Mike Sciacca It surely will be a...

Mike Sciacca

It surely will be a grand debut for the Grand Ballroom on the

official opening night of the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort &

Spa this Saturday.

The 20,000-square-foot ballroom will be the site of the

fund-raising event called “Espana,” a gala ball with proceeds to go

to the youth music education programs of the Philharmonic Society of

Orange County. It will also benefit students attending county

schools.

Included among that group are schools within the Ocean View,

Huntington Beach City and Huntington Beach Union school districts and

local private schools.

The Hyatt has teamed with the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic

Committee, which is a member of the Philharmonic Society of Orange

County, in this philanthropic effort.

It’s not a bad first-time effort, either: the sold-out “Espana” is

expected to draw a festive crowd of 1,200.

Tickets, priced at $150 per person, sold out prior to the Jan. 17

cutoff date.

Those in attendance will be treated to a night of dinner, an

auction and dancing to the sounds of the Wayne Foster Band.

The band has played for past U.S. presidents, gala officials said.

The Philharmonic Society of Orange County, which recently

celebrated its 40th anniversary, was the Hyatt Regency Huntington

Beach Resort & Spa’s charity of choice, said Susan Werner, a

Huntington Beach resident and vice president of public relations for

the philharmonic society.

Saturday’s gala will be a countywide event involving 26 county

philharmonic societies.

The Philharmonic Society of Orange County raises up to $500,000

per year for the music program, and as many as 250,000 children enjoy

the free music education programs each year, Werner said.

“The Huntington Harbour Committee plays a huge role in this

fund-raising,” she said. “Huntington Harbour raises about $200,000 of

that half-million dollar total.”

Of that $200,000, Werner said, that the Huntington Harbour

Philharmonic Committee can take up to 10% and is able to put that

money back into local schools.

“This event is being held in an effort to support children’s

programs and to help build an appreciation for music among Orange

County school students,” Werner said.

“One reason to stage events such as this is largely due to the

fact that funding for music programs in schools is not there,” she

said. “The money from these two events will support these programs.”

One unique aspect of the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee

is that it is one of a few to put its fund-raising proceeds into a

Music Reinvestment Program.

Once the money has been raised, local schools send an application

to the committee seeking money for a certain aspect of their music

programs, Werner said, and the committee sends out checks.

“We give what we can, whether it be to a school’s request for the

purchase of musical instruments or helping out with staffing,” Werner

said.

A few of the music programs offered by the society include “Art

and Music,” “Meet the Musicians” and the traveling “Music Mobile.”

Students paid a visit to the Orange County Museum of Art in

Newport Beach as part of the “Art and Music” program. The purpose of

the program is to introduce to students music and how it relates to

art.

The most recent program, which was held at the end of 2002, paired

the glass windows of architect Frank Lloyd Wright with the work of a

musician brought in to write music specifically for the program. The

goal was to give students an understanding of the balance and the

structure of music and how it relates to various works of art.

In the “Meet the Musicians” program, musicians visit local

fifth-grade classrooms at schools throughout the county, give

demonstrations and then teach students about that instrument.

The “Music Mobile” is a van that travels from school to school

carrying various orchestra instrument pieces. Students get to work

with these instruments in a one-on-one setting.

“For more than 40 years, the Philharmonic Society has been

providing free programs for school children in Orange County both in

their respective schools and in concert halls,” said JoAnn

Fuerbringer, director of education for the Philharmonic Society of

Orange County. “Our goal is to enrich our school children by showing

them the great possibilities within music programs, and fund-raising

events such Saturday’s gala ball at the Hyatt Huntington Beach go a

long way in helping us reach our goal.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at [email protected].