CHICO’s summer concert in the park was a family-friendly magical musical tour led by the humbly magnificent Dr. Peter Illyich Grandioso, played by Brian McDonald. He introduced the audience to the orchestra and helped them see the world of music through the eyes of famous composers.
Click HERE to view Camarillo Acorn (p 18) article, 8/31/18.
The orchestra played movie music from famous soundtracks: Hedwig’s Theme by John Williams (Harry Potter) and The Simpsons Main Title Theme by Danny Elfman.
CHICO also celebrated the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein by playing Candide Overture. The main character Candide saw the world as a wonderful place even though bad things happened around him. As he composed the music, Mr. Bernstein imagined his listeners would share Candide’s buoyant, cheerful personality.
Felix Mendelssohn composed Midsummer Night’s Dream when he was a child; only 17 years old. The overture captured the frivolity of Shakespeare’s world, while the music transported the audience to an imaginary enchanted forest.
Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite was intended to be background music for a play. The main character traveled from Norway to Africa and got into all kinds of trouble.
The first movement, 
“Morning Mood” portrayed singing birds and the rising sun. The second movement, “Ase’s Death” was a fantasy-monologue to Peer Gynt’s mother, in which he brought her to St Peter in a horse-drawn sleigh. “Anitra’s Dance” was a seductive belly-dance. “Hall of the Mountain King” was a dream where Peer Gynt stood before the King of Trolls. The audience could easily imagine a court swarming with trolls chasing Peer Gynt wildly until the Mountain King finally yelled, “Isvann i blodet!” (“Cool it”)