Golden State Pops Orchestra (GSPO) | |
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Orchestra | |
Founded | 2002 |
Location | Los Angeles, California |
Concert hall | Warner Grand Theatre |
Principal conductor | Steven Allen Fox |
Website | www |
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.
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 .
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.
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:
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Date | Concert | Guest Artists | Notes |
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October 19, 2013 | Varèse Sarabande 35th Anniversary Halloween Gala | Marco 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, 2013 | Varèse Sarabande 35th Anniversary Holiday Gala | John 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, 2014 | Great Composer Tribute: Elmer Bernstein | Peter 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, 2014 | Sweeney Todd In Concert |
Date | Concert | Guest Artists | Notes |
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December 15, 2012 | Holiday Pops Spectacular | The Golden State Pops Holiday Chorale | |
February 16, 2013 | Great Composer Tribute: The Music of Alan Silvestri | Alan 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, 2013 | Varèse Sarabande's 35th Anniversary Gala | Hans 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, 2013 | Music From The Star Wars Universe | Gordy Haab, composer Kyle Newmaster, composer | Third concert celebrating the 35th anniversary of Varèse Sarabande. |
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