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California Philharmonic summer series moving to Santa Anita race track

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The California Philharmonic has announced that its audience won’t have far to go to find its new summer home after its impending ouster from its longtime outdoor digs at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia. It’ll shuffle on down the road to the Santa Anita Park horse-racing track, also in Arcadia, for a five-concert 2012 summer season, with performances every other Saturday night starting June 30, 2012.

The concerts will take place on the race track’s grass infield under the same series moniker it has now: Festival on the Green. The move follows arboretum officials’ recent decision to substitute the Pasadena Pops for the Cal Phil as the county-owned site’s orchestral attraction starting next summer.

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Victor Vener, the California Philharmonic founder and music director, said in a news release Sunday announcing the new site that he had ‘always been a huge fan of the [race track] and everything it has to offer ranging from top tier horseracing to amazing views and atmosphere. The energy of Santa Anita Park is palpable.’

The announcement said that live, pre-concert jazz and picnicking, a tradition at the arboretum, will continue at the race track -- with jazz after the concerts as a new wrinkle during a ‘public after-party’ following each performance. Also in the offing: seeing the musicians on jumbo video screens.

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-- Mike Boehm

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