Laguna Beach Live!

It was 2000: Joe Byrne was looking for some good jazz in Laguna; Sam Goldstein was trying to increase local support of the arts; Cindy Prewitt was working on the city’s Arts Commission to broaden the scope of the arts. These three Laguna residents came together and decided the best way to hurry along what they wanted was to do it themselves, thus forming the non-profit Laguna Beach Live! in August 2001. ​ First Sundays, free monthly chamber music at the Laguna College of Art & Design was the beginning, launched by Les Amis Musicalles (Cynthia Ellis, Jeanne Evans and Janet Lakatos), followed by the cabaret performance of Sally Kellerman (a friend of Joe’s) in association with [seven-degrees]

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It was 2000: Joe Byrne was looking for some good jazz in Laguna; Sam Goldstein was trying to increase local support of the arts; Cindy Prewitt was working on the city’s Arts Commission to broaden the scope of the arts. These three Laguna residents came together and decided the best way to hurry along what they wanted was to do it themselves, thus forming the non-profit Laguna Beach Live! in August 2001. ​ First Sundays, free monthly chamber music at the Laguna College of Art & Design was the beginning, launched by Les Amis Musicalles (Cynthia Ellis, Jeanne Evans and Janet Lakatos), followed by the cabaret performance of Sally Kellerman (a friend of Joe’s) in association with [seven-degrees]. The Philharmonic Society of Orange County collaborated on the first Laguna Beach Music Festival in 2002 with pianist Claude Frank and is still a strong partner of the event. Jazz has been a strong component of the line up since the Great Jazz Guitars with Bruce Forman, Mundell Lowe, John Pisano and Phil Upchurch in 2004. Now, Laguna Beach Live! presents more than 30 concerts annually from monthly Live! at the Museum chamber music, a multi-day Music Festival in February exploring modern classical music and new composers to the Jazz Summer and Winter Series. Special concerts sprinkling the year include Bluegrass, Gospel, Blues, Big Band and Pop. Strong supporters of music education, free outreach programs are offered to Laguna Beach Boys & Girls Club, Laguna public schools and the Susi Q Senior Center.

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