The Pasadena Symphony will open its 2026-27 Classics season on Saturday, Oct. 24, with Brahms' First Symphony at Ambassador Auditorium, the orchestra announced Tuesday, Sept. 1.
Music Director Brett Mitchell, now in his third year of a five-year term, will lead all five programs. Each concert offers matinee and evening performances at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
"Our 2026/27 season has something for every lover of orchestral music, and the orchestra and I can't wait to share it with you," Mitchell said in a statement.
The opening night pairs Brahms with Joan Tower's "Made in America," inspired by "America the Beautiful" as part of the orchestra's commemoration of America at 250. Violinist Benjamin Beilman, an Avery Fisher Career Grant winner, performs Barber's Violin Concerto.
On Nov. 14, Pasadena Symphony Principal Cellist Michael Kaufman takes center stage for Elgar's Cello Concerto alongside Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and Carlos Simon's "Fate Now Conquers." Kaufman also teaches at the University of Utah and the Colburn School.
The Holiday Candlelight concert takes place at All Saints Church, 132 North Euclid Ave., on Friday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 12, at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Mitchell conducts the LA Bronze Handbell Ensemble, the Donald Brinegar Singers and the Los Angeles Children's Chorus.
Pianist Clayton Stephenson performs Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 on Feb. 13, 2027. Stephenson, who won the 2025 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, grew up practicing on an old upright piano that an elementary school had thrown away. The Lang Lang Foundation donated a new instrument when he was 17.
Violinist Simone Porter returns March 20, 2027, for Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons," paired with Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and Stravinsky's "Dumbarton Oaks." The season closes May 1, 2027, when violinist Paul Huang makes his Pasadena debut in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. That finale also features Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, which the orchestra said it has not performed in over a decade.
Every concert includes a pre-concert talk one hour before the performance, hosted by KUSC Classical California's Brian Lauritzen with Mitchell and guest artists.
The orchestra's youth arm, the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras (PYSO), provides in-class instruction in the Pasadena Unified School District and runs eleven performance ensembles. The program serves more than 700 students in grades four through twelve.
Subscription packages start at $129. Single tickets start at $55. Both are available at pasadenasymphony-pops.org or by calling (626) 793-7172. All Classics concerts take place at Ambassador Auditorium, 131 South St. John Ave.
Upcoming Pasadena Symphony dates
- Oct. 24: Brahms' First Symphony with Benjamin Beilman, Ambassador Auditorium
- Nov. 14: Beethoven's Seventh Symphony with Michael Kaufman, Ambassador Auditorium
- Dec. 11-12: Holiday Candlelight concert, All Saints Church
- Feb. 13, 2027: Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Clayton Stephenson, Ambassador Auditorium
- March 20, 2027: Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" with Simone Porter, Ambassador Auditorium
- May 1, 2027: Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with Paul Huang, Ambassador Auditorium
