About Us

Founded in 1996, The South Coast Symphony, The Unstuffy Symphony for the OC, is a resident orchestra for South Orange County. The 70 member Symphony’s mission is to provide South Orange County’s fifteen diverse communities with a professional, accessible and affordable symphonic musical experience. The Symphony’s eclectic programming is designed to entertain and educate while also attracting a whole new generation of concertgoers. The Symphony performs a wide variety of orchestral literature from the Classics and Opera to Light Classics, Broadway and Pops. Ticket prices range from $8 to $38. The Symphony’s subscription series venue is at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The South Coast Symphony Alliance and Junior Alliance, our support groups, include over 50 members who are instrumental in providing numerous volunteer and support services to The Symphony.

CROSSLINE CHURCH: The Symphony’s Venue

CROSSLINE Church is a beautiful venue, both visually and acoustically, with over 1000 reserved plush seats and lots of legroom. There is excellent viewing from anywhere in the house with 850 seats downstairs and over 150 seats in the balcony. The natural acoustics of the hall provide outstanding symphonic sound, coupled with the beauty of the venue located in Laguna Hills just off the 5 and 405 Freeways. Crossline Church is easily accessible to all communities in South County. Handicapped parking and seating are available. There is ample free parking on site as well as convenient drop-off for cars and busses.

KONCERTS for KIDS: Educational Outreach Concerts

For over a decade, South Coast Symphony’s Koncerts for Kids has performed for over 30,000 students and their teachers from cities and communities throughout South Orange County. These LIVE symphonic concerts are held annually in February during the school day. Students and teachers are bused to and from their schools to the concerts completely free of charge! Koncerts for Kids is a specifically designed multi-media program for fourth grade students incorporating both music and art.

They experience music, performed by a large symphony orchestra, from a variety of genres including classical, jazz, opera, film scores from Hollywood and the music of Broadway. Highlights of these concerts have included an interactive music and art performance to the music of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and multi-media presentations from the film scores of composer John Williams. The students also have the opportunity to hear performances at each concert from two very talented young performers who have been chosen as award winners from the Symphony’s annual Young STARS of the Future Competition. Students attending these concerts come from schools in the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) and private schools in South County.

One of the reasons this program is such a success is because of the work of our partners. The Symphony Alliance and staff from the Capistrano Unified School District along with volunteers from the Philharmonic Society of Orange County who coordinate the concert logistics. Financial support has come from The Allergan Foundation, Fluor Foundation, Hennings-Fischer Foundation and the Pacific Life Foundation. The Capistrano Unified School District Foundation has partnered with the Symphony to partially fund the cost of busing for the students to these concerts.

YOUNG STARS of the FUTURE

The Premiere county-wide Performance Competition & Concert The goal of the Young STARS of the Future Competition and Concert is to foster new, young talent residing or studying in Orange County, California. Winners of the Young STARS of the Future auditions are selected by a Jury of distinguished musicians. The criteria are exceptional talent, virtuosity, artistic individuality, projection as a performer, and promise. The musicians compete against a standard of excellence – not each other. There is a limit of three First Prize Winners. Each winner receives a $1000 US Savings Bond and a performance with the Symphony.

Auditions are open for all Orchestral Instruments as well as Piano, Organ, Harp, Voice and Conducting. The three categories include Classical, Jazz, and Musical Theatre.

Past winners are now performing on Broadway and in national Touring Companies; as classical artists appearing in Concert Halls throughout the country, and attending major music universities like Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, and the USC Thornton School of Music.

BARRY SILVERMAN, Music Director & Conductor

Mr. Silverman received his Bachelor of Music cum laude from USC in 1967 and his Master of Music in 1979. Emphasis was in performance, conducting and music education. Conducting studies including Professors William Schaefer, James Vail and Hans Beer. After graduation he began to work professionally around Southern California and the movie studios in Hollywood. His performance credits over chamber music, opera, ballet, jazz, pop, and a large number of orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic orchestras.

For the past 13 seasons Mr. Silverman has been the Music Director and Conductor of the South Coast Symphony. For twelve seasons he served as Music Director and Conductor of the Saddleback College Symphony Orchestra. In the 1980′s he was at Chapman University as Director of Band, Jazz and the Opera Orchestra. Additional conducting assignments have included contemporary concerts at the Tel-Aviv Museum, Musica Viva with the Israel Philharmonic and numerous guest conducting appearances. Mr. Silverman was co-founder and Music Director of Foothill Youth Summer Theater in La Canada & Broadway Superstar Camp at Saddleback College.

Special performance emphasis has been on the presentation of contemporary music. He has appeared for several years at the famed Monday Evening Concerts In Los Angeles and at the Contemporary Music Series at the American Embassy In Israel as percussion soloist. Mr. Silverman has premiered and recorded a number of percussion compositions, and has directed percussion ensembles including the Pacific Percussion Ensemble and CAPE, The Contemporary Artists Percussion Ensemble, for which he was founder and music director. Since 1967 Mr. Silverman has participated as conductor, performer and creator in hundreds of Concerts for Youth for such organizations as Young Audiences of Los Angeles, Performing Tree, and the Orange County Philharmonic Society. Mr. Silverman has lectured at a number of universities here and abroad. From 1991 to 2008, Mr. Silverman served as a music specialist for the Capistrano Unified School District. This is his first year as a member of the conservatory faculty at OCHSA.

Mr. Silverman can be heard on London, EMI, Delos, CBS, WIM, Crystal, and Columbia Records, Tapes & CD’s.