Upcoming concerts

2022/23 Season

Romantic Reveries

Apr 29–30

Experience three remarkable Romantic masterworks, each painting a unique picture of a character or moment in time: Jean Sibelius’s immortal Finlandia, the majestic Hiawatha Overture of Samuel Coleridge Taylor, and Cécile Chaminade’s magical Callirhoë Suite. The concert will be capped off by a performance of the Cello Concerto of Edward Elgar, featuring internationally-renowned cellist László Mező.

Outdoor Summer Chamber Music

Sat, Jun 3

Food, Drink, and Chamber Music. For something a little different, each summer we have a pop-up extravaganza. It will be a multi-course, multi-movement Summer evening of musical and culinary delight!

Sat, Apr 29, 7:00 PM

Curtis Theatre
1 Civic Center Cir
Brea, CA 92821

Sun, Apr 30, 3:00 PM

Curtis Theatre
1 Civic Center Cir
Brea, CA 92821

Adults $25

Seniors $20

Medical/Military/First Responders $20

Orchestra Series

Romantic Reveries

Edward Elgar

Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85

I. Adagio – Moderato

II. Lento – Allegro molto

III. Adagio — Allegro molto e vivace

IV. Allegro – Moderato – Allegro, ma non-troppo – Poco più lento – Adagio

László Mező (cello)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

The Song of Hiawatha, Op. 30

Cécile Chaminade

Callirhoë, Op. 37, ballet symphonique

Jean Sibelius

Finlandia, Op. 26

Guest Artist

Featured Soloist

László Mező

Cello

Born in Budapest, Hungary, László Mező gained national recognition as one of the top musicians of his generation when he won First Prize in the “Kertész Ottó Memorial Competition” at the young age of 18. Since then, he has won numerous other competitions which have brought him international recognition, including the Fourth Prize in the “Antonio Janigro Junior International Competition” in 1998, Second Prize in the “International Dávid Popper Competition for Young Cellists” in 2000, the Special Prize in the “International Dávid Popper Cello Competition” in 2004 and First Prize in the “Ima Hogg International Competition” in 2008. Mező has forged a career as a soloist, recitalist, master teacher, and chamber musician. He has performed extensively in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. Always eager to pass on his knowledge, Mező has conducted master classes in Japan, Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, and the United States. 

Mező is currently an adjunct professor of cello at Chapman University and Saddleback College in California, and he was an assistant teacher at the University of Southern California between 2007 and 2008. 

As a soloist, Mező has performed with maestros Ádám Fischer, Thomas Wilkins, Grant Llewellyn, and Zsolt Hamar. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated in recitals with pianists Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Steven Vanhauwaert, Gábor Farkas, Márta Gulyás, Piotr Folkert and Balázs Szokolay, violinist Kristóf Baráti, cellist Philipp Muller and the Bartók Quartet. He has also played under the direction of Zubin Mehta and Kent Nagano as a member of the Bayerische Staatsorchester in Munich, Germany. 

Mező holds two master’s degrees from the Liszt Ferenc University of Music in Budapest and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. He graduated from the class of Ralph Kirshbaum at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Mező has also participated in the master classes of Uzi Wiesel, Josef Podhoransky, Othmar Müller, Philippe Müller, Rainer Zipperling, Fenyves Lóránd, Wolfgang Boettcher and Aldo Parisot. 

Currently residing in Los Angeles, Mező is a sought-after soloist and an active studio musician in Hollywood. He has played in many film scores; some most updated blockbusters include Ice AgeLife of PiThe Wolverine, and The Lone Ranger. Mező’s first CD recording of Dávid Popper’s works on the Hungaroton label includes several first-time recordings of the master’s cello works. He recently finished his second CD, Made in Paris, with romantic cello pieces from the 19th century, also featuring world premiere works by cellist-composer Daniel Van Goens and pieces from the Suite Populaire Espagnole by Manuel De Falla.