Right: Book cover image courtesy Long Beach Symphony Orchestra

Just in time for the holidays, and coinciding with the heart of their 2010-11 season, the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra announced today that two authors have penned a 132-page book about the first 75 years of the orchestra’s history here in Long Beach. The $40 book is filled with photos and highlights from the past 75 years. All proceeds will benefit the Orchestra. Full press release below:

“Music Looks Forward: The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra 1934 – 2009”
is a 132-Page History of LBSO and includes 240 Photographs  

LONG BEACH, CA – December 20 – The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra is proud to announce the publication of “Music Looks Forward: The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra 1934 – 2009,” a 132-page book that traces the orchestra’s history over the past 75 years. Written by Renee Simon and Michael Stugrin, the book was created to honor the orchestra for its 75 years of music making and service to the Long Beach community.
                                                                                                                                                 
Books can be purchased at the orchestra office at 110 W. Ocean Blvd between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, or can be ordered by calling the LBSO office at 562-436-3203. The book is available in a regular edition for $40.00 per copy; and a deluxe edition, signed by Music Director Enrique Diemecke and Principal POPS! Conductor Steven Reineke, for $75.00.  Phone orders will include a $10.95 charge for handling and shipping. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to the Orchestra’s general fund.

“This beautiful book is as much for reading right now as it is for saving for years to come,” says Robert Jones, the orchestra’s Executive Director.  “For long-time LBSO concertgoers, it will bring back many wonderful memories.  For our growing audiences of people new to Long Beach and to younger music lovers, the book will help them appreciate what a treasure LBSO is to our community.”

“Music Looks Forward: The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra 1934 – 2009”was written by Renee Simon, a long Beach author and former Long Beach City Council member, and Michael Stugrin, a business writer and Long Beach Symphony Association board member. Cost of the publication was completely underwritten by contributions from former and current board members.  Research, writing, and copyediting, proofreading, and photographs of LBSO’s 2009-10 anniversary season were provided on a pro bono basis.  Printing and production services were provided on a cost-only basis by Seaside Printing in Long Beach.

“Music Looks Forward: The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra 1934 – 2009” includes:

  • Four-color, embossed cover with the inside front and back covers featuring a collage of 32 concert programs selected from LBSO’s 75 seasons.
  • 132 pages of text and 240 photographs.
  • Chapters covering the tenures of LBSO’s six music directors – Robert Resta, Lauris Jones, Alberto Bolet, Murry Sidlin, JoAnn Falletta, and Enrique Arturo Diemecke; chapters tracing the growth of LBSO’s renowned music education programs and fundraising activities; lists of LBSO leadership over the decades; and messages from Enrique Diemecke, Steven Reineke, Bob Foster, Don Knabe, and Bob Jones.
  • The compelling chronicle of LBSO’s founding in 1934 and its gradual ascent as a widely respected regional orchestra.
  • Highlights of LBSO’s 75 seasons which have included the premiers of dozens of new musical compositions, guest performances by such noted classical performers as Camilla Wicks, Marilyn Horne, Van Cliburn, Jorge Bolet, Andre Watts, Pepe Romero, and Eugenia Zukerman, and such POPS! performers as Sarah Vaughan, Mitch Miller, Michael Crawford, Doc Severinsen, and Pink Martini.
  • Accounts of unique LBSO initiatives over the years, such as the orchestra’s two CDs (“Impressions of the Sea” and “Pictures”), a celebration of Long Beach’s Cambodian community with the world premier of Chinary Ung’s “Antiphonal Spires,” and the premiere of “Dos Visiones,” a joint composition by composers Ana Lara and Robert Maggio celebrating musical bridges between North and South America.

“This beautiful book is as much for reading right now as it is for saving for years to come,” Jones commented.  “For long-time LBSO concertgoers, it will bring back many wonderful memories.  For our growing audiences of people new to Long Beach and to younger music lovers, the book will help them appreciate what a treasure LBSO is to our community.”

Disclosure: Long Beach Post Publisher Shaun Lumachi is a member of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors.