SCFTA presents Houston Ballet with pianist George Li Sons de L’âme on October 15-18
Segerstrom Center for the Arts (SCFTA) will welcome the Houston Ballet to Segerstrom Hall for the company’s first performances ever on its stage with an exciting program, Sons de L’âme. Making its West Coast debut, the intimate and elegant Sons de L’âme (Sounds of the Soul) is a rapturous full-length ballet, choreographed by Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch AM, set to piano pieces by Frederic Chopin.
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Courtesy of SCFTA
Lauren Strongin and Connor Walsh perform in “Sons de L’âme”
With renowned pianist George Li sharing the stage with 20 members of the acclaimed company, the ballet blends hypnotic solos with dramatic, elaborate pas de deux and ensemble sections –showcasing not only the technical skill of the dancers but also the romantic, emotional nature of Chopin’s music. The choreography is designed to merge with the music, allowing the dancers to feed off the live piano performance (and vice versa).
Li possesses an effortless grace, poised authority and brilliant virtuosity far beyond his years. Since winning the Silver Medal at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Li has rapidly established a major international reputation and performs regularly with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors.
Stanton Welch AM was born in Melbourne to Marilyn Jones OBE and Garth Welch AM, two of Australia’s most gifted dancers of the 1960s and 1970s. He joined The Australian Ballet, rising to the rank of leading soloist and performing various principal roles, before serving as resident choreographer.
The piece originally debuted in October 2013 at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris, France as a work for 16 Houston Ballet dancers, with pianist Lang Lang performing live as part of the co-production. Asia Society Texas (AST) and Houston Ballet then collaborated, bringing the full presentation of Sons de L’âme to the stage for the first time in the U.S. this past April, accompanied live by Li. The Center performances are only the third time that the work has been performed in its entirety.
Join SCFTA’s company warm-up one hour before the Saturday matinee performance and get the inside scoop before the curtain rises. Segerstrom Center’s VP of Programming and Production, Limor Tomer, leads a lively conversation and audience Q&A with members of the creative team and arts community, taking a closer look at the ideas, artistry and inspiration behind the work.
Tickets for Houston Ballet Sons de L’âme performances start at $44 and are available online at www.scfta.org, in person at the SCFTA box office at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa (Monday 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 12 -5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: closed.), or by phone at 714.556.2787. For group sales, call 714.755.0236. Sons de L’âme is suggested for audiences 10 and up.
Performances: Thursday, Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 17, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 18, 1 p.m.
Ballet preview chat: Saturday, Oct. 17, 1 p.m., Segerstrom Hall, balcony lobby.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts is located at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. For more information, visit www.scfta.org.
