Each week, Arts Orange County and Culture OC deliver you this look at the stories and events happening in our arts and cultural community.

La Cultura Colorida Featuring Mariachi Santa Monica

Renowned local dance troupe Relámpago del Cielo Grupo Folklórico takes the stage at Orange's Musco Center for the Arts for a dynamic homage to cultural traditions of Mexico, accompanied by spectacular live music MORE

Luciana's Celebrates 40 Years of Winning Wines and 'Convivo'

Enter Luciana’s Ristorante in Dana Point and you’ll immediately feel at home. Set in a former residence, its décor feels like a spacious Italian farmhouse. There are wood beams on the ceiling, a grand hearth in the main dining room and two patios for those who love their meals al fresco. An impressive wine cellar is the dominant feature of a long room most often used for private dining and there’s also the Piazza, a separate event space. 

These days, when restaurants are bought and sold like commodities, and rising food and labor prices continue to drive mid-priced establishments out of business, this tried-and-true Orange County landmark stays reasonably priced and soulful. 

Chamber Music OC Dreams Big to Celebrate Small Ensembles

Seasoned Orange County listeners will recall a time in the not-so-distant past when the classical music scene was still pretty quiet here; before Segerstrom Concert Hall, before Soka Performing Arts Center, before CSU Fullerton’s Meng Hall, in short before the County became such a vibrating hive of musical activity.

At least for this listener, who had previously attended performances in office suites, piano stores, commercial kitchen-adjacent lobbies, and helicopter-ridden public parks, it would have been a big stretch to imagine the county having a vibrant, lively, permanent venue devoted solely to chamber music.

Here we are, though. A regular stop for the world’s major artists, a home for top notch ensembles, some spectacularly well-appointed performance spaces, and, stationed in Lake Forest, Chamber Music OC, dedicated specifically to one of the most challenging and rewarding of musical genres.

Chapman University’s Incoming Dean of Arts is Eager to Bring Her Philosophy to a New Campus

Anne F. Hogan is passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to the arts and their benefits for students.

Each week, we recommend a variety of events and experiences from the listings at SparkOC.com, our free website for Orange County's arts and cultural community.

Page to Stage Playwrights Festival - Celebrates the Female Voice

This rapidly-growing festival of new play scripts from female writers presents staged readings of five new works throughout the weekend at Brea's Curtis Theatre MORE

Picturing Summer

At the UCI Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art, eighteen of the paintings in this exhibit celebrating summer leisure in the Golden State have never been displayed for the public MORE

Birdbrain

A new musical comedy for families featuring singing bird puppets, presented by the Wayward Artist Theatre - Santa Ana residents can attend for free with promo code SANTAANA MORE

Open Book

Anaheim's MUZEO hosts this ongoing discussion series where Southern California authors offer tips and inspiration from their writing and publishing experiences MORE