Samuel Wong

Samuel Wong? Daniel Gaisford? Who? At first blush, it appeared as if the powers-that-be at the Pacific Symphony were happy enough to let the fireworks and cannon and old Piotr Ilyich (Tchaikovsky, that is) do all the work of packing 'em into Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on Saturday night, for the seventh annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular. Never underestimate bombs bursting in air: 11,139 officially tabulated listeners showed up for the festivities.

Samuel Wong? Daniel Gaisford? Who? At first blush, it appeared as if the powers-that-be at the Pacific Symphony were happy enough to let the fireworks and cannon and old Piotr Ilyich (Tchaikovsky, that is) do all the work of packing 'em into Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on Saturday night, for the seventh annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular. Never underestimate bombs bursting in air: 11,139 officially tabulated listeners showed up for the festivities.

Samuel Wong must be the only person in the world to have operated on three people in the morning and conducted the New York Philharmonic that night. He came to both professions--surgeon and conductor--honorably, if untypically. Trained at the Harvard Medical School, Wong, 31, received a degree in ophthalmology in 1988, and interned for two years at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and for a year in internal medicine at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y.

Samuel Wong must be the only person in the world to have operated on three people in the morning and conducted the New York Philharmonic that night. He came to both professions--surgeon and conductor--honorably, if untypically. Trained at the Harvard Medical School, Wong, 31, received a degree in ophthalmology in 1988, and interned for two years at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and for a year in internal medicine at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y.

York Philharmonic music director Zubin Mehta canceled his appearances in New York to fly to Israel because of Middle East tensions that have since erupted in war. "He felt because of the situation over there that he wanted to be in Israel at this time," said Philharmonic spokesman Neil Parker. U.S.-led forces bombed Iraq on Wednesday night, New York time; Iraq had threatened to attack Israel if it was attacked.

Edo de Waart, chief conductor of the Netherlands Opera, has been appointed artistic director of the beleaguered Hong Kong Philharmonic. De Waart, 62, will take over this fall from Samuel Wong, whose tenure has been marred by controversial firings and resignations. De Waart brings a reputation as a taskmaster who sometimes sacks players as he builds up orchestras.

"Hawaii Goes Hollywood" at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday night touched upon some of the reasons for the appeal of Hawaiian music--among them its connections with such familiar forms as bluegrass, mariachi and country. The program ranged widely, with performances by the Honolulu Symphony, slack-key guitar work from George Kuo and Dennis Kamakahi, arias from tenor Keith Ikai'a-Purdy and songs from singer-guitarist Keali'i Reichel.

From Beethoven's Ninth Symphony to a musical salute to John Wayne, the Pacific Symphony's sixth summer season at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre will be eclectic, to say the least. The five-concert series, announced Monday, will begin on July 4 with Richard Kaufman, vice president of television music at MGM, conducting a "Stars, Stripes and Pops" program that will include fireworks and music from such John Wayne movies as "The Quiet Man" and "The Cowboys."

EIP Microwave has settled a federal lawsuit that accused the Newport Beach firm of illegal overseas sales of high-technology equipment. Under the terms of the settlement, the U.S. Justice Department agreed to drop all three felony counts pending against EIP. The company agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor violation, which carries a $1,000 fine, and to pay $28,000 to cover the costs of the government's investigation. The settlement comes at a critical time for EIP.

The heat is on in more ways than one for local arts and entertainment this summer. The new Anaheim Arena will open, but before the Mighty Ducks inaugurate professional hockey in the county, such country and pop stars as Wyonna Judd, Alan Jackson and Barry Manilow will try out the area's newest concert facility.

KPMG agreed Wednesday to pay $10 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges of improper conduct while auditing Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. The SEC said the settlement was the largest ever obtained from an accounting firm. The commission also said it sanctioned two former KPMG partners, a current partner and a current senior manager for improper conduct related to revenue overstatements from 1999 to 2002 by Gemstar, publisher of TV Guide magazine.