JANUARY 24, 2026
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BRETT MITCHELL Music Director
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MAGAZINE
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contents P1 Program
Cast, performances, who’s who, director’s notes and donors
6 In the Wings
L.A. Opera presents Phllip Glass’s Akhnaten; Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Soraya; Compagnie Hervé Koubi dance at the Wallis.
12 Marvelous Mozart Now 270 years after his birth, the composer is in abundance with Amadeus, The Magic Flute, his Requiem and an array of symphonic and chamber concerts.
16 Kitchen Couture
28 All Aboard!
Hippo chef Matt Molina and wine-savvy Joe Capella re-create their unpretentious culinary magic at Cannonball in South Pasadena.
28 12
40 Parting Thought Performances’ program platform for shows and concerts can be accessed from any digital device.
6
P. 6 CRAIG T. MATHEW, P. 12 JEFF LORCH, P. 28 ASHLEY RANDALL
Once an afterthought and hidden behind closed doors, today’s kitchen has become a showplace for residential interior designers.
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PORTUGAL STOPOVER
P. 6 CRAIG T. MATHEW, P. 12 JEFF LORCH, P. 28 ASHLEY RANDALL
Add Portugal
to your Europe trip
Discover 2 destinations for the price of 1 — nonstop from LAX to Lisbon with connections to 60 other cities across Europe and Africa.
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MAGAZINE
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IN TH E W I N G S
RISE AND FALL OF A DYNASTY THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED revival of Akhnaten, a co-production of L.A. OPERA Opera and English National Opera, transports viewers to ancient Egypt for Philip Glass’s portrait of a trailblazing pharaoh. Six performances take place Feb. 28-Mar. 22 at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. In the title role, countertenor John Holiday is determined to lead Egypt into a new age even as his plan to abandon the old gods puts his kingdom and his life in peril. Mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce is Queen Nefertiti; soprano So Young Park
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plays the dowager Queen Tye; Grammy Award winner Zachary James reprises his role as Amenhotep III. The libretto—sung in English, ancient Egyptian, biblical Hebrew and Akkadian—is by Glass in association with Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, Richard Riddell and Jerome Robbins. Director Phelim McDermott revives his visually arresting production, replete with soaring acrobats, astonishing jugglers, and towering sets. Pre-show talks by Tiffany Kuo take place in Stern Grand Hall one hour before every performance. 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown, 213.972.8001, laopera.org
PHOTOS CRAIG T. MATHEW
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Here and opposite: scenes from L.A. Opera’s production of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten
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HIGH-TONED BRAHMS TWO RENOWNED ensembles present CLASSICAL Brahms masterworks at the Soraya. Marking the Soraya’s 15th anniversary, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra presents the composer’s Symphony No. 4 in E minor led by Riccardo Muti, its Music Director Emeritus for Life, on Jan. 22. The orchestra has made Brahms recordings under celebrated conductors including Georg Solti, James Levine
and Daniel Barenboim. Also on the program: Johann Strauss Jr.’s Overture to The Gypsy Baron and Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler. Joshua Bell leads the Londonbased Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and is the featured soloist, in Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D on Feb. 26. The concert also features Charles Ives’ Variations on “America” (arranged by Iain Farrington) and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 in B-flat, “Spring.”
Violinist/conductor Joshua Bell. Top: Riccardo Muti leads Chicago Symphony
Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, CSUN 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge 818.677.3000, thesoraya.org
PHOTOS COURTESY THE SORAYA. OPPOSITE PAGE: NATHALIE STERNALSKI
IN TH E W I N G S
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PHOTOS COURTESY THE SORAYA. OPPOSITE PAGE: NATHALIE STERNALSKI
Baroque Dreamscape THE DANCERS “could be mistaken DANCE for gods,” raves The New Yorker magazine. In the hands of choreographer Hervé Koubi, they nearly are: fierce, weightless, a step beyond human. With its show Sol Invictus, Feb. 19-21 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis, Compagnie Hervé Koubi delivers a baroque dreamscape. The dancers move through light and shadow, muscular and sublime, echoing the chiaroscuro of Caravaggio and raw physicality of street dance. The score features music by Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson, minimalist composer Steve Reich and digital composer Maxime Bodson. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310.746.4000, thewallis.org
Compagnie Hervé Koubi’s Sol Invictus, here and left
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FEATURE
Marvelous
MOZART Now 270 years after he was born, the composer is in abundance with Amadeus, The Magic Flute, his Requiem and an array of symphonic and chamber concerts on the calendar. by SHERRY STERN
THE WORD “GENIUS” gets thrown around fairly freely these days—so freely that it gets on Darko Tresnjak’s nerves. He feels we should preserve the word for those with truly exceptional creative or intellectual power. When Tresnjak experiences Mozart, the director recognizes talent on another level entirely. “I got lightheaded at one point looking at a Mozart score,” says Tresnjak, the Tony-winning director of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. “I had that same experience with a Shakespeare play. When I read Shakespeare plays and look at Mozart’s scores, I understand what genius is. “The music is so glorious, yet unlike Verdi operas, his are not colossal epic stories. There is such humanity in Mozart’s work.” That deep appreciation for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a full resume of musicals, plays and operas make Tresnjak a fitting director for Amadeus. Peter Shaffer’s witty and lauded 1979 play explores
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COREY WEAVER
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L.A. Opera’s 2019 production of The Magic Flute. Left: portrait of the composer
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an imagined rivalry between the brilliant young Wolfgang and respected composer Antonio Salieri. Tresnjak directs a new production for Pasadena Playhouse Feb. 11March 8. Mozart, born 270 years ago on Jan. 27, died unexpectedly at just 35, the cause only speculated. Though he was never financially successful in his lifetime, Mozart’s music has never gone away. He’s front and center over the next few months, not only with Amadeus. The Southern California concert calendar is packed with operatic, vocal, symphonic and chamber performances, including two of his final and most consequential works: The Los Angeles Master Chorale performs Mozart’s Requiem in April and L.A. Opera brings back The Magic Flute in May and June. According to Grant Gershon, artistic director of the Master Chorale, what distinguishes Mozart
is a synthesis of many aspects of his craft. “To me, it’s the combination of head and heart,” he says. “The music is so perfectly crafted and so sophisticated and so satisfying to study just from a musicological standpoint. Then there’s the empathy, the heart, the understanding.” James Conlon selected the enchanting Barrie Kosky-directed production of The Magic Flute for
his final opera after 20 years as music director of LA Opera. Mozart is clearly a company favorite: It performed The Marriage of Figaro in 2023 and Così fan tutte in 2025. Kosky’s clever, cinematic interpretation of The Magic Flute has been performed all over the world since its U.S. premiere here in 2013. But looking beyond the staging, Conlon says simply, “The music is the music is the music.” At one point in Amadeus, which Shaffer adapted in 1984 into an Oscar-winning Miloš Forman film, Salieri reflects on a Mozart score: “This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I’d never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God.” In the play, a dying Salieri looks back on his tangled relationship with Mozart; the story weaves themes of genius, creativity, God, ambition, jealousy and sacrifice. The two antagonists are meaty roles, catnip for actors at the top of their game. (Multiple men have won or been
“ n a b B I I a I s
W D I t r f
COURTESY L.A. MASTER CHORALE AND, TOP, L.A. OPERA
L.A. Opera’s 2023 production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Below: Grant Gershon leads L.A. Master Chorale’s Requiem.
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“On runways, in pageants, and in national campaigns. My face has always been a big part of who I am, both professionally and personally. But when I reached my mid-fifties, I began to feel a disconnect. Inside, I still felt vibrant, energetic, and full of life. But in the mirror, I saw someone who looked tired, someone I didn’t quite recognize. With Dr. Kevin Sadati’s Preservation Deep Plane Face & Neck Lift, I regained my youthful contours and the confidence to step back onto the runway - refreshed, radiant, and fearless.”
COURTESY L.A. MASTER CHORALE AND, TOP, L.A. OPERA
Darlene, 57 Years Young
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FEATURE
nominated for the Tony, Oscar and Olivier Awards for the roles.) Pasadena’s cast features Jefferson Mays and Sam Clemmett. Mays, a Tony winner (I Am My Own Wife) and nominee (A Gentleman’s Guide) plays Salieri. Clemmett, known for theater (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway and the West End) and on screen (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story), portrays Mozart. The marathon role of Salieri has
long enticed Mays. He was in discussions for an Amadeus with another director that was upended by the pandemic. “I find it really challenging and difficult and rather scary. I suppose that’s good sign to do something,” he says. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so cowed by a role before in my life.” That might seem surprising to hear from an actor who played eight members of the D’Ysquith family
in A Gentlemen’s Guide and inhabited 50 roles in a solo A Christmas Carol that originated at the Geffen Playhouse and moved to Broadway. “When you’re doing multi-character plays,” Mays says, “you’re like a caricaturist working at great speed trying to land characters as deftly and economically as you can on the fly, leaping from one to the other. That’s as athletic as it is artistic. “Here, I am inhabiting this extraordinary character and must inhabit him for two and a half hours. There’s something humbling and sobering and frightening about that, being one person undergoing all these things and having this transformation take place. It’s a much more profound, deeper experience.” Mays is delighted to work again with Tresnjak. Their friendship and professional partnership goes back decades. Tresnjak directed Mays /CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 in a 1999
COURTESY PASADENA PLAYHOUSE AND BELOW, JEFF LORCH
Amadeus at Pasadena Playhouse: sketch and, below, Sam Clemmett and Jefferson Mays
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COURTESY PASADENA PLAYHOUSE AND BELOW, JEFF LORCH
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r e mm Your Su ere ! H s t r a t S
STAR SPANGLED SALUTE TO THE MOVIES
WITH A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO JOHN WILLIAMS
JUNE 20, 2026
Epic scores - Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan
DANCING IN THE STREET: MUSIC OF MOTOWN
JULY 11, 2026
Shayna Steele, Chester Gregory, Terron Brooks, soloists My Girl, I Feel Good, Higher and Higher, Superstition
MICHAEL FEINSTEIN SINGS THE GREATEST LOVE SONGS JULY 25, 2026
AT THE LA ARBORETUM
Michael Feinstein, soloist Classics from Gershwin to Sinatra - Love is Here to Stay, The Way You Look Tonight
REMEMBER WHEN ROCK WAS YOUNG
2026
SUMMER CONCERT SERIES LARRY BLANK RESIDENT POPS CONDUC TOR
THE ELTON JOHN TRIBUTE AUGUST 15, 2026
Craig A. Meyer, soloist Tiny Dancer, Benny and the Jets, Crocodile Rock and more
MUSIC OF THE NIGHT:
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER & FRIENDS AUGUST 29, 2026
Show-stopping hits Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar Artists and programming subject to change.
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ENRICHING OUR COMMUNITY FOR NEARLY A CENTURY Since 1928, the Pasadena Symphony has built community through music. The arts are an essential part of Pasadena’s identity and the Pasadena Symphony relies on the support of audience members like YOU to keep this tradition alive. A gift of any amount makes a difference in the lives of those who attend our concerts and the next generation of music lovers enrolled in our Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras (PYSO). Be a part of what makes Pasadena the thriving cultural gem of our region.
GIVE A GIFT TODAY TO SUPPORT THE PASADENA SYMPHONY AND MUSIC EDUCATION. Pasadenasymphony-pops.org/give
P2 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE
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INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION THROUGH MUSIC 2,500+ Students Reached Each Year Through in-school programs, after-school ensembles and summer camps.
Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras (PYSO) 11 ensembles from beginner to advanced – over 700 students ages 8-18, from 29 cities across the San Gabriel Valley.
Music in Underserved Classrooms Partnering with Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) to bring free music instruction to Title I schools.
Empowering Teachers Pasadena Symphony teaching artists support PUSD classrooms with co-teaching, training and curriculum tools.
Access for All Scholarships, tuition assistance and free concert tickets ensure no child is left out. All students enrolled in a PUSD music program receive FREE tuition for PYSO ensembles.
Pathways for Lifelong Musicianship From first-time players to pre-professional musicians, we support every stage of musical growth.
Building More Than Musicians Fostering creativity, confidence and community through music. Every child deserves the chance to discover their voice through music. With your help, they can.
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JOIN THE WOMEN’S COMMITTEE OF THE PASADENA SYMPHONY! DO YOU LIKE MUSIC & CAMARADERIE ? You’ll find both with the Women’s Committee of the Pasadena Symphony & POPS! Founded in 1957, the Women’s Committee is a dedicated group of volunteers who celebrate and support the musicians of the Pasadena Symphony Association through the annual Holiday Look In Home Tour. A time-honored tradition, the Holiday Look In is a musical stroll through four architecturally distinctive homes, festively decorated for the season by local floral designers. Throughout the past 56 years the Women’s Committee has raised over $4 million for the Pasadena Symphony Association. Members are young, old, working professionals and retired, and we all enjoy a lunchtime meeting six times a year in beautiful homes, often accompanied by a musical program! If you enjoy music and the camaraderie of women who are dedicated to supporting the music and culture of Pasadena, you might be interested in becoming a member. Dues are low. Responsibilities are fun!
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For questions or more information, please contact membership chair Heidi McLean at redmclean@aol.com P4 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE WWW.PASADENAHOLIDAYLOOKIN.ORG
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JOIN THE PARTY!
Become a Conductor’s Circle Member! Conductor’s Circle Membership Benefits •
Invitation to luxe post-concert reception to meet and greet with conductor and guest artists
•
VIP Parking at Pasadena Symphony and POPS Concerts
•
Listing in Pasadena Symphony and POPS Program books
•
Full tax benefit on charitable gift
For more information: (626) 414-2198
lribeiro@pasadenasymphony-pops.org
December 6 & 7
2025 2023
since since 1967 1967
SCAN FOR TICKETS
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Courtney Lindberg Photography
25 26
2
SEASON
AT AMBASSADOR AUDITORIUM brett mitchell music director
Me tal
SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE!
MENDELSSOHN & MEYER
ORION WEISS piano
TESSA LARK violin
NOVEMBER 8, 2025
JIM SELF Tour de Force RAVEL Piano Concerto in G Major BERLIOZ Symphonie Fantastique
Cel wit Pri Sym An form Sel He cha tub Per reg adj cha Sch
JANUARY 24, 2026
MENDELSSOHN The Hebrides Overture EDGAR MEYER Violin Concerto MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3, “Scottish”
TCHAIKOVSKY PATHÉTIQUE
FROM THE NEW WORLD
MICHELLE CANN piano
JUAN PABLO CONTRERAS composer & special guest
FEBRUARY 21, 2026
MARCH 21, 2026
ED
“Th in t his — Ac to w Ma wo per Cel bot Me col art Bel
BERNSTEIN Three Variations from Fancy Free CONTRERAS Symphony No. 1 “My Great Dream” DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
JEFFREY NYTCH Beacon MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique”
BEETHOVEN EROICA
AMERICA @ 250 MAY 30, 2026
APRIL 25, 2026 JULIAN SCHWARZ cello QUINN MASON Heroic Overture JENNIFER HIGDON Cello Concerto BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”
JI
JOYCE YANG piano JOHN WILLIAMS Selections from American Journey JONATHAN LESHNOFF Rhapsody on “America” COPLAND Appalachian Spring Suite COPLAND Lincoln Portrait
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*artists & programming subject to change.
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“O —G for Jef car edu His at l Car
Courtney Lindberg Photography
25/26 COMPOSERS SHOWCASE
Meet our class of seasoned and emerging living composers, with today’s best and brightest talent featured on each concert. These superstars are shaping the future of classical music.
JIM SELF
Celebrating his 50th Anniversary with the Pasadena Symphony! Principal Tuba of the Pasadena Symphony, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, and formerly Pacific Symphony, Jim Self is also a published composer. He has written over 60 titles for chamber music, band, orchestra, tuba and trombone. A Yamaha Performing Artist, Self performs regularly worldwide and was an adjunct professor of tuba and chamber music at USC Thornton School of Music.
EDGAR MEYER
“The most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument” — The New Yorker A celebrated bassist, and the only to win both an Avery Fisher and MacArthur Prize, Edgar Meyer has won 7 Grammy Awards for both performance and composition. Celebrated for his virtuosity in both classical and bluegrass music, Meyer has written concertos and collaborated with a diverse range of artists from Yo-Yo Ma and Joshua Bell to Sam Bush and Béla Fleck.
JEFFREY NYTCH
“One of the best releases of 2002” — Gramophone on his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra Jeffrey Nytch enjoys a diverse career as a composer, performer and educator in arts entrepreneurship. His works have been performed at landmark venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and
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the Colorado Symphony. With academic roots in both music and geology, Nytch combines creative artistry with interdisciplinary innovation, and currently serves as Professor of Composition and Director of the Entrepreneurship Center for Music at The University of Colorado-Boulder.
JUAN PABLO CONTRERAS
“Contreras’ writing feels fun and serious, fractured and coherent, modern and traditional.” – New Classic LA Three-time Latin GRAMMY®nominated composer and conductor Juan Pablos Contreras masterfully weaves Western classical and Mexican folk music. His music has been performed by 60 major orchestras across the United States and internationally, as well as at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. He is renowned as the first Mexicanborn composer to sign a record deal with Universal Music and to win the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise.
QUINN MASON
“One of the most sought after young composers in the country” — Texas Monthly Dallas-based composer and conductor Quinn Mason (b. 1996) has been celebrated for his dynamic orchestral voice and early achievements. He has served as the Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s Artist in Residence and was the youngest ever Composer in Residence at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Classical Roots program. He has received numerous honors
including the 2025 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer award and his works have been performed by over 170 orchestras worldwide.
JENNIFER HIGDON
“Traditionally rooted, yet imbued with integrity and freshness” – Times of London One of America’s most frequently performed living composers, Jennifer Higdon has won three Grammy Awards and the Pulitzer Prize. She enjoys several hundred performances of her works each year, and her works have been recorded on more than seventy CDs. Her Percussion Concerto recording was recently inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry and her first opera, Cold Mountain, won the International Opera Award for Best World Premiere and the recording was nominated for two Grammy awards.
JONATHAN LESHNOFF
“A leader of contemporary American lyricism” — The New York Times Grammy-nominated composer Jonathan Leshnoff is among the most performed living composers with performances by over 100 orchestras. He has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas and Nashville, among others. Leshnoff’s compositions have been premiered by celebrated soloists including Gil Shaham, Johannes PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P7 Moser and Joyce Yang.
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WELCOME! Welcome to this performance of the Pasadena Symphony at Ambassador Auditorium! If this is your first time to the Symphony or if you have been a life-long subscriber, thank you for being here, thank you for making live music a priority in your life and thank you especially for supporting your Pasadena Symphony. We continue to live in challenging and uncertain times for our community, the arts and for our organization, as we all continue to rebuild and process the changing world around us. After the fires last year, your outpouring of support for our PYSO Instrument drive helped us make a real impact on the lives of families affected by the fires. We received more than 300 instruments and monetary donations to help us put musical instruments back into the hands of students who lost so much. As our community continues to rebuild, the Pasadena Symphony can continue to provide a space where we as individuals, and as a community, can gather to escape the world for at least a few hours and wrap ourselves in the powerful embrace that only music can provide. But we need your help. As we face unprecedented levels of decreased funding of the arts, we rely on passionate supporters like you to ensure that we can deliver musical experiences of the highest artistic quality to our community. You may not know this, but ticket sales cover only 30% of the cost to produce our live orchestral performances, intensive music education programs offered through the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras, and our Student Access program, which provides concert tickets to over 2700 students and their families each year. Please consider donating or making a stretch donation if you have already given, to help us sustain our commitment to music in our community. Thank you for supporting the Pasadena Symphony!
Andrew Brown CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER PASADENA SYMPHONY AND POPS P8 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE
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2025-26 SEASON This program has been generously underwritten by: Kimberly S. Winick
Symphonie Fantastique Saturday, November 8, 2025 2pm & 8pm x
Brett Mitchell, conductor Orion Weiss, piano JIM SELF RAVEL
Tour de Force
Piano Concerto in G Major Allegramente
Adagio assai Presto BERLIOZ
INTERMISSION
Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14 Reveries, Passions A Ball Scene in the Country March to the Scaffold Dream of a Witches' Sabbath
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2025-26 SEASON This program has been generously underwritten by: Barbara Mann Steinwedell
Mendelssohn & Meyer Saturday, January 24, 2026
2pm & 8pm
Brett Mitchell, conductor Tessa Lark, violin MENDELSSOHN EDGAR MEYER
MENDELSSOHN
The Hebrides Overture, Op. 26
Violin Concerto
Romanza Dramma musicale, eroico, lirico e gioioso
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 3 In A minor, Op. 56, "Scottish" Andante con moto - Allegro un poco agitato Vivace non troppo Adagio Allegro vivacissimo - Allegro maestro assai
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2025-26 SEASON This program has been generously underwritten by: Marlene R. Konnar & John D. Baldeschwieler
Tchaikovsky Pathétique Saturday, February 21, 2026
2pm & 8pm
Brett Mitchell, conductor Michelle Cann, piano JEFFREY NYTCH Beacon MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488
Allegro Adagio Allegro assai
TCHAIKOVSKY
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 6, Op.74 in B minor, "Pathétique" Adagio - Allegro non troppo Allegro con grazia Allegro molto vivace Finale: Adagio lamentoso
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ARTIST BIOS Brett Mitchell
MUSIC DIRECTOR Hailed for presenting engaging, in-depth explorations of thoughtfully curated programs, American conductor Brett Mitchell currently serves as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony and Artistic Director & Conductor of Oregon’s Sunriver Music Festival. He previously served as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony (2017-21), Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra (2013-17), and Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony (2007-11) and Orchestre National de France (2006-09). In May 2025, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Mr. Mitchell stepped in for his subscription debut with the New York Philharmonic, leading three performances of Kevin Puts’ The Brightness of Light featuring soprano Renée Fleming, followed by the complete score of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé featuring the New York Philharmonic Chorus. Working widely as a guest conductor, Mr. Mitchell’s other recent engagements have included appearances with the Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, National, North Carolina, Oregon, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Vancouver symphonies; the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl; the Cleveland and Minnesota orchestras; the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; the Grant Park Festival Orchestra; and a two-week tour with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Mitchell also regularly collaborates with the world’s leading soloists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, Itzhak Perlman, Kirill Gerstein, Conrad Tao, Rudolf Buchbinder, James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Leila Josefowicz and Alisa Weilerstein.
Born in Seattle in 1979, Mr. Mitchell holds degrees in conducting from the University of Texas at Austin and composition from Western Washington University. His two principal professional mentors were Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel. For more information, visit brettmitchellconductor.com.
Orion Weiss PIANO
One of the most sought-after soloists and chamber music collaborators today, Orion Weiss is a “brilliant pianist” (The New York Times) with “powerful technique and exceptional insight” (The Washington Post). He has dazzled audiences worldwide with his “head-spinning range of colors” (Chicago Tribune) and has performed with all of the major orchestras of North America, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic. In 2024 Weiss released Arc III, the final album in his Arc recital trilogy (First Hand Records). His live performance schedule includes engagements with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by Michael Tilson Thomas, the National Symphony; multiple performances in the United States, Canada and Asia with violinist Augustin Hadelich; and the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Known for his affinity for chamber music, Weiss performs at venues and festivals around the United States with such artists as violinists Augustin Hadelich, William Hagen and James Ehnes; pianists Michael Brown and Shai Wosner; cellist Julie Albers; and the Ariel, Parker, and Pacifica Quartets. A native of Ohio, Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and made his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1999. That
same year, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Weiss stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Weiss’s awards include the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year, Gilmore Young Artist Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant and more. His teachers include Paul Schenly, Jerome Lowenthal and Sergei Babayan. In 2004, he graduated from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax. Learn more at www.orionweiss.com.
Tessa Lark VIOLIN
Increasingly in demand in the classical realm, violinist Tessa Lark was nominated for a Grammy in 2020 in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category. She is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky, delighting audiences with programming that includes Appalachian and bluegrass music, and inspiring composers to write for her. Tessa is the newly minted Artistic Director of the Moab Music Festival, and is the Artistic Director of Musical Masterworks, a chamber music series in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Her 2025-2026 season features a new concerto written for her by Lisa Biewala, premiering with The Louisville Orchestra. Tessa has performed with orchestras, recital venues and festivals around the world including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Indianapolis, Knoxville and Seattle Symphonies; as well as being presented by Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, and other prestigious venues and festivals. Tessa’s most recent album, The Stradgrass Sessions, released
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PROGRAM NOTES in spring 2023, features an allstar roster of collaborators and composers including Edgar Meyer, pianist Jon Batiste, mandolinist Sierra Hull and fiddler Michael Cleveland. Tessa’s debut commercial recording was the Grammy-nominated Sky, a bluegrass-inspired violin concerto written for her by Michael Torke and performed with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Her discography also includes Fantasy on First Hand Records, with tracks including Fantasias by Schubert, Telemann and Fritz Kreisler; Ravel’s Tzigane; and Lark’s own composition Appalachian Fantasy. Lark is a recipient of the Hunt Family Award, one of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Emerging Artist Awards, as well as a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant. She was Silver Medalist in the 9th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition. She is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School, where she studied with Sylvia Rosenberg, Ida Kavafian, and Daniel Phillips. Her primary mentors include Cathy McGlasson, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Miriam Fried, and Lucy Chapman. She plays a ca. 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
Michelle Cann PIANO
Lauded as “exquisite” by The Philadelphia Inquirer and “a pianist of sterling artistry” by Gramophone, GRAMMY Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann is one of the most soughtafter artists of her generation. Recent engagements include appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, The
Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, and Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo. She is a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and she served as the inaugural Christel DeHaan Artistic Partner of the American Piano Awards. Highlights of Cann’s 2025-26 season include appearances with the Colorado Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra. She also performs the world premiere of a new piano concerto by Valerie Coleman with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Her recital appearances include Stanford Live, Music Toronto, Chamber Music Detroit, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Spivey Hall, and a recital tour in China. Recognized as a leading interpreter of the piano music of Florence Price, Cann performed the New York City premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in 2016. Her recording of the concerto with the New York Youth Symphony won a GRAMMY Award in 2023 for Best Orchestral Performance. She won a GRAMMY Award in 2025 for Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price, recorded with soprano Karen Slack, which features 19 unpublished songs composed by Price. Her acclaimed debut solo album Revival, featuring music by Price and Margaret Bonds, was released in 2023. Cann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and an Artist’s Diploma from Curtis Institute of Music. She joined the Curtis piano faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies, and she is on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.
Symphonie Fantastique November 8, 2025 Tour de Force Jim Self
b. 1943
Program note by Jim Self: I am so excited that the Pasadena Symphony (my orchestra for over 50 years), is playing my most important composition to date. How does one describe Tour de Force in style? Certainly not classical, profound or ground-breaking. It may be exciting, beautiful and occasionally dissonant, fun, mildly provocative, rhythmically interesting, jazzy, bluesy, and Latin at times. There are a few musical clichés too. Stacked perfect 4ths play a very prominent role in the harmonic structure, which I like because they are not quite major or minor sounding (although they are more major than minor). Modern jazz musicians often use the same sounds, which they call Sus 4 chords. The nine episodes in Tour de Force were each composed separately. I then wrote transitions and interludes to connect them to affect tempo changes and modulations. Episodes One and Seven are for a ripieno group of nine soloists. Episodes Eight and Nine are an extended ending utilizing and developing many of the ideas from earlier episodes. The percussion is quite busy throughout and acts as the glue to the piece. I trust the musicians will rely on them for the “feel” and placement of notes. Combining all the forces of a large orchestra presented many challenges for me. I tried to write interesting individual solo and section parts, and the performance challenges are not so much technical, but rhythmic. The “grooves” must be there. The Pasadena Symphony has many seasoned studio musicians and reading complex music is one of our strengths.
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PROGRAM NOTES Piano Concerto in G Major Maurice Ravel 1875-1937 Born in a small village in southwest France, Ravel studied piano from age seven, and composition at twelve. In 1889 he moved to Paris to enter the Conservatoire’s preparatory program as a piano student. Unlike many other composers, Ravel was anything but a prodigy. Although he won a prize early on in his studies, he failed to make significant progress and was expelled from the school in 1895. After turning to composition he returned to the Conservatoire in 1897, but was expelled from the program again in 1900. He audited composition classes with Gabriel Fauré but left the school for good in 1903. Despite having compositions performed at the Société Nationale de Musique, he failed to win the Prix de Rome five times. Ravel’s lack of academic success was almost certainly due more to his failure to yield to the academic dictates of the conservatory than to any lack of talent. With the help of Fauré, he saw more of his works performed at the Société Nationale, but received criticism from both ends of the spectrum—from conservatives who found his music too radical and from progressives who found it inferior to Debussy. Despite this rocky beginning, Ravel came to be considered the foremost composer in France by the end of World War I. His music often juxtaposed structural features of the past with modern harmonic embellishments. He had very few students and unlike Stravinsky or Schoenberg, left little direct influence on the next generation of composers, yet his works remain enjoyed by audiences and highly respected by musicologists. Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major takes multiple inspirations, spanning from the folk music of the Basques to American jazz and classical European forms. Long in gestation, the idea of writing a Basque-inspired piano concerto had come to Ravel as early as 1906. After periodically toying with it over the course of two decades, he finally composed the concerto between 1929 and 1931.
Ravel’s fascination with jazz in the 1920s was no accident. By then, this new type of music had become a cultural phenomenon in Europe. In the wake of American involvement in WWI, US soldiers brought American music to Europe, including jazz. Following America’s key role in the Anglo-French victory, American popular culture took on new cultural weight in European capitals. Moreover, the exuberant rhythms teeming with urban vitality, harmonic richness, polyphonic complexity, and an ethos of bold experimentation shared much in common with European avant-garde modernism. It also shared in the anti-establishment culture rife in the air of post-WWI Europe—a time when all four continental empires had collapsed and outdated 19th century cultural norms were being overturned. Paradoxically, Ravel also used the concerto to hone classical formal structures derived from 18th century and more restrained 19th century examples. He took inspiration from the piano concerti of Mozart and Camille Saint-Saëns. Thus, Ravel’s concerto is a particularly noteworthy example of what Ravel scholar Barbara Kelly calls the “striking juxtaposition of past and present”—an attitude firmly entrenched in the 1920s by neoclassical composers such as Stravinsky, Poulenc and others. Ravel had visited the United States and Canada on an extensive tour in 1928, shortly before writing the concerto. It is tempting to trace the influence of jazz and blues on the French composer to this tour. However, as noted by the prominent musicologist G. W. Hopkins, Ravel often visited countries shortly after composing works inspired by them rather than the other way around. Ravel conducted the concerto’s premiere in Paris in 1932, performed by the Orchestre Lamoureux He had initially intended to be the soloist, but was in poor health. Instead, he was convinced by friends to engage Marguerite Long, a specialist in contemporary French piano music. the premiere met with much acclaim and the concerto was quickly programed in major cities across Europe and the United States.
Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14 Hector Berlioz 1803-1869 Composed in 1830, Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique consists of five movements and is perhaps the most famous example of program music, in which an external story is an integral component of the music. As such, an explanation of the famous storyline is perhaps best left up to the composer. In the 1845 score, 15 years after the symphony’s initial composition, Berlioz supplied the following: Part one: Reveries, passions The author imagines that a young musician, afflicted by the sickness of spirit which a famous writer has called the vagueness of passions…, sees for the first time a woman who unites all the charms of the ideal person his imagination was dreaming of, and falls desperately in love with her. By a strange anomaly, the beloved image never presents itself to the artist’s mind without being associated with a musical idea in which he recognizes a certain quality of passion, but endowed with the nobility and shyness which he credits to the object of his love... The transitions from this state of dreamy melancholy, interrupted by occasional upsurges of aimless joy, to delirious passion, with its outbursts of fury and jealousy, its returns of tenderness, its tears, its religious consolations—all this forms the subject of the first movement. Part two: A Ball The artist finds himself in the most diverse situations in life, in the tumult of a festive party, in the peaceful contemplation of the beautiful sights of nature, yet everywhere, whether in town or in the countryside, the beloved image keeps haunting him and throws his spirit into confusion. Part three: Scene in the Country One evening in the countryside, he hears two shepherds in the distance dialoguing with their ranz des vaches; this pastoral duet, the setting, the gentle rustling of the trees in the wind, some causes for hope that he has recently conceived, all conspire to restore to his heart an unaccustomed feeling of calm and to give to his thoughts a happier colouring. He
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PROGRAM NOTES broods on his loneliness and hopes that soon he will no longer be on his own... But what if she betrayed him!... This mingled hope and fear, these ideas of happiness, disturbed by dark premonitions, form the subject of the adagio. At the end one of the shepherds resumes his ranz des vaches; the other one no longer answers. Distant sound of thunder... solitude... silence... Part four: March to the Scaffold Convinced that his love is spurned, the artist poisons himself with opium. The dose of narcotic, while too weak to cause his death, plunges him into a heavy sleep accompanied by the strangest of visions. He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned, led to the scaffold and is witnessing his own execution. The procession advances to the sound of a march that is sometimes sombre and wild, and sometimes brilliant and solemn, in which a dull sound of heavy footsteps follows the loudest outbursts without transition. At the end of the march, the first four bars of the idée fixe reappear like a final thought of love interrupted by the fatal blow. Part five: Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath He sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers, and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the sabbath... Roar of delight at her arrival... She joins the diabolical orgy... The funeral knell tolls, burlesque parody of the Dies irae, the dance of the witches…
with her beauty, he began writing love letters to her in spite of never having actually met. She chose not to respond, which the hapless composer used as inspiration to create this symphonic masterpiece. Once Ms. Smithson realized that she was the muse behind the composition, she agreed to meet Berlioz. The two were quickly engaged and lived unhappily ever after until they divorced nine years later.
Mendelssohn & Meyer January 24, 2026 The Hebrides Overture Felix Mendelssohn 1809-1847 The grandson of a renowned Jewish scholar and born to a family of bankers in Hamburg, Mendelssohn enjoyed a precocious childhood and a highly successful career. After the family fled to Berlin during the Napoleonic Wars, he and his highly talented older sister Fanny studied harmony and counterpoint with the director of the famed Berlin Singakademie. From an early age, Mendelssohn was fascinated with the music of Bach and Mozart— highly unusual at a time when Bach’s music remained virtually unknown
- translated by Michael Austin
Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture was inspired by the composer’s trip to Scotland in 1829. He and and his friend Carl Klingemann visited the island of Staffa, a small rocky, uninhabited island in the Hebrides Islands off Scotland’s west coast, home to dramatic cliffs, basalt columns, and a famous sea cave known as Fingal’s Cave. According to legend, the cave was once home to the royal castle of the ancient Scottish kingdom of Morven. When exploring the cave, Mendelssohn noticed peculiar echoes created as sound bounced off its basalt columns.
Naturally, the “young musician” to which Berlioz refers was in fact himself. Several years before writing the symphony, the composer attended a performance of Hamlet, where he first encountered the young Irish actress Harriet Smithson. Enamored
Mendelssohn originally titled the work “To the Lonely Island,” and later gave it the name “Fingal's Cave” before settling on its current title. The primary theme, which forms the musical basis of the entire work, was composed the
day before Mendelssohn visited the island and its cave. The piece helped popularize the island of Staffa as a tourist destination which was later featured in novels such as Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, poems by Tennyson, Keats and others, and romantic landscape paintings. Mendelssohn completed the overture in 1830, while in Rome. The piece premiered on May 14, 1832 by the Philharmonic Society in London, conducted by Thomas Attwood. After its premiere, Mendelssohn revised it three times. During this process, a disappointed Mendelssohn complained that the music seemed “more of counterpoint than of train oil, gulls and salted cod.” The second version, now considered standard, was first performed on January 10, 1833 in Berlin, conducted by the composer. Dedicated to Frederick William IV of Prussia, it was published later in 1833.
Violin Concerto Edgar Meyer
b. 1960
Edgar Meyer, a genre-defying double bassist and composer, is renowned for his ability to bridge classical traditions with American folk, jazz, and bluegrass. His Violin Concerto, originally composed in 1999 and revised in 2011, reflects his distinctive musical voice by melding technical virtuosity with the stylistic breadth of his varying musical influences. Commissioned and premiered by violinist Hilary Hahn, the concerto is written in two movements, defying the conventional threemovement concerto form. The first movement begins with a lyrical openness, balancing delicately between classical phrasing and improvisatory, folk-inspired gestures. Meyer employs rich textures and unpredictable rhythms, requiring the soloist to shift between expressive melodic lines and agile, fiddle-like passages. The second movement offers a PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P15
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PROGRAM NOTES more playful and rhythmically driven contrast. Here, Meyer's roots in American vernacular music come to the fore, with grooves reminiscent of bluegrass and jazz weaving through the orchestra. Syncopations and offbeat accents challenge both the soloist and ensemble, while the movement builds in energy and complexity toward a rousing finale. What sets Meyer’s concerto apart is not just its synthesis of genres but its organic flow. Rather than forcing disparate styles together, he crafts a seamless musical narrative that feels both rooted in tradition and boldly modern. The result is a compelling showcase for the violinist, not only in terms of technique but also interpretive nuance and stylistic versatility.
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, “Scottish” Felix Mendelssohn 1809-1847 Mendelssohn composed his Scottish Symphony intermittently over the course of more than a decade, between 1829 and 1842. The work finally premiered on March 3, 1842 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. It was revised once following its premiere; this second version is now considered the standard. Although it was the third out of his five to be published, it was the last symphony that Mendelssohn completed. The piece was inspired by the same excursion to Scotland that inspired his Hebrides Overture. In Edinburgh, Mendelssohn and his friend Klingemann visited Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland and the primary royal residence of the kings of Scotland since the 1500s. Mendelssohn wrote a letter to his family that included a draft of what would eventually become the symphony's primary musical theme. In it, he described his enchantment with the site: In the deep twilight we went today to the palace where Queen Mary lived and loved...
The chapel below is now roofless. Grass and ivy thrive there and at the broken altar where Mary was crowned Queen of Scotland. Everything is ruined, decayed, and the clear heavens pour in. I think I have found there the beginning of my "Scottish" Symphony. The symphony takes some inspiration from Scottish folk music - it includes a characteristic rhythm known as the “Scotch snap,” as well as melodies drawn from the pentatonic scale that feature prominently in the Scottish folk music Mendelssohn had heard while staying in Edinburgh. The symphony also features several important formal innovations. All four movements are intended to be performed without intervening pauses. Moreover, all of the work’s main themes are expansions of a single E-A-B-C motif, which serves as the symphony ‘s opening. The final movement, in A minor, introduces a new theme in its coda—something that had never before been done in a symphonic coda. This theme, in A major, is a reworking of the first movement’s opening theme. The hymn-like theme, written to evoke the sound of a men’s chorus, brings the symphony to a close by evoking its beginning, resolving the dramatic tension of the entire work.
Tchaikovsky "Pathetique" February 21, 2026 Beacon Jeffrey Nytch
b. 1964
Program note by Jeffrey Nytch: “Beacon” was inspired by the Boulder Star, a fixture that resides on a mountainside overlooking Boulder, Colorado. The Star is lit during the holidays, of course, but its significance runs much deeper. The Star has also been lit at times of community tragedy, stress, or challenge: after 9/11, in the wake of the Marshall Fire, during the Covid-19 lockdown, and after the King Soopers shooting that
claimed the lives of eleven Boulder citizens. Contemplating these tragic events made me realize it was impossible to separate the hopeful light of the holidays from those times when the Star has been a symbol of collective mourning and solidarity—a beacon for the entire community. As such, this piece is about more than one community’s tradition; it’s about the beacons of hope that exist in every community, and within ourselves, and how hope itself has no meaning if we don’t also experience its opposite. Looking back on the last few years of strife, loss and social disruption throughout our country and world, I believe we could all use an occasion to contemplate our own beacons and perhaps find a little healing—a little hope—for ourselves. That is my hope for this piece. In the somber and reflective middle section of the piece, you’ll hear a snippet of a very familiar tune: the Prelude to the first of Bach’s Cello Suites. In the days following the 2021 King Soopers shooting, University of Colorado music student Louis Saxton sat down with his cello and played at the makeshift memorial that had sprung up at the scene. He had narrowly escaped the shooter that day, and as he tried to process his emotions the only thing that made sense to him was to play music. One of the pieces he played was the Bach. As I was composing “Beacon,” I kept getting pulled back to this powerful statement about the ability of art to bring people together and to give expression to the depths of human experience that words cannot fathom. Eventually I realized that the Bach would serve as the key pivot of the entire work, the moment when we turn away from darkness and despair…and return to the light. Nytch currently holds the position of Professor of Composition and Director of the Entrepreneurship Center for Music at The University of Colorado-Boulder.
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PROGRAM NOTES Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791 Mozart composed his Piano Concerto in A Major in two stages. He likely began the work in 1784 or early 1785, and completed it on March 2, 1786. Although the date and precise details of the premiere are unknown, it was almost certainly performed by Mozart himself during a subscription series in the spring of 1786. The concerto was first published in Paris in 1800. When resuming work on the concerto in winter 1785-86, Mozart made minor revisions to the portions he had already completed. One of the most significant changes was the replacement of oboes with clarinets. Notably, two other concerti written around the same time also have prominent roles for clarinets. Now an indispensable part of the symphony orchestra, clarinets had been unavailable to Mozart during the previous two seasons. In summer 1786, Mozart sent three concerti, including this one, to one of his most important patrons, Prince Joseph von Fürstenberg for his court orchestra to perform privately at his estate in Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany. In his letter to von Fürstenberg, Mozart wrote that the three concerti he was sending were “not even known in Vienna,” indicating that K.488 was still unpublished and likely had not yet been performed. While working out his ideas for the concerto, Mozart drafted several abandoned variants of the second and third movements. Some contain features that would eventually make their way into the final version, but most of these drafts are radically different than the piece we now know. Interestingly, the cadenza to the first movement was fully written out by Mozart—unusual in an era in which cadenzas were typically improvised.
By the time of K.488’s composition, Mozart had been living in Vienna for half a decade and had embarked on a new phase in his career, performing fewer concerts and giving greater compositional focus to operas, symphonies and concerti. He had described his thoughts on writing concerti in a 1782 letter to his father Leopold: “The concerti are a happy medium between too easy and too difficult. They are very brilliant, pleasing to the ear, without, of course, being empty. Here and there are places which appeal exclusively to connoisseurs, but even ignoramuses will be pleased with them without knowing why.” Though written four years before the concerto, the letter’s sentiments are fully echoed in its elegant, graceful style.
Symphony No. 6, Op.74 in B minor, "Pathétique” Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840-1893 Tchaikovsky composed his monumental sixth symphony between February and August of 1893. He wrote much of the piece in Klin, a small town 60 miles northwest of Moscow where he spent his summers. The piece premiered on October 28, 1893, conducted by the composer just nine days before his death, and was performed again shortly afterward at his memorial service. As early as 1889, Tchaikovsky expressed his intent to compose a final symphony as the culmination of his career, which he wished to dedicate to the tsar. He began working on it in spring of 1891 while in the United States to conduct the opening performance at the new Carnegie Hall. Although he nearly finished it in 1892, he decided to begin again completely from scratch. He transformed the first movement of his first draft into the third piano concerto, while the second and third movements were completed posthumously. The sixth symphony that ultimately emerged was titled "Pathétique" by the composer himself—unlike many unauthorized yet nowfamous musical subtitles which
were invented by publishers and promoters. The term “pathétique” denotes the meaning of “filled with pathos (emotion)” rather than “arousing pity.” Tchaikovsky had originally considered calling the work “Program Symphony,” and since its premiere, audiences have debated whether this symphony has an explicit program—and if so, what it is. By 1893, almost everything Tchaikovsky was writing carried some form of extramusical meaning. Tchaikovsky himself privately admitted as much in a letter to his nephew: "Now, on my journey, the idea of a new symphony came to me, this time one with a program, but a program that will be a riddle to everyone. Let them try and solve it ... The program of this symphony is completely saturated with myself and quite often during my journey I cried profusely." Tchaikovsky also revealed the existence of a program for the work to fellow composer Nikolai RimskyKorsakov. While he clearly had ideas in mind, he specifically chose not to reveal them, deliberately leaving the music open to interpretation. More fundamentally, the music expresses powerful emotions but isn't “about” anything beyond itself. In the popular imagination, Tchaikovsky is viewed as a tragic figure, especially in his final years. As is commonly believed, the sixth symphony was a prediction of his untimely death by his own hand due to intense feelings of guilt and shame over his homosexuality. However, in letters from the period he revealed himself to be upbeat, had fully accepted his homosexuality, and was in a committed, loving relationship. The idea that he deliberately contracted cholera is sheer speculation, countering much documentary evidence from the period. In fact, it has never been established that Tchaikovsky died from any disease, communicable or otherwise. Yet, the myth of Tchaikovsky lives on. Unless otherwise noted, program notes writen by Joshua Grayson. PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P17
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THE ORCHESTRA ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP Brett Mitchell MUSIC DIRECTOR
FIRST VIOLIN Aimée Kreston
CONCERTMASTER Paul & Georgianna Erskine Chair
Amy Hershberger
ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER
Elizabeth Hedman
ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER
Aroussiak Baltaian
Chair endowed by Mr. & Mrs Herbert Hezlep III
Mei Chang Sharon Harman Carrie Kennedy Julie Rogers Nancy Roth Neil Samples Audrey Solomon Irina Voloshina
SECOND VIOLIN Sara Parkins
Dane Little
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by J. Richard Love in celebration of his high school music teacher, Rose Eneboe Steele
Trina Carey Nadine Hall Deborah Kollgaard DOUBLE BASS Geoffrey Osika
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Allan W. Fink in memory of Elvera Doctor Fink
Christian Kollgaard
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Lorian W. Stillion in memory of Ardell Stillion
Peter Doubrovsky Lisa Gass Frances Liu FLUTE Heather Clark
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Bridget Emerson
Sarah Weisz
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Barbara Steinwedell
Chair endowed by Dr. & Mrs. John D. F. Tarr in memory of Edna Mae Tarr
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
PICCOLO Geraldine Rotella
Position vacant Sam Fischer Pamela Gates
Chair endowed by Hazel B. Mason in memory of Albert W. Mason, Jr.
Joel Pargman Susan Rishik Alex Russell Rebecca Rutkowski Hiromi Warren Vivian Wolf VIOLA Andrew Picken
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Marlene R. Konnar & John D. Baldeschwieler
Carrie Holzman-Little ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Carole Castillo Suzanna Giordano Gignac Lynn Grants Aaron Oltman Qiang Wang CELLO Michael Kaufman
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed in honor of Edith Roberts by her children and their spouses P18 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE
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Chair endowed by Richard P. & Jane Ro
OBOE Lara Wickes PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Mrs. Uric Bray in memory of Henri Debusscher
Lisa Geering-Tomoff ENGLISH HORN Position Vacant
Chair endowed by Richard P. & Jane Roe
CLARINET Donald Foster
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Dr. George Housner
HORN James Thatcher
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Charles Pankow Builders Limited
Dan Kelley
Chair endowed by Mr. & Mrs. John H. Glanville
Position vacant TRUMPET Position vacant
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Dr. Clifford M. Hughes
Position vacant TROMBONE William Booth
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Mr. & Mrs. David Traitel
2nd Position vacant BASS TROMBONE Terry Cravens
Chair endowed by Alice Marie Simon
TUBA James Self
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Mr. & Mrs. J.C. Massar
HARP JoAnn Turovsky
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Mrs. Ulric Bray
PIANO/KEYBOARD Alan Steinberger
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by the family & friends of Dr. Nelson J. Leonard in honor of his 85th birthday
TIMPANI Wade Culbreath
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Linda & William Krantz
Philip O’Connor
PERCUSSION Theresa Dimond
BASS CLARINET Position Vacant
Position Vacant Jason Goodman
Chair endowed by The Stans Foundation
PRINCIPAL Chair endowed by Barbara Steinwedell
BASSOON Position vacant
PERSONNEL MANAGER Ryan Sweeney
Judith Farmer
LIBRARIAN Brent Anderson
PRINCIPAL
CONTRABASSOON Position vacant
10/22/25 11:14 PM
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS
Maryam Shah-Hosseini
Kimberly S. Winick
DIRECTOR AT LARGE
Sandford L. Frey
DIRECTOR AT LARGE
PRESIDENT
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Andrew Brown
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Dr. Alan Fisher
SECRETARY OF THE BOARD
Baird Marble VP FINANCE
Leslie Hockett Marble VP GOVERNANCE
Greg Holcomb
VP COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Shelley B. Thompson VP DEVELOPMENT
Shadi Sanbar
VP INVESTMENTS
Reggie Wilson VP PERSONNEL
Priscilla McClure Greta Mandel
DIRECTOR AT LARGE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Pam Ackrich Elizabeth Grossman Besch Angel Chen Craig Colbath Carl Cooper Dr. Annette L. Ermshar Arlene Falk Withers Freddi Hill Raymond Kepner Stephen J. Miyabe Mona Neter Susan M. Postman Steven T. Rosen Victoria Schwartz Sheila Viswanathan
BOARD OF ADVISORS Supervisor Kathryn Barger Claud Beltran Diane Blum Congresswoman Judy Chu Alicia Garcia Clark Anita B. Fromholz Veronica Garabedian Beth Hansen Marlene R. Konnar Linda L. Krantz Ronald M. LaBran Councilmember Steven Madison Clara Maarse Brian McDermott Anneila Sargent Susan Shieff Dr. Linda Tolbert Chelisa Vagim Mindy L. Ying
STAFF Andrew Brown
Jardine Monteil
Randall Bass
Nina Montoya
PRODUCTION & STAGE MANAGER
OFFICE MANAGER
Kendra Buchok
Brian O’Donnell
MARKETING ASSISTANT
EDUCATION MANAGER
Alex Chu
Liliane Ribeiro
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Tim Harwick
DIRECTOR OF PATRON SERVICES & TICKETING
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
PYSO OVERTURE STRINGS CONDUCTOR
Dr. Anne Rardin
PYSO STRING ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR
Kyle Smith
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
PYSO PRELUDE STRINGS CONDUCTOR
Bella Sunshine
Nathan Stearns
GENERAL MANAGER
Neha Kudva
PYSO CONDUCTORS Pin Chen
DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT
PYSO SINFONIA CONDUCTOR
Kristine Llanderal
April Guthrie
ARTISTIC OPERATIONS COORDINATOR
PYSO ALL CITY ORCHESTRA STRINGS CONDUCTOR
Marisa McCarthy
Chris Kim
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS
Michael Nelson
PYSO ALL CITY WINDS CONDUCTOR
Jack Taylor
PYSO SYMPHONY CONDUCTOR
Gary Yearick
PYSO WIND ENSEMBLE CONDUCTOR
PYSO PHILHARMONIC CONDUCTOR
PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P19
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INDIVIDUAL DONORS The Pasadena Symphony Association gratefully acknowledges our individual supporters. Your generous gifts ensure that audiences – both today and for generations to come – can experience the power, beauty, and joy of live music. There are a wide range of donor benefits available at various gifting levels. For more information, please call (626) 414-2198 or go to PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org/give. Contribution list is from September 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025. We apologize for any errors or omissions. LEAD AMBASSADORS
PLATINUM CIRCLE
Anonymous Marlene R. Konnar & John D. Baldeschwieler Linda & William Krantz Paul Rusnak The Women’s Committee of the Pasadena Symphony and POPS
Anonymous Jane & Dan Armel Bill and Debra Brownlie Gary Carr Renate & Mel Cohen Dorothy & Michael Doyle Dr. Annette L. Ermshar & Dan Monahan Linda & Peter Flaherty Patricia Frandson Sandy & Sharon Frey Sue & Paul Lowden Heidi & Steve McLean Terese Mosher Beluris Barbara & Tony Phillips Audrey Prins Janet J. Rose Steven T. Rosen Paula & Lloyd Ross Eric Sigg Laurie & Robert Silton Booker T. & Sarita White Jill Wondries
($50,000 or more)
DIAMOND CIRCLE ($20,000 or more) Anonymous (2) Diane & Fred Blum Freddi & Kenneth Hill C. Bryan Johns & Alec Call Rob Moore Shadi & Jennifer Sanbar Barbara Mann Steinwedell Mr. & Mrs. George Strong Alyce de Roulet Williamson Reginald A. Wilson & English A. Heisser EMERALD CIRCLE ($10,000 to $19,999) Anonymous Carl W. Cooper & Lynn Van Dam Cooper Georgianna Bray Erskine Dr. Alan Fisher Raymond & Cinty Kepner Jerry & Terri Kohl Clara Maarse Greta & Peter Mandell Jeannette & Warren Martin Michael Nissman Charles* & Caroline Norman Dr. Jeffrey* & Susan Postman Lawrence Rubenstein, PHD & Susan Auyang, DDS Anneila Sargent Vicki & Brad Schwartz Ellyn & Rich Semler Kimberly Winick & Lawrence Chamblee*
($5,000 to $9,999)
SUPPORTERS $2,500 - $4,999 Anonymous Brenda Baity & Scott Long Dean & Karen Billman Gabrielle Bruveris Patricia & Dennis Burke Rhonda Cotton & DeWayne Nash Clifford Daniels Marilyn Diaz Jon & Carol Demorest Sharla & Dick Durant Mr. & Mrs. James Gallagher Nelson & Priscilla Gibbs Mr. & Mrs. Ken Gouw Jeff Hacker Beth Hansen Ann Horton Manny Kaplan Dr. & Mrs. Alan Karme Jim & Beverlee Bickmore Kelly Howard Kern Kiren Kresa-Reahl
Christopher M. Laquer Marjorie Lindbeck Ilona Linden Cynthia & Michael Malone Leslie Hockett Marble & Baird Marble Maggie Meline Wendell Mortimer Gretl & Arnold Mulder Susan B. Napier Mona & Ron Neter Chris & Noreen Norgaard Judith & Donald Norquist Christine M. Ofiesh Antoinette Perpall Regina & Norman Perry Gloria & Don Pitzer Elizabeth & Peter Popoff Rosemary & Robert Risley Wallace J. Rogozinski Susan & Bill Shieff Helga & Gary Sherman Gregory Stone & Cynthia Vail Steven L. Strange Maria & Albert Sun Laney Techentin Roselyn & Saul Teukolsky Samuel M. Thomasson Shelley Thompson William E. & Fanya N. Thomson Mr. Eliot & Dr. Jodie Ullman Alyssa Van Dyk Drs. Bart & Pam Wald Fred & Becky Weaver Eileen Zimmerman $1,000 - $2,499 Anonymous Pam & Jerry* Ackrich Donna M. Arcaro Dick Asjes Susan & Cameron Azad Todd Bayer & Alexander Murray Eric W. Bell & Susanne Spangler Bob Campos Cheryl & Phil Cannon Maggie Chatman Catherine “Tink” Cheney & Barry Jones
Edward* & Alicia Garcia Clark Kathleen Colburn Garrett Collins & Matthew McIntyre Chelby Crawford & Gregg Smith James & Suzanne Crisp Cleveland B. Crudgington Luke Dubord Walt Fidler George* & Sally Li Forbes Joan Fraser Anita and Haley* Fromholz Bobbie & Jerry Furrey L. Palmer Garberson Greg Holcomb & Todd Nickey Larry & Mireya Jones Deborah Kollgaard Steve Lazarian & Stephanie Pearl Deborah B. Lewis Eden & Gary Livingood Adel Luzuriaga Jennifer MacLean Ilene Marshall Brendan McMahon Margaret & David Mgrublian Angela & Fritz Miller Brett & Angela Mitchell Diane Moldafsky Mei-Lee Ney Mr. & Mrs. Douglas H. Nogle Debi & Stan Parkhurst Celinda Pearson Norma Richman Halaine Rose Sara Semel Evelyn Shaffer Jon Shields Katherine Steinwedell Steve & Melanie Summers Martha Thompson Mark Waco Monica J. Wahl & K. John Shaffer Barbara & Ian White-Thomson Andrew Van Horn & Kristine Chase
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INDIVIDUAL DONORS J. Dale & Joanne Williamson Pamela Willis Barry Winick & Linda Saccoccio Arlene Withers $500 - $999 Anonymous (3) Chris Adams Rich Aguiar Hermina Allen Meghan Allen Emile Anand Mark Anderson Olivia Arreola-Owen Dennis Awad Keri & Douglas Axel Bruce & Judy Bailey Susana Bautista Shana Bayat & Tarun Kapoor Pat & Jack Beauchamp Chantal & Stephen Bennett Toni Bird Sheri Bluebond Alfred Boegh Mr. & Mrs. Bill Caswell Linda Chang Dottie Clougherty Stephanie & Dennis Cohen Douglas W. Bello & Glenn E. Cunningham Christine Fedukowski Susan & Richard Feinberg Mark & Terri Forbes Dr. & Mrs. Steven Frautschi Cynthia Gage Hewes Sylvie Gertmenian Idan & Rodney Gould Yvonne Green, CPA & John Mitchell Carrie & Tim Grochow Ann Haberfelde Norma Hanlin Maureen Harrington & Gordon Maas Ronald Lee Helmuth & M. Kelly Malone Dale Preator & Carolyn Hemann-Preator Marcia & Ernie Hoffer Patti Houlihan Tammy Huang Alvin Hughes Bryan & Debi Jacobs Janell Julian Miriam Kelly Connie Knott Jacqueline Knowles
Judy & Brad Kolb Celine Lin Frances Richmond & Gerald Loeb Laurence Lubka Beverly Marksbury Susan Matthies Don & Nancy McIntyre Elissa Miller Douglas Parker Peggy Quijada & Mathias Franke Abel R. & Rosalia Ramirez Anne Rardin Robert & Shelly Reisch DeMarais & Dennis Riley Julie Saper Maryam Shah-Hosseini Jamie Shaheen Gretchen Shepherd Lei Shi & Elliot Caine Becca Shrand Kerry Slater Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Sposato Jean Summers Lisa & David Takata Drusie Taylor John Tenfelder Anita Tsuji Laurie & David Turner Scott Vandrick & Tony Foster James Weidner Valerie & Aaron Weiss Lynda & Patrick Whaley Dr. David Woodley & Dr. Janet Fairley Julie Yang Mary Yeager Jonathan Yeh Lauren Young $250 - $499 Anonymous (2) Dr. & Mrs. Mark P. Amico Wayne April & Jeffrey Gutstadt Sylvia Ann Arreola Sharon Barlow Douglas Barry Ruth Ann Bell Donald R. Bergmann Mary Canobbio Colias Doug Cox Gwendolyn Currier Joy Cui Virginia & Stuart Cypherd Mr. & Mrs. Larry DeBoer Catherine Dent Kathleen Douglass
Lisa Falco Hilary Fausett Fred Figueroa Jerald & Linda Froschauer Gary Gilbert Gimenez Family Judith Graunke Diane & Sheldon Halpern Angela Hawekotte & Casey Quinn Susan Hoffman Scott & Andrea Holtzman Dorothy K. Hull Linda Squillace Jackson Ilene & Harry Jacobs Missy & Paul Jennings Brian Jersky Brian & Deborah Jones Terri & Tom Keville Terry Knowles Hin Ku Stephanie & Kent Kuster Michael & Nancy Leb Xuemei Li Guoqing Liu Mr. & Mrs. Paul Martinet Linda Massey Lynn Mehl Cathleen Meyers Robert & Kimberly Michero Phil & Shelley Miles Charles Minsky Beverly Mitchum Loretta Mockler Tom Nuccio Cynthia & George Null Susan Olsen Julie & Robert Oropallo Robert Packer Peter Parker Lynda & Richard Patton Baeri Penn Edward A. Perez Nicole Pettis Eugene & Nancy Rostkowski James Satterfield James Self Tamara Silver Gregg Smith Nadya Starr Drs. Philip Taylor & Ngoc Dinh John Tegtmeyer & Pamela Hillings Tegtmeyer Judith Tompkins Kathleen Tucker Marcia Vargas Nancy & John Vogt Robert William Wakeling
Herbert Weinberg Karen Weinberger Russell Wiener Marsha Willhite Linge Xiong $100 - $249 Anonymous (4) Deborah Ahern Mr. & Mrs. Polly Allen Mark & Carol Amico Kathryn Amira John Angus Robert J. Argue Robert Arjoyan Lisa Ashworth & Allen McMullen Lucinda Baker Richard Bakke Nadav Bar-Chaim Sheryl Barnum Douglas Barry Nora Barsuk Paul & Carol Berlant Margaret Bersch John Beynon Betsy & Gary Birkenbeuel Ashok Boghani Nancy Bohte Laurel Bossi Cynthia V. Bradley Christopher & Charlotte Bradley Julia Bradsher Maria Branch Lisa Brault Bruce Breiby Andrew Brown & Karen Hogle Brown Marian M. Brown Ray Bunch Adriana Camastra John Campbell Grace & David Cashion James Castle Cheri & Allan Celestine Jenny Cheng Mi Choe Dr. & Mrs. Michael Churukian Dorothy Cole Linda Collier Peggy Collins Suzanne Colmenero Edward & Peggy Cooley Carollee & D. Courtney Devon Cromwell Patricia & Gus Crowe Rosaline Dauphin Loring Davies Susan De Pietro PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P21
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INDIVIDUAL DONORS Nancy Dege Lynn & Richard Dotts Megan Drake Alec & Emma Druth Barbara Durham Faye Eggerding Gail Eichenthal Rob Farber Gudrun Farkas Rita & Kenneth Farfsing Joseph Fitzpatrick Stephen Fluharty Jennifer Fox Mary Anne Fox Penelope Fraumeni Mary Ann & Marc Fried David & Natalie Fu Wendy Fu Tony Garcia Pamela Gates Barbara George Corinne Glassman Willard Gleeson Marvin Goecks Coralie Goldsmith Judith Goodstein Jeffrey Grass Barbara & Gary Grey Patricia Grisinger Robert Guentert Jose Gutierrez Holly Hamdan Rebecca Han Tamera Hanna John Harris Victoria & Rex Heggem Richard Henderson Lynne Hillenbrand Pamela & Jerrold Hogle Asm. Chris Holden Susanne Hollis Cece Horne Michael Horner Huiquin Hsu Jerry Hurowitz Tina Ito Rob Jacobs Shadi Jahangir Sally Jameson Chasity Jenning-Nunez Eva Jiang Mark Julstrom Esther Jun Rex Keeler Florence Kemp Joanne Kennedy Moon Ko Gloria Koeppel Patricia Korbel Margaret Krpan Anna Kuo
Alexis Kusy Charie Laugharn Villy Lee Angel Lemus Michael Lesser Haolin Chris Li Tina Lowenthal Gayle Lund William Lynes Fred Manaster Sue Martin Jimmy Martinez Mr. & Mrs. Marshall Mathison Marisa McCarthy Robin McCarthy Amanda McIntosh Allan Miller Leslie Miller Miles Mitchell Linda Moore David & Janice Moritz De Ann Morris Ronald Morton Pantazis Mouroulis Michael & Maureen Murphy Michael Nelson Marsha Nikora Jeanne Niotta Mariann Nolan Jae Yoon Oh Janice Ohta & Fred Weiss Stephen O’Neill Josh Pais Sheilah Palacios Mike Pauken Michele Perelman Irene & Marvin Perer Donna & Gilbert Perez Stan Perkins Paul Peru Ana Rangel Erika & Kenneth Riley Hannah & Brock Robertson Paul Roach Herb Rodgers Robert Ruby Rebecca Rutkowski Nicole Santini Mary Schander Robert Schirripa Kathleen Scott Mr. & Mrs. Richard Seibel Huiying Shen Yufang Shao Cheryl Shields Judy Shum Melani & Craig Smith Cathy Sripramong
Rhoads Stephenson Michelle Stilts-Skokan Cheri Strobel Gary Suess Nancy & William Sullivan Leif Swanson Jacquelyn Taylor Frode Teigen Margaret Thomas Melinda Thompson Antoli Turburam, Music Box Georgia Van Cuylenburg Andrea Van Wambeke Michael Vanderpool Craig Ward Marcia & Charles Wasserman, Ph.D. William Weber Morton Weishar Michele West Marilynne Wilander Mariana Williams Roberta Wilcox Dr. Ronald Wing & Mr. Bruce Masten Mimi Winship Sue Wright Christy Yaussi Fan Yu Lou Zigman
Jodie Ullman Diane & Sheldon Halpern Kimberly S. Winick Elissa Miller Pasadena Symphony & POPS Staff Vicki & Brad Schwartz Gifts Given in Memory of
Gifts listed are from September 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
Larry Chamblee Howard Cohen & Eric d'Arbeloff Sandy & Sharon Frey Raymond & Cinty Kepner Elissa Miller Shadi & Jennifer Sanbar Vicki & Brad Schwartz Maryam Shah-Hosseini Bill & Susan Shieff Barry Winick & Linda Saccoccio Jeanne Marie Cooley Edward & Peggy Cooley Gloria L. Crudgington Cleveland Crudgington
Larry Blank Michele Patzakis
Drew Flaherty Anonymous (3) Peter & Linda Flaherty Ray & Cinty Kepner Beverly Santarpia Scott Vandrick & Tony Foster Christine Wagner
Andrew Brown Marjorie Lindbeck
Trischa O’Hanlon Raymond & Cinty Kepner
Kenneth D. Hill Mary Lou Byrne
Darlene Sletten Debi & Stan Parkhurst
Greg Holcomb Pamela Willis
Jerry Williams Debi & Stan Parkhurst
Gifts Given in Honor of
Gifts listed are from September 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
London Johnson Nicole Pettis Public-School Music Teachers Nadine Hall Maryam Shah-Hosseini Paul F. Roach & Cathy L. Nguyen Barbara Steinwedell Ann Horton Shelley Thompson Loretta Mockler
Sustaining Members (recurring donations for a minimum of 12 months) Wei Sian Chia Noreen & Brian Ito Craig Jimenez & Rudy Alvarez Joanna Linkhorst Greta Mandell Robin McCarthy Mary Nafisi-Movaghar Rosemary & Bob Risley John Tenfelder * Deceased
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CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & INSTITUTIONAL GIFTS Partnerships with institutions are vital to the success of the Pasadena Symphony Association. We gratefully acknowledge the following supporters. Gifts listed are from September 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. $50,000 - $99,999 Helen & Will Webster Foundation Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Rusnak Auto Group
$15,00 - $24,999 Anonymous Dorothy L. Johnston Foundation Lucas Horsfall Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Warren & Katharine Schlinger Foundation
$25,000 - $49,999 Ann Peppers Foundation The Capital Group Companies Cathay Bank Foundation $5,000 - $14,999 Dwight Stuart Youth Fund Anonymous Green Foundation City of Arcadia Hollywood Piano City of Pasadena Arts & Culture IS Clinical Department The José Iturbi Foundation Colburn Foundation Los Angeles County The Charles & Henrietta Deptartment of Arts & Culture Johnson Detoy Foundation Pasadena Community Hear MD – Dr. Alan J. Fisher Foundation Holcomb | Durkovic Group
Jacob Maarse Floral Design Michero Family Wine Northern Trust Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts Santa Anita Park Shekels Foundation Supervisor Kathryn Barger, 5th District $1,000 - $4,999 Bank of America John Blanchard Company City of Hope Colburn Family Foundation The Donnelly Foundation Horizon Actuarial J. P. Morgan Chase Bank
Kepner Mediation LLC Laird Norton Enterprises MonteCedro MS Property Company Pasadena Heritage Foundation Wolfe Foundation Under $1,000 Mark Piscitelli Men’s Fashions Nuccio’s Nurseries Vroman’s Bookstore Young People's Symphony Orchestra Gift in Kind
ENDOWMENT FUND Gifts to the Endowment Fund keep on giving. The Pasadena Symphony Association maintains and draws on the Endowment in accordance with UPMIFA to sustainably fund our performances, music education and community engagement programs. To learn more about the Endowment Fund or to make a contribution, please call (626) 414-2198. ENDOWMENT GIFTS $1,000,000 or More Dr. Clifford M. Hughes* $500,000 - $999,999 Mr. Allan W. Fink* Gloria Gartz Estate $250,000 - $499,000 Mrs. Ulric B. Bray* Mr.* & Mrs. William E. Steinwedell Lorion Stillion* Mrs. Nora K. Sutliff * Mr. Frank Whiting $100,000 - $249,999 Mr. Orrin K. Earl* Mrs. Richard H. Graham Ms. Olive McCloskey Dr. Marvin Piper Mr. Herbert Rempel* Mr. & Mrs. John Roberts Mr. Frank S. Whiting $50,000 - $99,999 Mrs. Ida Hull Lloyd Crotty* Dr. George Housner* Ms. Marlene R. Konnar & Dr. John D. Baldeschwieler Mr. & Mrs. William L. Krantz Mr. J. Richard Love* Mr. & Mrs. J.C. Massar Nelson J. Leonard & Peggy Phelps Mr. Kenneth O. Rhodes Ms. Jane Roe $25,000 - $49,999 Mr. & Mrs. R. Stanton Avery Mr. & Mrs. Edwin A. Barnes, Jr. Ms. Bridget Emerson Mr. & Mrs. Paul A. Erskine
$2,500 - $4,999 Alicia G. Clark Mrs. Louise Cook Mr. & Mrs. Michael Hatch Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Hezlep III Mr. & Mrs. Millard W. Jacobs Priscilla & Gordon McClure Drs. Ananth & Margaret Natarajan Northern Trust Ms. Debra J. Paterson C. Anthony Phillips $10,000 - $24,999 Mrs. Francis E. Schlueter Ahmanson Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Michael Shockro Lloyd Management Corporation Mr. Glenn Wallmark Mrs. Hazel B. Mason The Stanley Works Mountain View Foundation Mr. Henry A. Yost Mr. & Mrs. James E. Mramor $1,000 - $2,499 Pasadena Community Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Adair Foundation Mr. Daniel Alpert Dr. & Mrs. Donald Roberts American Express Gift Dr. John P. Roberts & Dr. Nancy Ascher Matching Program Mrs. Elizabeth M. Rockwell* Dr. & Mrs. Douglas Applequist Mrs. Alice Marie Simon Mr. & Mrs. Richard Barkhurt The Stans Foundation Mr. Carl D. Barnes Dr. & Mrs. John D.F. Tarr Mr. Richard Barr Dr. & Mrs. Elkan R. Blout $5,000 - $9,999 Dr. & Mrs. Fred Blum Roger Engemann & Associates, Prof. & Mrs. Theodore L. Brown Inc. Dr. & Mrs. Sunney I. Chan Mr. & Mrs. Patrick J. Everett Mrs. Harrison Chandler Mr. & Mrs Goik Hossepian Mrs. Kathleen S. Chisholm Mr. Richard E. Heckert Dr. Francis H. Clauser Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth D. Hill Mr. & Mrs. Harry W. Susan & Doug Kranwinkle Colmery, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Lee Mothershead Community Bank Mrs. Nathaniel Paschall Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth Cruickshank Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth L. Rinehart Dr. & Mrs. Anthony W. Czarnik Dr. Graham C. Walker Dr. Peter B. Dervan & Mr. & Mrs. Warren Williamson Dr. Jacqueline K. Barton
Mr. & Mrs. John Glanville Mrs. Mary E. Goodan* Mr. & Mrs. Richard Grantham Mr. & Mrs. Francis D. Logan Mr. & Mrs. Charles Pankow, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Allen Roberts Dr. Anne Roberts & Dr. John Arnold Dr. John D. Roberts Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Stephens Mr. & Mrs. David Traitel
Lawrence L. Frank Foundation Dr. Glenn Fuller Dr. Sidney M. Hecht Mrs. Alexander P. Hixon Mrs. Ann Horton Dr. Ram Hosmane Mr. & Mrs. John Joannes Dr. Ulrich Jordis Mr. & Mrs. David A. Leonard Mr. & Mrs. James N. Leonard Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth J. Leonard Ms. Marcia Leonard & Mr. Tom Carlson Mr. & Mrs. John C. Matthiessen Mr. & Mrs. Lee A. Miller Ms. D’Arcy Murray Mr. & Mrs. Charles R. Norman Prof. Michinori Oki Dr. Seemon H. Pines Dr. & Mrs. Craig Sloane Dr. & Mrs. John H. Richards Mr. & Mrs. J. Christopher Schwarzenbach Mr. William D. Smart Dr. & Mrs. Lubert Stryer Mr. James R. Walther & Dr. Robin J. Walther Prof. Frank H. Westheimer Mr. & Mrs. George Whitesides $500 - $999 Prof. & Mrs. John E. Baldwin Drs. Jorge & Maria Barrio Beckman Coulter, Inc. Dr. & Mrs. John E. Bercaw Ms. Edith Bingham Mr. Arnold Binney Mr. W. Paul Blair Mr. Arnold Brossi Mr. & Mrs. John Caldwell Dr. & Mrs. Stanley J. Cristol
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Endowment Fund Dr. & Mrs. Samuel Danishefsky Mr. & Mrs. David R. Felton Mr. & Mrs. Gerald L. Fishbein Dr. & Mrs. Harry B. Gray Mr. Thomas R. Henderson Dr. & Mrs. Ralph Hirschmann Mr. & Mrs. Jean Horton Mr. & Mrs. Claire D. Johnson Mr. Richard F. Miller Ms. Connie M. Morgan & Dr. Matthew Golombek Dr. & Mrs. Vasu Nair Dr. Eric Oldfield Dr. David M. Paisley Prof. & Mrs. K. B. Sharpless Mr. Mark A. Sprecker Dr. & Mrs. Benjamin T. Stafford Prof. Peter J. Stang Ultra Oil & Gas Reginald A. Wilson & English A. Heisser
Dr. & Mrs. Robert Grubbs Dr. David R. Haines Dr. & Mrs. Brian N. Holmes Dr. & Mrs. Robert E. Ireland Mr. Ronald Jernigan Mrs. Margaret LeRoy Mr. & Mrs. F. Jack Liebau Dr. Rudolph A. Marcus Mr. & Mrs. David MacMillan Dr. Blaine C. McKusick Mrs. Jane Peck Messler* Mr. Gaylord E. Nichols, Jr.* Pasadena Men’s Committee for the Arts Prof. & Mrs. David Pines Plains Marketing, L.P. Mrs. Wallace Rowe Misses Helen & Marie Salandra Mr. & Mrs. Prem D. Sattsangi Mr. & Mrs. John E. Severns Mr. & Mrs. Stephen L. Silver Dr. A. John Speziale Mr. & Mrs. Victor Stone Mr. Gilbert Stork Dr. G. Edwin Wilson Robert L. Zurbach*
$250 - $499 Mr. & Mrs. Bruce A. Blomstrom Dr. Douglas T. Browne Ms. Linda Coates Dr. Scott E. Denmark Prof. Harry G. Drickamer In Memory of Dr. Katharine J. Gibson Nelson J. Leonard for the Nelson Prof. & Mrs. Stanley Ikenberry Leonard Piano Chair Tim & Pamela Barnett Mr. & Mrs. John Margo Bowers Katzenellenbogen Carol & Jim Buchanan Ms. Margaret W. Kite Betye Burton Dr. & Mrs. George A. Olah CCE Division, California Mr. & Mrs. Robert Oropallo The Pfizer Foundation Matching Institute of Technology Jane Forbes Clark Gifts Program Sally & Don Clark Ms. Evans Phelps Linda Coates Mr. Mason Phelps & Sallie & Harry Colmery Mr. Ron Neal Carl & Lynn Cooper Mr. Michael L. Stein DeLanson R. Crist Sterling Group Matthew & Jennifer DeVoll Dr. Richard W. Thomas Robert Duerr Dr. & Mrs. David F. Wiemer Mary Alice & Richard Frank $100 - $249 Clarisse Gagnebin Dr. & Mrs. Virgil Boekelheide Sidney & Sally Hecht Mr. & Mrs. John I. Brauman Barbara & John House Mr. Robert Coates & Tom & Monica Hubbard Ms. Rosie Sandifer A. & Barbara Jacobson Dr. Addison G. Cook Linda & William Krantz Mr. & Mrs. Carl Cooper Fernando & Madeleine Prof. DeLanson R. Crist Maldonado Dr. David Y. Curtin Stan & Margaret Manatt Dr. B. Devadas Margaret H. Marsh Dr. & Mrs. Ernest Eliel Courtney Marsters Dr. Jeremy R. Fox Mary C. Marvel Ms. Clarisse Gagnebin
Lydia S. Matthews Priscilla & Gordon McClure Wendy Munger Judy Nazemetz & Michael Colasuonno Tom O’Connor Mr. & Mrs. I. Gordon Odell Gordon J. Pashgian Mason & Elizabeth Phelps Peggy Phelps Julia O’Grady Pollard Edith & Jack Roberts Rebecca Shehee Rary & Frank Simmons Elba & Leonard Smith Karen Smits Barbara & Bill Steinwedell George & Gretel Stephens Shirley Taylor Anne & Richard Thomas Elisabeth Versteegh-Vermeij & Family Jim Watterson Martha Williams Edith M. Roberts Endowment Fund Anonymous American College of Radiology Mrs. Dian Anderson Mr. & Mrs. Richard Anderson Dr. & Mrs. Fred Anson Mr. & Mrs. Daniel E. Apodaca Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Armel Drs. David Baltimore & Alice Huang Mr. Peter Barker Dr. & Mrs. Albert L. Blumberg Carol & Boardman Bressler Mr. & Ms. Jerry H. Burnett Mrs. Thomas Caughey Dr. & Mrs. Sunney I. Chan Dr. & Mrs. Donald S. Cohen Mel & Renate Cohen Dr. & Mrs. Fred Culick Ms. Anna Demetriades Mr. & Mrs. Gary Dicovitsky Barbara & Harry Double Janet Doud Engemann Family Foundation Mrs. Evelyn English* Nancy H. Francis Steven & Mie Frautschi Mrs. Jean Freshwater* Ms. Michelle Frey Anita & Haley Fromholz Mr. Gregory Fu
Cornelia Fuller & Lee Johnson Mr. David Garrison Drs. David & Judith Goodstein Ms. Ruta Irene Hagmann Mr. & Mrs. Harold H. Hennacy Ms. Teri Hensley Dr. & Mrs. John W. House Dr. Marylou Ingram Mr. & Mrs. George D. Jagels, Jr. Maggie Jagels John & Barbara Joannes Ms. Virigina Jones Dr. & Mrs. Aron Kuppermann Dr. & Mrs. Paul A. Larson Ms. Bonnie H. Ledyard Mr. & Mrs. Stan Manatt Ilene & Howard Marshall Mr. & Mrs. Carson R. McKissick Ms. Mary Patterson McPherson Mrs. Mary L. Nevins Dr. & Mrs. William Opel Charles & Kathleen Peck Ms. Jeanne Pimentel Mr. & Mrs. Anthony C. Readhead Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Reis Ms. Sarah Reisman Mr. William Titus Reynolds Dr. John D. & Edith M. Roberts* Mr. & Mrs. Don J. Sam Mrs. Estelle Schlueter Dr. Francesca Schlueter & Dr. Gregory Maletis Mr. David I. Schuster Mr. & Mrs. Edward J. Smith Society of Interventional Radiology Ms. Norma Gay Sperry Mr.* & Mrs. William E. Steinwedell Ed & Alice Stone Dr. & Mrs. John D.F. Tarr Mr. John D. Taylor The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Roy Thompson Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas J. Turro Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Tyson Mr. James R. Watterson The Family of R. Martin Wells Women’s Committee of the Pasadena Symphony Association Mr. & Mrs. James F. Woodard Mr. & Mrs. Harry Yohalem Dr. & Dr. Ahmed Zewail *Deceased
Emily Bernstein Fund Emily Bernstein was our beloved Principal Clarinetist from 1994 to 2004. After her passing in 2005, her life partner JoAnn Turovsky (currently our Principal Harp) established the Emily Bernstein Fund to ensure the continued excellence of the Pasadena Symphony, which was such an important part of Emily’s artistic life. Emily’s numerous achievements include serving as Principal Clarinetist of the Los Angeles Opera, faculty of the Henry Mancini Institute, and recordings for the Delos, Phillips, and Sony Classic labels. She was an active studio musician and performed on hundreds of motion picture and television scores including The Terminal, Catch Me if You Can, Pirates of the Caribbean, Seabiscuit and more. The Emily Bernstein Fund directly supports the orchestra and the careers of emerging artists, allowing her devotion to music to live on for years to come. For more information and to make a gift visit: PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org/Emily-Bernstein-Fund. P24 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE
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Corporate Sponsorship and Major Supporters Thank you to all of our supporters. Through your ongoing contributions, Pasadena Symphony Association is able to present high-quality live music performances and provide vital musical education and arts access to audiences of all ages. We are pleased to acknowledge the support of the following corporations, and government partners for providing an annual gift to support the Pasadena Symphony Association’s performance and educational programming. Gift list is from September 1, 2024 - September 30, 2025
Women’s Committee of the Pasadena Symphony Association
THE MICHERO FAMILY
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SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT
Kimberly S. Winick
Board President Pasadena Symphony Association $1 million Legacy Gift The Pasadena Symphony and POPS celebrates our extraordinary President of the Board of Directors, Kimberly S. Winick, who is a devout champion of the Pasadena Symphony Association. She first became involved with the PSA in 2008, when she was hired to help manage the endowment and restructure finances during a challenging financial climate. She has served on the board and its executive committee since 2010, with a focus on finance and investment matters, and was elected in 2023 to her present position. Kimberly is the sponsor of the 2025-26 Symphony season’s opening performance, Symphony Fantastique, and recently pledged a one-milliondollar legacy gift to the organization. Kimberly joins our Living Legacy Society by naming the Pasadena Symphony Association as a primary beneficiary of her 401k retirement plans and in her family trust. Her decision was fueled by the recent performance of the markets and the significant tax incentives for a 401k, IRA or similar bequest. Notably a charity beneficiary realizes the full tax-free value of the bequest, whereas most other beneficiaries must draw all the funds within 10 years, and pay income tax on the funds as ordinary income. P26 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE
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“I believe so strongly in the work we do to keep music thriving in and enriching our community,” says Winick, “and I want to ensure that this beloved institution flourishes for generations to come. As we approach the Pasadena Symphony’s centennial, I hope that my gift will inspire others to do the same.” In August 2025, The Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO) awarded Kimberly the 2025 Most Valuable Player (MVP) Volunteer Award. “She leads with care, wisdom, and generosity,” said Alex Chu, Director of Education & Community Engagement. “Kimberly’s presence lifts the entire organization.” During a time of major leadership transition in 2023, Kimberly S. Winick brought calm, clarity and stability to the Pasadena Symphony Association. Her empathetic leadership restored morale, strengthened board engagement and renewed a shared sense of purpose. Her impact goes above and beyond as she has cultivated a culture of care and connection where all stakeholders feel seen, heard and supported. Kimberly has always been a tireless champion and PSA ambassador, and we are truly grateful for her exemplary leadership and service! Thank you, Kimberly!
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LEGACY SOCIETY The Pasadena Symphony and POPS brings great music to life, and legacy gifts help ensure our orchestra thrives into the next generation. We hope you will make the Pasadena Symphony part of your legacy by including us in your estate plan. The John D. and Edith M. Roberts Legacy Society was founded to support building legacies through planned gifts as an investment in our future.
LEGACY SOCIETY MEMBERS Listed as of September 30, 2025
Gertrude H. Bowlby* Marlene R. Konnar & John D. Baldeschwieler Gloria & Cleveland Crudgington Georgianna Bray Erskine Chip Fairchild Dr. Alan Fisher Anita B. & Haley Fromholz
Dr. Marylou Ingram* Gaylord E. Nichols* Elise Mudd Marvin* Gloria & Roger Mullendore Beebe Nuetzman* Dr. John R. & Edith M. Roberts* Virginia N. Russell* Helen & Marie Saladra*
Margaret H. Sedenquist* Laurie & Robert Silton William & Barbara Steinwedell Kay Kochhenderfer Toomey & Frank Toomey Kimberly S. Winick Constance G. Zahorik* *Deceased
Is your name missing from this list? To find out more about making a legacy gift to the Pasadena Symphony, please contact Liliane Ribiero at (626) 414-2198 or visit pasadenasymphony-pops.org/give.
WAYS TO GIVE GIFTS THAT HAVE AN IMPACT NOW: • Cash • Gifts of Stock • Donor Advised Funds
• Gift from your IRA • Matching Gifts • Endowment Gifts
LEVERAGE YOUR IRA TO SUPPORT SOMETHING YOU LOVE Making a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from your IRA directly to the Pasadena Symphony is a smart way to support the arts while enjoying potential tax savings. If you’re 72 or older and required to take a distribution from your IRA, you can donate directly from your IRA without paying income taxes on the distribution. This not only helps keep the music you love alive in our community but also reduces your taxable income, potentially lowering your tax bill. Please contact Liliane Ribeiro, Director of Development, who can assist you and your Financial Advisor with your generosity - (626) 414-2198 or lribeiro@pasadenasymphony-pops.org
GIFTS IN HONOR OF DREW FLAHERTY Our Chief Operating Officer, Drew Flaherty was the driving force behind Pasadena Symphony and POPS operations for over a decade. His loss is deeply felt, but his love for music and passion for togetherness and laughter lives on. Drew’s family is honored by those who have given in his memory. All gifts made in Drew’s honor support the students of PYSO.
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Once hidden behind closed doors, today’s kitchen is a showplace of contemporary residential design. by ROGER GRODY
KITCHEN DESIGN WAS once an afterthought; guests rarely caught a glimpse of the strictly utilitarian room. Now, with open floor plans putting the kitchen on full display—and with its new roles relating to homework, family meetings and entertaining—the space has become a showplace for interior designers. Steven Cooper, third-generation owner and principal designer of Cooper Pacific,
whose kitchen design showroom is located at the Pacific Design Center, is known for his meticulous attention to detail and for sophisticated aesthetics that enhance efficiencies. “This year, our 40th, is a milestone that means something in Los Angeles.” In L.A., Cooper notes, “Design evolves quickly and legacies are earned, not assumed.” He has a celebrity-laced clientele here as well as New
Elegance meets rusticity in a Malibu kitchen.
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York, Palm Beach and Jackson Hole. Cooper speaks to the evolution in kitchen design since the firm was founded. “The kitchen has taken its rightful place at the center of the home…. It’s where morning begins, where evenings gather, where people feel most themselves.” He approaches kitchen design just as he would craft a beautifully layered living room with rich textures, soft lighting and engaging art. “Today, the kitchen isn’t just about cooking,” he says. “It’s about connection, storytelling and creating an environment that feels effortlessly curated yet entirely livable. It’s a room that welcomes both everyday
life and unforgettable moments, balancing practicality with beauty in a way that feels natural.” Bold colors made their debut in the 1970s with burnt orange and avocado green appliances, but in recent decades the white kitchen dominated. Today, interior designers and appliance manufacturers are again introducing splashes of colors, often saturated blues or greens. “The all-white kitchen isn’t passé, it’s simply no longer the only story,” Cooper explains. “A white kitchen feels instantly fresh and welcoming, ready for a bowl of lemons or vase of roses. The white kitchen is always classic, always California.”
“Color is back, but with restraint and sophistication,” Cooper notes. “Think sage and delft blues, warm creams and taupes, colors that feel
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Los Angles Ballet and The Wallis present
20 Years of Los Angeles Ballet
Rubies Frank Bridge Variations World Premiere January 29-31, 2026 A Triple Bill of Iconic Works and Bold New Beginnings
2025/2026 Season losangelesballet.org All performances at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
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Stately kitchen in Hancock Park. Below: seductive stone in San Marino
collected, not loud. Designers and consumers now approach color with intention.” Cooper Pacific embraces color again with an approach that is both elegant and thoughtful. The company represents La
Cornue, a line of handcrafted French ranges whose prices can rival a pied-à-terre in Provence. “We’re seeing a return to tradition in the kitchen in a very considered, elevated way,” Cooper says. “A La Cornue range anchors the kitchen in history, even when the lifestyle around it is casual and modern.” These products are not simply appliances but family heirlooms, Cooper maintains. “A La Cornue range is a heritage piece made to last and full of soul. You can build an entire room around its presence.” According to the proprietor, the family firm has always approached the kitchen as architecture. “Cooper Pacific has had a point of view
rooted in craftsmanship, detail and a true understanding of how people live,” he says. As the exclusive West Coast representative of Cabbonet, a British manufacturer of artisan-quality kitchen concepts, Steven Cooper’s emphasis on architectural craftsmanship is enhanced. The designer maintains the prevailing trend is toward kitchens that feel warm, inviting and rooted. “They’re thoughtful, comfortable and deeply connected to the way we live today,” he says. Cooper Pacific, Pacific Design Center 8687 Melrose Ave., Suite B360 West Hollywood, 310.659.6147 cooperpacific.com
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Griddled white shrimp and, below, the Caretaker with mezcal, pineapple and spicy cassis.
ALL ABOARD!
ALMOST A DECADE ago, the debut of Hippo put then-fledgling Highland Park on the Southern California dining map. Now, just up the freeway in South Pasadena, Hippo chef Matt Molina and wine-savvy business partner Joe Capella have re-created their magic at Cannonball. Trendiness and approachability again intersect. Cannonball’s high-ceilinged dining room occupies a historic building in South Pasadena’s nostalgic downtown district; it’s energized by contemporary but vintage-inspired lighting and blackened steel columns juxtaposed against the original brick. The space features leather banquettes, a counter for solo diners and an exhibition kitchen.
PHOTOS ASHLEY RANDALL
Cannonball pulls into South Pasadena, presenting an unpretentious brand of serious cooking. by ROGER GRODY
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Chicago Symphony Orchestra
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An upper level accommodates additional diners and offers its own bar and lounge. Worth discovering on warmer evenings is a lovely rear patio anchored by a monumental old oak; the rumbling of Metro trains on tracks adjoining the property adds a cosmopolitan buzz. A placard reveals the origin of the restaurant’s name: Cannon Ball was a longdefunct rail line running from Upstate New York to points west, purportedly to South Pasadena. Molina, who earned a James Beard Award at Osteria Mozza, reprises Hippo’s winning formula here with a tightly edited, reasonably priced menu of American dishes with eclectic notes; it’s
constantly tweaked for seasonality. Made to order and well worth the wait are ethereal buttermilk biscuits with the kind of delicate lamination found on a well-crafted Parisian croissant. A shaved celery salad laced with Medjool dates, walnuts and Piave Vecchio cheese (reminiscent of Parmigiano Reggiano) is refreshing and addictive. Roasted carrots, chickpeas and frisée are dressed with a vinaigrette whose cuminforward assertiveness is deftly balanced by its acidity and creamy burrata cheese. Yellowfin tuna tartare arrives with a yuzu-ponzu sauce and a dusting of togarashi. Crispy fried calamari with horseradish-infused dipping sauce
TOP, ANISE LEW. BELOW AND OPPOSITE, ASHLEY RANDALL
The well-stocked bar and, left, shaved celery salad. Opposite from left: the buttermilk biscuits with honey butter and Old Fashioned-inspired Pork Pie Hat.
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pairs well with a cocktail. A quintet of large white shrimp, griddled with garlic, paprika and cayenne pepper and paired with silky aioli, is another standout. Ocean trout with lentils is a signature entrée at Hippo; Molina
presents the vibrant pan-roasted fish with flageolet beans plus roasted tomatoes or seasonal vegetables. A barbecued hanger steak is plated with bordelaise sauce and cheesy pommes aligot. A Prime beef burger with cheddar and dijonnaise is a
study in simplicity, not overthought like most chef-driven burgers in L.A.; it’s tucked into a brioche bun and accompanied by quality fries. Desserts might include a light olive oil cake with wildflower honey syrup and crème fraîche or a more
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The Cannonball dining room and, left, fideos with cockles and chorizo
decadent pot de crème layered with caramel. In addition to creative cocktails and a genuinely impressive array
of whiskeys, Cannonball offers an extensive wine list with California, France, Italy, Germany and Spain represented. A showboating guest might splurge for an extravagant Grand Cru from one of Burgundy’s most renowned estates; contributing to
the restaurant’s favorable value proposition are a couple dozen bottles priced below $75. Cannonball 1010 Mission St., South Pasadena 310.954.9279, cannonballla.com
common ground The Music of Górecki and Jeff Beal Five-time Emmy Award winner Jeff Beal (House of Cards) accompanies the Master Chorale in a World Premiere of his newest creation, The Beatitudes. The program includes Miserere, a government-banned work of compassion and humanity by Henryk Górecki, performed by 80 singers, inspired by the 1980s Polish Solidarity movement. JENNY WONG conductor , JEFF BEAL, piano, trumpet
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production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead that the director says launched his career. Salieri was a pivotal composer of his time. But Mozart’s legacy is why we care and it will be on display in Pasadena’s take on Amadeus more than in other productions. That’s because Tresnjak brings the perspective of an opera director. Rather than relying on pre-recorded music and lip syncing, Tresnjak will have opera singers and a harpsichordist perform selections from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni. He enlisted soprano and diction coach Jennifer Ringo (who is married to James Conlon) to work with the singers on text. “The thing I’m most looking forward to is being washed over and bathed and borne aloft by the astonishing Requiem and trios from Cosi fan tutte
MORE MOZART UPCOMING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PACIFIC OPERA PROJECT beams up Mozart’s The Abduction From the Seraglio in a “Star Trek” mashup Feb. 6-8 at Occidental College, Huffington Post called the parody, returning to L.A. after 10 years, “a creative bit of genius.” Two pianists play Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K. 488: Michelle Cann, with the Pasadena Symphony Feb. 21 at Ambassador Auditorium and Yoav Levanon, with the Pacific Symphony Feb. 26-28 at Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. Members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic present a chamber
and Figaro,” Mays says. Including live music is one of the many elements about the production that excite Danny Feldman, Pasadena Playhouse producing artistic director, who helped assemble the creative team. “It’s rare you see a play with singing in it that way.
Sketch for Amadeus at the Pasadena Playhouse
Pacific Opera Project, The Abduction From the Seraglio
program including Mozart’s String Quintet No. 3 in C, K. 515, Mar. 17 at Walt Disney Concert Hall downtown. The New York Philharmonic String Quartet makes its local debut April 1 at the Soraya in Northridge. Its program includes Mozart’s Adagio and
It feels much more like a musical in scope of the story we’re telling. It will dramatically amp up the experience of seeing the show,” he says. “What a way to honor and give tribute to Mozart and the genius of his music.” For Gershon, Mozart, and especially his Requiem, hold a special place in his musical heart. Young Grant was as much a pianist as a singer when he went to music camp in Idyllwild at age 13. “Singing the Mozart Requiem with 120 other chorus geeks, rehearsing for two weeks and then performing it was the
Fugue in C minor, K. 546. L.A. Chamber Orchestra performs Mozart’s Symphony No. 35 in D, K. 385, “Haffner,” May 14 at Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, May 16 at Zipper Concert Hall downtown and May 17 at the Wallis Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.
thing that changed my life,” he recalls. “It was specifically the music of Mozart. For the first time I felt that sense of euphoria you get when you’re immersed in something that’s so much bigger than anything you’d ever imagined before.” Now, with an abundant choral career, Gershon can appreciate the meaning of Mozart’s composition, which was left unfinished. He sees in the work an empathy for the living, trying to be a comfort for the survivors combined with a sense of terror about facing death. “It’s such a visionary work,” he says. “I think it’s
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that sense of, even though he was only 35 years old, truly like he was standing with one foot on either side of the veil.” The piece stands out as the work of someone in their 30s who was not ready to go, he says. “That struggle in the music, and at the same time that sense of bliss and of understanding, to me is the crux of the Requiem. It’s why it’s just so mysterious and so overwhelmingly powerful and personal.” Mozart was able to finish The Magic Flute just months before he died. As his final opera, and with Kosky’s beloved production, The Magic Flute is a fitting coda to Conlon’s tenure as music director of LA Opera. He chose it and Verdi’s final opera, Falstaff, for this last season before he becomes the company’s conductor laureate. “These will be my last two productions. I wanted somehow to include those two composers who have been my constant companions in my life,” Conlon says in a video interview for L.A. Opera about the season. Mozart, as well as Verdi and Wagner, will be featured in a gala concert on April 24 celebrating Conlon’s two decades with L.A. Opera. The decision to conduct Mozart and Verdi in
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the end was, he says, “a very personal statement about my own preferences. Well, they’re not preferences because I love so many other things too. But they’re so fundamental.” Conlon has conducted Mozart operas at least 200 times for different companies. The Magic Flute is the first opera he performed in, at the age of 15, when he was one third of a dragon. It’s also the first opera Conlon conducted at the Metropolitan Opera, in 1976. Conlon additionally conducted Kenneth Branagh’s 2005 film adaptation. “It’s been with me all my life. There’s no number of performances that I can imagine doing that would be too many. I can go back to it over and over and over again.” As Mozart’s final opera, The Magic Flute has been called a last will and testament, Conlon said, although the composer didn’t know he would be dying in a few months. Unlike Verdi, who lived a long and full compositional life, Mozart left a great body of work, yet only a slice of his genius. “We would’ve been grateful to have even two more years of Mozart’s music or five more years,” Conlon said. “His premature death at 35 years old is a tragedy for humanity.”
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PARTIN G TH O U G H T
REPROGRAMMED!
Performances Magazine unveils a digital program platform for shows and concerts
DROP DOWN MENU Table of app contents.
SEARCH Find whatever it is you want to know—easily.
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SIGN IN Link to your performing-arts companies and venues.
THE ESSENTIALS Acts, scenes, synopses, repertory and notes.
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CONTRIBUTORS Donors and sponsors who make it all possible—you!
other arts-centric features. Audiences receive a link and a code word that instantly activate the app; QR codes are posted, too. Screens go dark when curtains go up and return when house lights come back on. Updates—such as repertory changes, understudy substitutions and significant new donations —can be made right up to showtime, no inserts necessary. Other plusses include video and audio streams, translations and expanded biographies.
For those who consider printed programs to be keepsakes, a limited number, as well as commemorative issues for special events, continue to be produced. Collectibles! Meanwhile, there is less deforestation, consumption of petroleum inks and programs headed for landfills. For the ecologically minded, the platform gets a standing ovation. The digital Performances is but one more reason for audience excitement. Activate your link and enjoy the shows. —CALEB WACHS
COURTESY L.A. PHIL
NO RUSTLING PAGES, no killing trees . . . the digital Performances program platform has proved to be one of the more enduring recent theater innovations. The touchless platform provides the programs for 20 Southern California performing-arts organizations, from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Ahmanson Theatre to San Diego Opera, where the app made its debut. Among a variety of features, it provides cast and player bios, donor and season updates, and numerous
WHAT’S ON What’s coming at a glance and ticket information.
32 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE
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Start the New Year Center Stage with a mini package
FEB 3-15, 2026
JAN 6 - 25, 2026
MAR 10 -22, 2026
FEB 18 - MAR 8, 2026
MAR 24 -APR 12, 2025
CHOOSE ANY 4 OR MORE! STARTING AT $56 PER SHOW.
Photo: Karis Anderson by Matt Crockett
BETTER SEATING. DISCOUNT PRICES.
MAY 26 - JUN 21, 2026
FOR MORE INFO VISIT:
BROADWAYINHOLLYWOOD.COM
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©Disney
JUN 24 - AUG 9, 2026
AUG 12- SEP 6, 2026
DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE FOR GROUPS OF 10+.
BROADWAYINHOLLYWOOD.COM/GROUPS
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Performances Magazine • Ful Pg 6.875” x 10” • January 2026
MAY 5-24, 2026
APR 21- MAY 3, 2026
TM © 1986 RUG Ltd.
APR 14 -19, 2026
CEN TURY P LA Z A
WO R L DW I D E
L I F E I S R E M A R K A B L E ! F R O M WA I T R E S S T O …
T H E 9 B I L L I O N D O L L A R WO M A N
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