Mozart Classical Orchestra Announces Season

The Mozart Classical Orchestra will play five concerts in Newport Beach and two in Irvine for its 2001-02 “Mozart Makes You Smarter” series.

The Newport Beach location will be St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 600 St. Andrews Drive. The Irvine concert site will be the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive. All concerts on the orchestra’s 17th season will be led by founder Ami Porat.

The season:

* Sept. 29, 8 p.m. in Irvine and Sept. 30, 4:30 p.m. in Newport Beach: Overture to Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro,” Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with soloist Daniel Shapiro and Haydn’s Symphony No. 104. Shapiro is a member of the piano faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music and has performed with the Annapolis Symphony in Maryland, the Richmond Philharmonic in Virginia, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Nancy, in France, among other orchestras.

* Nov. 4, 4:30 p.m. in Newport Beach: Overture to Dittersdorf’s “Esther,” Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 with soloist Paul Stevens, Vanhall’s Symphony in B-flat and Haydn’s Symphony No. 52. Stevens is principal horn player of the Mozart Classical Orchestra and has played with the New York Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the Joffrey Ballet and the Los Angeles Opera, among others.

* Feb. 1, 8 p.m. at Irvine Barclay; Feb. 3, 4:30 p.m. in Newport Beach: Mozart program, including Overture to “The Abduction from the Seraglio,” Flute Concerto in D with soloist Sara Andon and Symphony No. 35. A graduate of Yale and USC, Andon has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Western Opera Theatre and Miami City Ballet.

* March 10, 4:30 p.m. in Newport Beach: Mendelssohn’s recently discovered Violin Concerto in D minor with soloist Henry Gronnier, Leo Weiner’s Divertimento and Josef Suk’s String Serenade. Gronnier is the orchestra’s concertmaster. Weiner is a California composer. His new Divertimento is based on Hungarian folk tunes.

* April 28, 2002, 4:30 p.m. in Newport Beach: Josef Myslivecek’s Sinfonia in F; J.C. Bach’s Sinfonia Concertante, with violinist Ana Landauer and cellist Timothy Landauer; Mozart’s Symphony No. 22; and Michael Haydn’s Symphony in E-flat. The Landauers, who are married, are members of the Pacific Symphony. Timothy is principal cellist.

The Newport series is $60 to $140; single tickets, $15 to $33. The Irvine series is $36 to $60; single tickets, $20 to $36. Information: (949) 830-2950.