Golden State Pops Orchestra

The Golden State Pops Orchestra (GSPO) is an American symphony pops orchestra located in the San Pedro district of Los Angeles, California in the United States of America. The GSPO is the resident orchestra of the Warner Grand Theatre, an Art Deco movie palace built by Warner Brothers Studios in 1931. The orchestra performs a wide variety of musical repertoire, including classical, Broadway, pop music and even video game soundtracks. However, the primary focus of the GSPO remains film music, a specialty of the orchestra since its founding in 2002. The Golden State Pops Orchestra is composed of professional freelance musicians from around the Los Angeles area.

Golden State Pops Orchestra (GSPO)
Orchestra
Founded2002
LocationLos Angeles, California
Concert hallWarner Grand Theatre
Principal conductorSteven Allen Fox
Websitewww.gspo.com

History

The Golden State Pops Orchestra (GSPO) was founded in 2002 by conductor and composer Steven Allen Fox, a graduate of the University of Southern California's Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television (SMPTV) program. Joshua Godoy, also a USC film scoring graduate, served as the assistant conductor. Initially functioning as the instrumental division of the Southeast Civic Light Opera in Los Alamitos, California, the orchestra's original home venue was the Liberty Theatre on the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Military Base.

The first public performance of the Golden State Pops Orchestra took place on April 6, 2002 at the Riviera United Methodist Church in Redondo Beach, California. The concert featured film music, and was titled Hooked on Film Scores. The Orchestra then performed four additional concerts in 2002, mostly at the Liberty Theatre.

Following its début season, the GSPO separated from the Southeast Civic Light Opera and moved its performances to the Long Beach Events Center (Scottish Rite Cathedral) in Long Beach, California for a portion of the 2003-2004 season, beginning with a St. Patrick's Day themed concert titled St. Pat Goes Pops! on March 15, 2003, and continuing with four additional concerts in Long Beach. In 2004, the orchestra moved to its current home venue, the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, California, premiering with a Valentine's Day themed concert titled Music for Lovers and Other Strangers on February 7, 2004.

Since 2004, the GSPO has become the resident orchestra of the Warner Grand Theatre,[1] and has grown into a professional ensemble of around 60 musicians. It continues to specialize in live performances of film scores, and frequently introduces new film music repertoire to its audiences; music that has not been performed since it was first recorded at the original scoring sessions. In 2005, the orchestra gave the North American concert premiere of film composer John Williams' Battle of the Heroes from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith as part of its all Star Wars concert. Since 2005, the orchestra has presented over seventy world premieres to its audiences, both from recent films such as Drag Me to Hell, Avatar, Astro Boy, Superman Returns, and Scream as well as older films such as Three Amigos, Mysterious Island, and The Fall of the Roman Empire.

GSPO Ensemble Series

In addition to its regular full orchestra concerts, the Golden State Pops Orchestra presents a series of chamber music concerts at the Grand Annex, Alvas Showroom, the First Presbyterian Church and other venues located near the orchestra's home venue of the Warner Grand Theatre. The GSPO Ensemble Series concerts consist of regular orchestra members who perform chamber music in a wide variety of styles from film and television music to classical repertoire.

World Premieres

The Golden State Pops Orchestra has focused on live concert performances of film music from its inception. Due to the orchestra's connections with the film and music industry in Los Angeles, it has been able to perform many pieces of music for the first time outside the original films, often with the original composer in attendance or even conducting the orchestra. Some of the world premieres that have been performed by the GSPO include:

2014

2013

2011

Current Season (2013 - 2014)

DateConcertGuest ArtistsNotes
October 19, 2013Varèse Sarabande 35th Anniversary Halloween GalaMarco Beltrami, composer & guest conductor
John Debney, guest conductor
Christopher Young, composer
Brian Tyler, composer & guest conductor
Joseph LoDuca, composer & guest conductor
Randy Edelman, composer & guest conductor
Lee Holdridge, composer & guest conductor
Charles Bernstein, composer
Nathan Barr, composer
Cliff Eidelman, guest conductor
Dave Lombardo, drummer
Sara Andon, flute soloist
Robert Townson, host
The Golden State Pops Chorale
Fourth concert celebrating the 35th anniversary of Varèse Sarabande
December 21, 2013Varèse Sarabande 35th Anniversary Holiday GalaJohn Debney, composer & guest conductor
William Ross, arranger & guest conductor
Sara Andon, flute soloist
Robert Townson, host
The Golden State Pops Holiday Chorale
Fifth concert celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Varèse Sarabande
February 15, 2014Great Composer Tribute: Elmer BernsteinPeter Bernstein, arranger & guest conductor
Bear McCreary, accordionist & guest speaker
John Landis, guest speaker
Richard Kraft, guest speaker
The late composer's family was in attendance.
May 10, 2014Sweeney Todd In Concert

Previous Season (2012 - 2013)

DateConcertGuest ArtistsNotes
December 15, 2012Holiday Pops SpectacularThe Golden State Pops Holiday Chorale
February 16, 2013Great Composer Tribute: The Music of Alan SilvestriAlan Silvestri, guest composer and guest conductor
Robert Townson, host
First concert in a series celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Varèse Sarabande record label.
Composer Alan Silvestri was in attendance and conducted his concert suite from Forrest Gump.
May 11, 2013Varèse Sarabande's 35th Anniversary GalaHans Zimmer, composer and pianist
Danny Elfman, composer
Mark Isham, composer
Brian Tyler, composer & guest conductor
Christopher Lennertz, composer & guest conductor
Michael Giacchino, composer & guest conductor
John Debney, composer & guest conductor
John Powell, composer & guest conductor
Diego Navarro, guest conductor
Cliff Eidelman, guest conductor
Joel McNeely, composer & guest conductor
Sara Andon, flute soloist
Ann Marie Calhoun, violin soloist
Robert Townson, host
Second concert celebrating the 35th anniversary of Varèse Sarabande.
June 15, 2013Music From The Star Wars UniverseGordy Haab, composer
Kyle Newmaster, composer
Third concert celebrating the 35th anniversary of Varèse Sarabande.

Past Seasons

References

  1. Burlingame, John. "Film Scores Featured in Concerts around L.A. Area", The Los Angeles Times, October 18, 2009.
  2. Farrell, John. "Golden State Pops Gets into Spirit of Season", The Daily Breeze, October 28, 2010.
  3. "October Scores with Film Music in Concert: Symphonies Coast-to-Coast Celebrate Classic Soundtracks", The Film Music Society, October 6, 2009.
  4. Goldwasser, Dan. "Golden State Pops to Premiere New Fantastic Four Suite", SoundtrackNet: The Art of Film and Television Music , May 25, 2007.
  5. Clinton, Paul. "Dishwalla to Take Stage with Golden State Pops" Archived 2005-05-15 at the Wayback Machine, More San Pedro, April 2004.

Los Angeles Times

  • www.gspo.com
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