With Brea Concert, Orchestra Collective of Orange County is Set to Hit a 'Triple Play'
- Eric Marchese
- Apr 23
- 6 min read
This unusual group, the ‘OC of OC,’ crafts intimate concerts with audiences first and foremost in mind.
Classical music has long been a major component of Southern California’s arts and culture environment, and since the ’80s and even earlier, Orange County has hosted numerous classical concerts at venues like Segerstrom Hall and the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
Among the county’s newest is the Orchestra Collective of Orange County, which its founders playfully refer to as the “OC of OC.”
Launched in 2016 by veterans of the Southern California classical music scene, the collectively run symphony orchestra’s next concert is over the last weekend in April at the Curtis Theatre in downtown Brea.
The theme of the performance is “Triple Play,” wherein the numeral “three” is significant.
First is Ludwig van Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, the most famous triple concerto in classical music history, featuring virtuoso soloists Seung-Jai Chung (violin), Laszlo Mezo (cello) and Wan-Chin Chang (piano).
Next on the program is Hubert Parry’s Symphony No. 3 (the “English” symphony). The concert concludes with Jean Mouton’s orchestration of Claude Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque No. 3, popularly known as “Claire de Lune.”
LIKE-MINDED MUSICIANS
David Rentz, one of the Collective’s co-founders, defines the OC of OC as “a group of like-minded musicians who were interested in making music together – guiding the direction of the orchestra together and taking genuine collective responsibility for its management and its vision.”
He adds that “there is no executive director or administration. All of the work is done by our musician members.” As for the matching of the group’s initials with its home, Rentz said he and the other co-founders were fortunate in that both title and website domain name hadn’t yet been taken.
The Collective’s size, Rentz said, has increased by between 50 and 100 percent. “It started with a core of about 30 musicians, and now the roster is anywhere from 45 to 60.”
The current complement contains between eight and 12 woodwinds: two to three flutes/piccolo, two to three oboes/English horn, two to three clarinets/bass clarinets and two to three bassoons/contrabassoons; between 10 and 13 brass instruments: four French horns, two to three trumpets, three trombones and one tuba; a percussion section of one timpani and up to three percussion instruments; between 22 and 30 strings: 14 to 18 violins, four to six violas, five to six cellos, and three contrabasses. Rentz said “occasional” use of harp and/or orchestral piano are also seen.
SIDEBAR: The impressive CV of David Rentz
David Rentz, leader and conductor of the OC of OC, has an impressive array of degrees and credentials. He received his Bachelor of Music summa cum laude from Washington University in Saint Louis, where he was a Mylonas Scholar in the Humanities, inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. He earned his M.M. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and received his M.M.A. and D.M.A. from the Yale University School of Music, where he was co-director of the University Chapel Choir and a member of the internationally-renowned Yale Schola Cantorum.
Rentz has received fellowships and grants from the Yale alumni Ventures program and the National Endowment for the Humanities and, in 2015, was named guest professor at Xiamen University (China). In 2020, he was in residence at the Pallotti School of Music in Belize City and at the University of Belize, where he taught, performed and consulted on the imminent founding of the university’s music department.
In demand as an adjudicator and clinician, Rentz has served in those capacities for the Lansum International Choral Competition, the Claremont College Orchestra Concert Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Whittier Regional Symphony’s Young Artists’ Competition, the Oremor Choral Competition, the Chaffey Joint Union High School District Choral Festival, the Southern California Vocal Association and many others.
As if running and conducting the OC of OC weren’t enough, Rentz heads the choral and vocal music programs and teaches music theory as professor of music at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga. He’s also adjunct professor of music at Claremont Graduate University, where he supervises the master’s and doctoral programs in conducting; co-director of Music and Fine Arts at Claremont United Church of Christ; and Conducting Chair of C3LA (the Contemporary Choral Collective of Los Angeles).
CREATING 'ONE-OF-A-KINd' EVENTS
Rentz, a conductor trained in various areas, said the core board of co-founders was rounded out by oboist Angela Wells and bassoon player Tracey Siepser.
Prior to the collective’s founding, Rentz, Wells and Siepser were working with various orchestras and other ensembles both in O.C. and Los Angeles, and that they continue to do so.
A blurb from the Collective’s website notes that it “believes that creative collaboration yields amazing results, and produces one-of-a-kind musical events that will thrill both longtime concertgoers and complete musical newcomers alike.”
What makes OC of OC’s events “one-of-a-kind”? “We perform our concept programs with a full symphony orchestra in unusually intimate spaces,” said Rentz. “This gives the audience a chance to really see and hear what’s happening up close and personal. You’re 15 feet away from the cello section and 25 from the flutes while hearing a Brahms symphony.
“I’ve never been to other good orchestras that make that intimacy and that connection a part of it. Our programs are modestly innovative and unusual.”
He cites a program from November 2024. “We did a ‘choose your own adventure’ where most of the selections had an element of actual agency from the audience.” Rentz cites Elgar’s “Enigma Variations,” wherein “the audience got to decide the order” and that the patrons “voted on a series of head-to-head matchups.”
Similarly, the previous season, the orchestra “did a Gus Lawrence Price work that has two possible endings. We decided, let’s play each ending for the audience and let them vote on which one to finish the piece with. One ending was big and bombastic and the other more introspective. Interestingly, the Saturday night and Sunday matinee audiences chose different endings.”
Rentz said the orchestra has “always had some sort of an overarching theme for our concerts. We try to find as many possible points of connection for ourselves and our audience as possible.
He said that as music director, “I work with the board, as well as the entire membership, to develop both general themes and to select the specific repertoire.”
The Sunday, April 27 concert will feature something typical for the informally quirky orchestra: Following the performance, audience members will be invited up onto the Curtis stage for snacks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, conversation, and a Q & A with soloists Chang, Chung and Mezo that Rentz will moderate.
PHOTO 1: The upcoming performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto features, from left, violinist Seung-Jai Chung (left); cellist Laszlo Mezo; conductor David Rentz; pianist Wan-Chin Chang. PHOTO 2: From the April 2022 West Coast premiere of Natalie Dietterich’s “light beloved,” guest soloist Steve Thachuk started on acoustic classical guitar, then halfway through, moved to electric. Photos courtesy of OC of OC/Corbin Foster
FINDING THEIR NICHE
How does the group appeal both to those well-versed in classical music and those new to it?
“We definitely strive to have all programming appeal both to first-time classical and the orchestral aficionado as well,” Rentz said.
“We believe in great music. Choose the right Mozart, and the first-time listener will love the piece and the expert will also love the piece. We try to have open minds about who’s going to like what, and we try to build programs where everything is for everybody.”
As far as O.C. venues, Rentz said that since its inception, the OC of OC “has used the Curtis Theatre the most. We’ve done multiple concerts at Casa Romantica, which is a wonderful place for chamber music, as well as the Anaheim Methodist Church.”
The collective, Rentz said, typically has eight concerts per year: four concert cycles and four chamber music.”
Over the last nine years, the only scheduling gap was during the pandemic. “We didn’t do any virtual programming,” Rentz said. “We left that to people with more professional expertise.”
The orchestra’s last concert before COVID-19 was January 2020, and its first one back was at Casa Romantica in March of 2021. That was followed by an outdoor chamber concert at the Curtis in June, then regular scheduling resumed in that fall.
Rentz reports that “give or take,” the collective’s revenue comes from 60% ticket sales, 20% individual support, and 20% grant support, give-or-take.
What the future holds
“We’ve developed into a group that’s artistically strong and has a real community of musicians who care about and support each other and genuinely like spending time together.”
Rentz said he and the co-founders “aren’t quite up to announcing next season yet, but the end of our current season will be a chamber event at the Curtis this June. We’ll have rugs and couches set up on the stage and have the audience sit up on the stage with the musicians.”
As for the Collective’s 10th anniversary next season, Rentz said, “We’re still working on it, so nothing definite yet.”
Orchestra Collective of OC presents ‘Triple Play’
When: 7 p.m. April 26, 3 p.m. April 27
Where: Curtis Theatre, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea
Admission: $25 general; $23 seniors, military, medical, first responders; $20 students
Contact: 714-990-7600, ocofoc.org
Classical music coverage at Culture OC is supported in part by a grant from the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism. Culture OC makes all editorial decisions.
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