French composers are known for their highly colorful and sensuous orchestral textures, rhythms that mirror the cadence of their language, and their fondness for merriment and irony.  Maestro Jung-Ho Pak and the San Diego Chamber Orchestra present an evening of French music from the eighteenth to twentieth century.  The concert French Connections will be performed on March 12th in La Jolla, on the 13th in Rancho Santa Fe, and on the 16th in Downtown San Diego.

In his inaugural year as Artistic Director and Conductor of the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Jung-Ho Pak has entranced audiences with electrifying performances showcasing the talent and passion of the Orchestra musicians leading to a sold out performance of February’s concert, Love Is In the Air, at the St. Paul’s Downtown venue. To further enhance the audience’s experience, Maestro Pak and the musicians continue to greet the audience before each concert.  Combine this with the small intimate venues which allow the audience to hear, see and feel the pull of the music, it is no wonder this season has produced larger audiences and full houses.

The Orchestra will perform two works written by a giant of the French Baroque, composer François Couperin. The first of which, Les folies Françaises, ou les Dominos is a set of charming variations representing characters as a masked ball.  Couperin gave each variation or “mask" a different color: white for virginity, green for hope, red for ardor, and a variety of quickly changing colors (meters) for coquetry.

Drawn to Couperin’s music, Darius Milhaud orchestrated and created an orchestral suite from Couperin’s La Sultan. The Orchestra will perform the Overture; a delectable array of strings, woodwinds and brass tonal colors highlighting the Baroque character of the original piece.

Darius Milhaud spent many years in Brazil, and his love of the Samba can be heard in his very humorous work, Le Boeuf sur le Toit (The Ox on the Roof).  Milhaud has said of his composition, “[I] aspired to create a merry, unpretentious divertissement in memory of the Brazilian rhythms that had so captured my imagination.”

Another work inspired by Couperin’s music was Le tombeau de Couperin written by Maurice Ravel to honor the great French composer.  Although inspired by the dance forms of Couperin’s harpsichord pieces, Le tombeau with its unexpected harmonies, its atmospheric textures, and its distinctive use of orchestral color could hardly be the work of any other composer but Ravel.

French composer Erik Satie first gained attention through his Gymnopédies, three modest and marvelously piano pieces that are today known to millions of listeners.  Two of the three pieces have become well known in the luminous orchestrations by the great French impressionistic composer Claude Debussy.

The Orchestra’s performance will take place March 12, 7:30 pm at Sherwood Auditorium in La Jolla; March 13, 7:30 pm at Del Mar Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe; March 16, 7:30 pm at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Downtown San Diego.

Tickets range from $15 to $355. For tickets and information regarding upcoming concerts, visit www.sdco.org or call 858-350-0290