In partnership with Ventura Unified School District (VUSD), every January, CHICO presents a free concert for all of the fourth-grade students in the district. Approximately 20 buses deliver 1,400 children to Ventura High School that has a large, elegant auditorium. On stage, they will see a live orchestra playing classical music.
For the January 2020 concert, CHICO has commissioned a new work: Musical Delights: Cooking with the Classics, by Molly Kohler Pei in collaboration with Dr. KuanFen Liu, Artistic Director. This multi-media program brings elements of music – tempo, rhythm, melody and imagination – together as ingredients for a musical recipe.
2023 Concert
2020 Concert
Molly Kohler Pei enjoys a well-rounded performing arts career as a singer, actor, and voice actor and is a member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. As a principal soloist, she has performed on numerous occasions with the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra and is a member of Areté Vocal Ensemble based in Thousand Oaks. Combining her talents as a musician and actor, she has enjoyed additional collaboration with CHICO as the narrator for Carnival of the Animals and Peter and the Wolf. She serves on the board of directors for Channel Islands Choral Association (CICA), a non-profit with a mission to bring vocal music education and performance opportunities to residents of Ventura County. CICA sponsors the CSU Channel Islands Choir and the Pleasant Valley School District Chorus.