anyone can take her place. " Messenger has worked at Harbor View for 11 years, and she also has taught at Whittier, Newport Coast and Newport elementary schools, teaching thousands of students instrumental and vocal music as well as dance.

One thing I find so wonderful about the Pacific Chorale is that it's made up of our county's neighbors and our friends, maybe even our family. On select nights these varied folks, most of them volunteers, sing gloriously without the help of today's omnipresent Auto-Tune. Wednesday was one of those nights. On that chilly SoCal evening this remarkable ensemble, a contender for among the finest nationwide, had its annual Christmas-themed concert in its Costa Mesa home base, the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.

Seeking to celebrate the season but have no idea where to start? Our annual guide to all things holiday will help guide the way, regardless of where you live, work or play. First up: the food. For those shuddering at the thought of preparing a meal on Sunday, several top restaurants will be open for brunch and dinner, Choose from many options like a four-course champagne brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. or dinner from 4:30 to 10 p.m. at Las Brisas, 361 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach; a three-course meal at the Californian at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 21500 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach, that includes entrée selections like roast turkey or an all-natural filet; and a brunch buffet with special holiday items at the Palm Terrace Restaurant in the Island Hotel, 690 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach.