More than 600 Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) students from the District's nationally recognized honors ensemble chorus and orchestra performed in front of a capacity audience during the 42nd annual Donald Bren Honors Concert held at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on the evening of April 7, 2026. The concert program is available online and includes information about student performers spanning grades five to 12, musical arrangements, and our world-class music educators.
Prior to the start of the concert, IUSD President of the Board of Education Dr. Jeff Kim and Superintendent Cassie Parham graciously accepted a $2 million contribution in support of the District's arts, music and science education. This financial support is part of a transformational 20-year, nearly $50 million funding commitment made by Irvine Company and the Donald Bren Foundation to provide exceptional arts, music and science education in the District through the Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund.
“Thanks to community support like that of Irvine Company and its Chairman Donald Bren, IUSD students continue to flourish, leading the state in the arts, math and sciences. This success has been achieved because of the strong foundation our students have received due to sustained investments in these vital programs. This remarkable gift and our ongoing partnership will allow the district to further expand our enrichment programs and continue to deliver on our promise to provide the highest quality educational experience we can envision,” Kim said.
The Excellence in Education Enrichment Fund, established by Irvine Company’s funding commitment, helps provide specialized art, music and science programs to every fourth through sixth grader in the district. Since 2006, this program has helped more than 200,000 elementary students and has propelled IUSD students to consistently outperform their peers across the state in each of these subjects on the annual California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress. IUSD has also been named as one of the Best Communities for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation for 14 consecutive years, and ranks top in the State on the California Science Test.
“Educational opportunity and excellence have always been at the heart of our planning efforts in Irvine. The funding commitment made through the Excellence in Education Enrichment program has deepened our decades-long partnership with IUSD, students and families to support enrichment programs in science, art and music,” said Irvine Company Senior Vice President Jeff Davis.
Kim also thanked the Irvine Public Schools Foundation for their commitment to primary music education and educational excellence for all IUSD students.
Board Members Katie McEwen, Connie Stone and Cyril Yu were also in attendance and congratulated student performers for an extraordinary evening of music.
