COSTA MESA, CA (July 21, 2026) — Pacific Chorale announces new pre-concert programming during its 2026–27 season with Before the Downbeat, a conversation series hosted by PBS SoCal Senior Arts and Culture Producer and Pacific Chorale Board member Maria Hall-Brown. Each conversation will take place one hour prior to select Pacific Chorale concerts and is included with purchase of a ticket.

Designed to connect audiences more deeply with the concert experience, these 30-minute conversations will explore repertoire, composers, guest artists, historical context, and Pacific Chorale’s own artistic connections to the music. Moving beyond the traditional lecture model, Before the Downbeat reflects Pacific Chorale’s commitment to creating more accessible, engaging, and meaningful points of entry for both longtime patrons and new listeners.

 “These conversations offer a wonderful opportunity to bring listeners closer to the music, the artists, and the stories behind each performance in a way that feels personal, welcoming, and alive” said Board member Maria Hall-Brown.

These pre-concert conversations support Pacific Chorale’s broader strategic priorities, including deepening audience engagement, strengthening the concertgoing experience, and creating new pathways for community connection. As Pacific Chorale looks toward its milestone 60th Season in 2027–28, the series reflects the organization’s forward-looking commitment to expanding how audiences experience and participate in choral music.

Maria Hall-Brown will host pre-concert conversations at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on:  

• Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. with Robert Istad on Duruflé’s Requiem
• Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. with commissioned composers Tarik O’Regan and Starr Parodi on the premieres of their new works
• Saturday, May 15, 2027 at 6:00 p.m. with organist and Bach Collegium San Diego Artistic Director Ruben Valenzuela on Bach’s B Minor Mass
• June 2027: A recorded conversation with Robert Istad about Arvo Pärt’s Berlin Mass

Learn more at pacificchorale.org.

Media Contact

Natalie Hunter, 
Director of Marketing, Pacific Chorale
natalie@pacificchorale.org | (714) 662-2345

Press Images here

ABOUT PACIFIC CHORALE

The GRAMMY® Award-winning Pacific Chorale is an Orange County “treasure” with a “fresh viewpoint” that “can sing anything you put in front of it with polish, poise and tonal splendor” (Orange County Register). Founded in 1968, the resident choir at Segerstrom Center for the Arts is celebrated for artistic innovation and expanding the choral repertoire, having given more than 40 world, U.S., and West Coast premieres—including commissions by leading composers such as John Adams, Jocelyn Hagen, Jake Heggie, David Lang, Morten Lauridsen, Tarik O’Regan, Frank Ticheli, and Eric Whitacre. Led by Artistic Director Robert Istad, Pacific Chorale presents its own concert series and enjoys long-standing partnerships with Pacific Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with which it won the 2022 GRAMMY® Award for Best Choral Performance for Mahler: Symphony No. 8 conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. The ensemble tours internationally, maintains a discography of 14 self-produced recordings, and offers extensive free digital programming. Its choral-theatrical film To the Hands was featured as an Official Selection at the Newport Beach Film Festival and won Best Experimental Feature Film at the Culver City Film Festival. Education programs include after-school vocal instruction for elementary students, a high school summer camp, and an annual community-wide singing event. www.pacificchorale.org 

ABOUT MARIA HALL-BROWN, SENIOR DIRECTOR, PBS SOCAL 

A producer/director for almost 30 years with PBS SoCal, Maria recently won a LA Press Club award for the film Under the Baton: Pacific Symphony’s Carl St.Clair. Other documentaries include: the LA Area Emmy nominated film American Voices, the personal story of American Chorale composers and the power of song; the first film about cultural visionary/philanthropist Henry T. Segerstrom: Imagining the Future, as well as the Newport Beach Film Festival HONORS, Newport Beach Film Festival UK HONOURS, Be Brave: Samantha’s Story, Matters of Faith, Bulgarian Rhapsody, Notes from Europe, and many holiday specials. For 16 years Maria worked as producer/reporter for the nightly news program Real Orange, the producer/host of author interview series Bookmark talking with over 300 authors from first time writers to Pulitzer Prize Winners and the producer/host of the weekly program LAaRT a magazine style program focused on the creative spirit. She has garnered three LA Area Emmys and seven Golden Mike Awards for her work. A proud graduate of the University of California, Irvine, she received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005. Maria is a passionate supporter of the Arts.