Pasadena Symphony Celebrates American Music Heritage in 98th Season

The Pasadena Symphony will devote its 2025/26 season to celebrating American orchestral music, presenting six distinctive programs that pair classical masterworks with contemporary American compositions in honor of the nation’s approaching 250th birthday. Music Director Brett Mitchell’s sophomore season opens November 8 at Ambassador Auditorium with performances continuing through May.

“As we close in on America’s 250th birthday next summer,” says Mitchell, “I’m excited to celebrate the best of American orchestral music, past and present, all season long, pairing new American repertoire with great masterworks of the past.”

The 98th season features two co-commissions and two west coast premieres. The orchestra will present Juan Pablo Contreras’ Symphony No. 1, “My Great Dream,” capturing the Mexican-American composer’s journey to becoming both a composer and US citizen. Jennifer Higdon’s Grammy-winning Cello Concerto receives its west coast premiere performed by cellist Julian Schwarz, for whom the concerto was written. Jonathan Leshnoff’s “Rhapsody on America” will debut on the west coast in the season finale on May 30, performed by pianist Joyce Yang.

Mitchell opens the season with Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” on November 8, which the orchestra has never before performed at Ambassador Auditorium. The concert features pianist Orion Weiss in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major and Principal Tuba Jim Self’s “Tour de Force,” celebrating his 50th anniversary with the orchestra.

The season includes landmark works like Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, “Scottish” (January 24), Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique” (February 21), Dvo?ák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (March 21), and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica” (April 25). Guest artists include violinist Tessa Lark, pianists Michelle Cann and Joyce Yang, and cellist Julian Schwarz.

All concerts take place at Ambassador Auditorium, known as the Carnegie Hall of the West, with matinee performances at 2 p.m. and evening performances at 8 p.m. Subscription packages start at $120, with single tickets beginning at $55. The symphony offers pre-concert discussions one hour before each performance, hosted by KUSC Classical California’s Brian Lauritzen.

Formed in 1928, the Pasadena Symphony and POPS comprises musicians with extensive credits in film, television, recording and the orchestral industry. The organization also operates the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras, serving over 700 students in grades 4-12 from throughout Southern California.

Pasadena Symphony Association. 131 S. St. John Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105. Phone (626) 793-7172. Website: pasadenasymphony-pops.org.