Pasadena Symphony Announces 2019-20 Classics Season

Symphony orchestra. – Courtesy photo

Music Director David Lockington and the Pasadena Symphony announce its 92nd season with an exhilarating schedule of seven concerts, running Oct. 19, 2019 through April 18, 2020. Alongside a stellar program of celebrated classical works, the symphony is introducing its Composers Showcase for the 2019-20 season, featuring works by both emerging and established contemporary composers at each concert, including two world premiere commissions – opening the season with a piece by aspiring composer Sydney Wang and closing with a new work by Michael Abels, composer of the critically acclaimed score for the film “Get Out.” All concerts take place at Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium with both matinee and evening performances at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. The season also includes the annually sold-out Holiday Candlelight Concert on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019 with both 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. performances at All Saints Church.

Lockington kicks off the 2019-20 season on Oct. 19 with Brahms Symphony No. 1 and Naumburg Competition-winner violinist Tessa Lark performing Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. On Nov. 17 expect award-winning pianist Alessio Bax on Beethoven’s powerhouse “Emperor Piano Concerto,” along with cutting edge Los Angeles composer Ellen Reid’s “Petrichor.” The orchestra’s annual Baroque concert on Jan. 25, 2020 will showcase the triumphant return of local violinist Simone Porter in Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” paired with Reena Esmail’s “Teen Murti.” Virtuoso violinist Nick Kendall of Time for Three will perform a one-of-a-kind concerto based on Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” on Feb. 15 alongside Debussy’s “La Mer” and Oscar and Grammy Award winner Michael Giacchino’s “Voyage.”

Nicholas McGegan concludes his celebrated tenure as principal guest conductor on March 21 with Mozart & McGegan, a Mozart Spectacular with Symphony No. 39 and the melodic perfection of his Piano Concerto No. 20. Also on the March program, the orchestra will perform Caroline Shaw’s “Red, Red, Rose,” which the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer wrote for McGegan’s Philharmonia Baroque orchestra. Lockington returns to the podium on April 18 to close the season with Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 performed by Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan (“one of the most admired pianists of his generation” by the New York Times) plus Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” and the new Abels commission.

All Symphony Classics concerts take place at Ambassador Auditorium (131 S. St. John Ave.), with performances at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Subscription packages start at $99 with single tickets starting at $35. Both may be purchased online at pasadenasymphonypops.org or by calling (626) 793-7172.