By CUSD Insider staff
Vijay Venkatesh has played piano around the United States and Europe, but as they say, sometimes there’s no place like home.
So when the Orange County native and Dana Hills High School alumnus finally got to perform at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall — the Costa Mesa venue he grew up attending as a child — it was a dream come true.
“I was always so inspired by the world-class artists they would bring,” Venkatesh said. “I always imagined and dreamed I would finally make it there. It was really wonderful, a nice homecoming.”
The Feb. 27 concert, presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, featured Venkatesh playing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F alongside the Colburn Orchestra and conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. The program was dubbed as music embodying the spirit of America.
“The acoustics are to die for,” Venkatesh said of the concert hall. “It’s really the Carnegie Hall of the West. It’s absolutely stunning to be on stage, with so many levels of the audience. It’s like you’re standing in a painting, in a way. It’s this gigantic thing that you’re witnessing and experiencing.”
Before Venkatesh, 31, was dazzling audiences with Gershwin’s American-jazz inspired concerto, he was playing a very different tune: “Great Balls of Fire” on an upright piano at Moulton Elementary School — a humble instrument compared to the Steinway full concert grand piano inside Segerstrom.
The Laguna Niguel campus was where a young Vijay did his first public performances on piano. He did talent shows and even played during the normal school day.
Venkatesh also studied violin there, but eventually had to give violin up as his piano training intensified and demanded more of his time.
“I was always so inspired and encouraged by the teachers and the orchestra director,” he said.
Later, Venkatesh performed at the Orange County Fair, where a great rendition of “Great Balls of Fire” won him an award.
Venkatesh, who now lives in Pasadena, only went up from there. After graduating from Dana Hills High in 2009, he studied at USC for his bachelor’s degree, then Indiana University for a master’s degree. He’s currently an artist diploma candidate at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles.
Venkatesh’s next local performance is scheduled for March 16 at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center.
For more information, visit his website at Vijay Venkatesh | Schedule (vijay-venkatesh.com)