Not far from where its founding family once grew lima beans, the president of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa announced a program last week that signals a new level of engagement for the complex in our rapidly evolving world.
“Orange County is one of the most vibrant and culturally diverse regions in the country,” said Segerstrom President Casey Ritz, where, he said, “the arts continue to play an important role.”
On March 30, Reitz gathered along with other Segerstrom officials on its growing campus to announce the new outreach program.
“We get together to share stories and celebrate our heritage,” said Reitz, “so today we’re very excited because we’re going to take the next step in that journey,” he said.
Reitz announced an “expanded commitment to Hispanic and Latino arts and culture. “
“This initiative will include performances, education programs, master classes, new commissions, and opportunities for artists and all agents who want to experience the incredible richness and diversity of Hispanic and Latino culture,” said Reitz.
His announcement comes at a time when entertainment venues across the country are repositioning themselves as the industry continues to evolve.
Moreover, Reitz seemed to channel Henry T. Segerstrom, the Center’s founder, who led a life of “imagining the future.”
Reitz said six-time Grammy® Award-winning composer and bandleader Auturo O’Farrill will enjoy the Center’s inaugural Artist in Residence program.
Courtesy photo
Not only to perform concerts and make appearances, said Reitz, but O’Farrill will be free to wander into and interface with various communities to build on Orange County’s long Latino history.
He said the AIR program is named “VIVA Spenuzza Series,” celebrating 257 Years of California’s Hispanic Heritage,” said Reitz.
Reitz thanked Segerstrom Board member Connie Spenuzza, and her family foundation, for funding the first year of the program.
O’Farrill is widely recognized as one of the industry’s most influential contemporary voices in Afro, Latin, and jazz music. His award-winning body of work effortlessly bridges the traditions of jazz improvisation, Afro-Cuban, and pan-Latin musical traditions.
“Segerstrom is doing something extraordinary,” said O’Farrill, noting that he “couldn’t be happier” about the groundbreaking residency.
“I want to be able to touch people’s lives,” he said, “regardless of who they are. Love is the only currency of value,” he said, adding that “it is the gravy that holds us all together.”
For Reitz, the surprise Artist in Residence announcement follows the release of a blockbuster lineup of 40th Anniversary Broadway shows to satisfy a wide swath of an increasingly diverse Orange County.
Four decades after its founding, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts is moving forward in ways not only to stay in touch with the times, but in many ways like the brainchild of the Center with which it shares a name.
The Costa Mesa cultural and entertainment complex was inspired and built by Henry T. Segerstrom, a visionary businessman remembered for always “imagining the future.”
According to a PBS documentary, Segerstrom was the grandson of C.J. Segerstrom, who emigrated to America from Sweden in 1882.After arriving, the family leased a tract of land where they kept dairy cows, grew alfalfa, and made their name and fortune in legumes (lima beans).
Young Henry Segerstrom came along in 1923, was named valedictorian of Santa Ana High School in 1939, enrolled at Stanford, interrupted his studies to serve in WWII, and, though severely wounded, earned a Purple Heart during the Battle of the Bulge.
Segerstrom returned to the family farm business and began “imagining the future.”
Segerstrom envisioned South Coast Plaza before there were sufficient roads to allow dusty OC residents to get there.
Moreover, he met with the most luxurious brands in Europe and convinced them to invest in a store there.
His vision brought immense prosperity to Henry and Renee Segerstrom. At one point, the South Coast Plaza was reportedly the highest-grossing shopping area per capita in the United States.
In 1972, when South Coast Repertory Theatre was seeking a location to build and expand. The Segerstrom family agreed to donate one acre of land adjacent to its current location with a $50,000 cash gift and parking arrangements. The South Coast Repertory Theatre opened in 1978.
In 1979, the Segerstrom family donated five acres across from the shopping center, along with $5 million to build the Orange County Performing Arts Center. That vision became reality when the Orange County Performing Arts Center opened on September 29, 1986 with a concert in its new opera house-style Segerstrom Hall.
At once, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts became one of the nation’s most innovative and technically advanced performing arts complexes.
The Segerstrom Center for the Arts quickly established an ambitious education department, dedicated to bringing young people to the campus for live professional performances and providing meaningful arts programs.
With six stunning venues nestled within a beautiful multi-disciplinary campus, the Center is home to the region’s most esteemed performing arts organizations, including the Pacific Symphony, Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Pacific Chorale as well as two independently acclaimed organizations: Tony Award®-winning South Coast Repertory and The Orange County Museum of Art. Segerstrom Center is also home to the American Ballet Theatre, William J. Gillespie School and Studio D: Arts School for All Abilities.
Now, in that spirit, Reitz is inspiring a reawakening of Segerstrom’s initial spirit, innovating the center’s operations, bringing to the Center more culturally diverse programming, launching a first Artist in Residence program, and from all indicattions, the SCFTA entertaiment overhaul is likely to continue.