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Segerstrom Center for the Arts celebrates the 48th Candlelight Concert on December 2, 2022. This annual event is one of Orange County’s most elegant and anticipated fundraisers that is both a highlight of the holiday season and supports the Center’s nonprofit artistic, education, and community engagement programs. Lauded as “The charity gala of the year” and a “glittering gala,” Candlelight Concert rolls out the red carpet for the community’s most generous arts supporters.
Since its inception in 1974, Candlelight Concert has raised over $40 million to support the Center’s array of stellar entertainment, arts, education, and community engagement programs, as well as the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School and Studio D Arts School for All Abilities, impacting the lives of more than 400,000 annually. The funds raised also support new artistic endeavors such as ballet commissions and world premiere productions. The continued support provided from Candlelight allows the Center to expand the idea of what it means to both participate and appreciate the arts, for everyone.
Candlelight Concert is chaired this year by John E. Stratman, Jr., who serves on Segerstrom Center’s Board of Directors and is senior director of public affairs and brand communication for Kaiser Permanente Orange County. He shares “For years, Candlelight Concert has supported the Center’s artistic, education, and community engagement programs, all factors that are near and dear to my heart. These programs are so instrumental to the future of our youth and community. I strongly believe we are a bridge to the future of where the arts will go and are responsible for paving the path, step by step, for the new generation to come. Our job is to ensure that the arts live, and continue to be vibrant in Orange County, and are available and accessible for everyone. I am truly honored and humbled to be this year’s Candlelight Chair.”
This year will include a special performance by Cyndi Lauper. Over the past forty years, Cyndi Lauper has been well acclaimed for being a pop icon. She is most well-known for her pop hits “Time After Time” and “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, which won her a 1986 Grammy Award for best new artist. Although she is regarded for being a pop icon, Lauper is no stranger to the theater. She wrote lyrics for Broadway’s Kinky Boots, which went on to win six Tony Awards, two of which being Best Music and Best Original Score. Kinky Boots appeared at Segerstrom Hall in both 2014 and 2018. It is safe to say we will be jamming out all through the night!
This year’s Candlelight dinner menu will be designed by world-renowned celebrity chef, Giada De Laurentiis, who will also be in attendance for the evening and will provide Giada Catering by Giada de Laurentiis. Best known for hosting the Food Network’s Giada at Home, she also appears regularly as a contributor and guest co-host on NBC’s Today.
Legendary southern California radio, television, and film personality DJ Richard Blade will be spinning the 1 and 2’s rocking some new wave music and electronica hits to set the mood for the night. Richard Blade a long-time disk jockey at KROQ in Los Angeles from 1982-2000 is best known for being the voice of the 80’s music scene with radio programs featuring new wave artists. He is also a host for SiriusXM’s 1st Wave classic alternative station since 2005.
For table and ticket purchases, sponsorships, and underwriting, or for more information, please contact Courtney Donley, Senior Director of Special Events at SPEvent@scfta.org, or call (714) 942-6247.
The Community Engagement department works to extend the Center’s reach through meaningful collaborations and fun experiences that reflect, welcome, and connect Orange County’s multicultural, multigenerational communities. Public programs include movie nights, dance classes, family events, cultural festivals, a summer concert series, and much more! Support from Candlelight helps broaden accessibility to exceptional artistic experiences by offering free and low-cost programming on—and beyond—the Argyros Plaza and enable a more inclusive, culturally connected, and vibrant landscape across the region.
The education branch consists of a wide variety of different artistic programs, shows, and classes available for students and teachers of the arts. The Center works with several local schools to help bring the arts to students who may not regularly have access to them. Some of these programs include Arts Teach, Arts Avenues, Arts Connect, Disney Musicals in Schools, Summer Camps, The Family Series, Masterclasses, and Talkbacks. The donations received from Candlelight help the Segerstrom Center for the Arts continue to teach art to the youth of Orange County.
Studio D aims to be a recreational program at the forefront of inclusive arts practices. Individuals with disabilities of all ages and backgrounds step into the studio together to develop their artistry and discover new forms of self-expression. Inclusion, community, and joy are at the center of Studio D and donations from Candlelight help advance the mission of using art to benefit and connect us all.
Cyndi Lauper is a groundbreaking Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning songwriter and performing artist with global record sales in excess of 50 million. Her iconic voice, influential punk glamor, and infectious live shows have catapulted her to stardom. Lauper won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist with her first album, She’s So Unusual, and became the first woman in history to have four top-five singles from a debut album. Since then, Lauper has released ten additional studio albums, yielding timeless classics like “Time After Time” and “True Colors,” and the anthemic “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.” She has been nominated for 15 Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, seven American Video Awards, and 18 MTV Awards. In 2013, Cyndi Lauper became the first solo woman to win Best Original Score (music and lyrics) for Kinky Boots. She contributed a Tony-nominated song to the score of the Broadway musical SpongeBob SquarePants and is currently writing the score for the Broadway adaptation of the 1988 feature film Working Girl. A pillar of success, Lauper was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015 and awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2016. She has also released a New York Times best-selling memoir, was honored with Billboard’s Women In Music ICON Award in 2018 and the inaugural High Note Global Prize issued by United Nations Human Rights in 2019. In 2022 her famous music video for “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” joined the YouTube Billion Views Club and the timeless longevity of her music continues to soundtrack hit TV shows and films, including Stranger Things, Reservation Dogs, The Goldbergs and Young Sheldon. Let The Canary Sing, the definitive feature documentary film on her remarkable life and career, is currently in production.
Lauper is also tireless in her advocacy work. She has been an activist since day one, always fighting for the underdog – especially women, people living with HIV/AIDS, and the LGBTQ community. Her commitment runs so deep that she co-founded True Colors United in 2008 to bring an end to homelessness amongst LGBTQ youth, who make up to 40% of the youth homelessness population. In the fall of 2022, in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Lauper launched the Girls Just Want To Have Fundamental Rights Fund, which was formed to financially support women’s issues in an inclusive way. The donor advised fund housed at the Tides Foundation will provide grants to organizations that advance women’s rights and health.
Giada De Laurentiis is the Emmy award-winning television personality of Food Network’s Everyday Italian, Giada at Home, Giada In Italy, Giada’s Holiday Handbook, Giada Entertains, Giada On The Beach, Giada at Home 2.0, Giada and Bobby in Italy, an NBC Today Show contributor, a successful restaurateur with restaurants GIADA and Pronto by Giada in Las Vegas. She is the author of 10 New York Times bestselling cookbooks, including her most recent, Eat Better, Feel Better. She is also the founder of the lifestyle and e-commerce platform, Giadzy.com, which features Italian lifestyle content spanning recipes, travel, entertaining and Italian Pantry products.
CANDLELIGHT CONCERT 2022
Segerstrom Center for the Arts – Segerstrom Hall
Friday, December 2, 2022, at 5:30 PM
600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, California
Tickets and information:
Contact Courtney Donley, Senior Director, Special Events and Support Groups
(714) 942 – 6247 – SPEvent@scfta.org
Segerstrom Center for the Arts is an innovative, nonprofit arts organization committed to supporting artistic excellence, creating impactful educational programs, and dedicated to engaging a culturally connected, inclusive and vital Orange County community for all, through the power of live performance.
As the leading cultural arts hub, the Center presents a variety of programming with performances by international dance companies, Broadway national tours, jazz and cabaret musicians, chamber orchestras and ensembles, comedy, and speaker series. Through the Education and Community Engagement departments, the Center also delivers family-friendly programming and performances on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza; these events include outdoor movie screenings, concerts, dance classes, diverse festivals and more.
With six venues on a beautiful multi-disciplinary campus, Segerstrom Center for the Arts proudly serves as the artistic home to three of the region’s major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Pacific Chorale as well as two independently acclaimed organizations: Tony Award®-winning South Coast Repertory and a site opening this fall as the home of the Orange County Museum of Art. Segerstrom Center is also home to the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School and Studio D, Arts School for All Abilities.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds its corporate partner Kaiser Permanente, Official Health Care Partner and recognizes Lugano Diamonds as Presenting Sponsor of Candlelight Concert 2022.
