Outdoor music is set to return to the performing arts scene in Irvine as the city opens Great Park Live, a temporary amphitheater that can host a crowd of up to 5,000 people and that will feature a food and beverage hub.
Starting June 14, the amphitheater will host tribute concerts, including a Taylor Swift night on June 22.
In July, Great Park Live will also become home to a farmers market. Eventually, the city hopes to use the venue to host graduations, festivals and commercial acts, Irvine spokesperson Kristina Perrigoue said, adding that officials will soon also announce details about the venue’s planned food and beverage hub.
The city has hired Irvine-based PSQ Productions, Inc., with a three-year, $6.6 million contract to operate the temporary venue, and has also contracted for the design and planning of a future permanent amphitheater, with about 8,000 to 10,000 seats.
The temporary facility replaces FivePoint Amphitheatre that closed after its last show in October. Operator Live Nation couldn’t come to an agreement with the city on a large venue the company proposed.
City officials have said the stage for Great Park Live is of a similar size to FivePoint.
Notably, Great Park Live will become the summer home of the Pacific Symphony at least through 2026. The Pacific Symphony will start its summer concert season, dubbed SummerFest, on July 4 with a fireworks show, salute to the Armed Forces and the music of Chicago performed with tribute band Brass Transit.
“Wherever and whenever Pacific Symphony performs — winter, spring, summer or fall — we dedicate ourselves to ensuring that our symphony family has an exciting and rewarding experience,” Music Director Carl St. Clair said in a statement. “This coming summer will be no exception!”
The 2024 SummerFest season will include four additional concerts through early September, drawing fans through performances of iconic compositions by John Williams, George Gershwin and Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky.
On July 27, City of Hope Orange County will present a “Concert of Hope,” welcoming all whose lives have been touched by cancer. The symphony and guest piano soloist Jeffrey Biegel will perform George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” which premiered 100 years ago. In celebration of the masterpiece’s centennial anniversary, the Pacific Symphony will also perform the California premiere of Peter Boyer’s composition, “Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue.”
In August, the symphony will host two cinematic pops concerts. On Aug. 10, the symphony will perform the score of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” as the film is shown on a big screen in the amphitheater. Then, on Aug. 23, principal pops conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez will make his SummerFest debut conducting a program of symphonic film music from the Harry Potter franchise.
On Sept. 7, the symphony will conclude its summer series with the “Tchaikovsky Spectacular,” bursting cannons and fireworks for the “1812 Overture” with experts from the “Nutcracker” and a violin concerto performed by Philippe Quint.
Season tickets for the five-concert package start at $295 with more information at PacificSymphony.org.
A full schedule of events at the venue is available at greatparklive.com/events.
