“Ute Lemper has become our version of Édith Piaf,” says Music Director Carl St.Clair. “Piaf, as we know, was the French international star who sang many songs that we are familiar with and love, such as ‘La Vie en Rose,’ and so many of the great ballads. Ute Lemper has just that type of voice, charisma and stage presence, and helps transform the concert hall into a cabaret atmosphere throughout the evening.”

Beethoven’s crowning achievement, the epic and exquisite Symphony No. 9, “Choral”—featuring the soul-stirring “Ode to Joy,” which has thrilled listeners around the world for nearly two centuries—brings Pacific Symphony’s 2011-12 classical season to a memorable close. The concert, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, features a monumental union of orchestra and voices that includes Pacific Chorale and four world-class opera singers—soprano Kelley Nassief; mezzo-soprano Susana Poretsky; tenor Chad Shelton; and bass Kevin Deas—who take on the florid and challenging solo passages in the fourth movement.

Taking place Thursday-Sunday, May 31, June 1-3, at 8 p.m., in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, this concert is also part of the Symphony’s Music Unwound series and includes a display of Beethoven-inspired artwork by local artists. A preview talk by composer Ticheli begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25-$110; for more info or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.

For a complete line-up of events taking place for “Beethoven’s Ninth: Inside and Out,” read all about it HERE.