At 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18, an unconventional musical rebellion will unfold at the Pasadena Senior Center when MUSE/IQUE’s “Offstage Encounters” brings guest artists from their provocative season “Make Some Noise: Music and Stories of American Defiance and Hope” to the Holly Street venue.
The juxtaposition is intentional.
Since 2011, MUSE/IQUE has operated as what founder Rachael Worby calls a “counter-conventional orchestra,” designed to challenge how audiences engage with live music.
Worby, a pioneering woman conductor, believes in taking music beyond traditional concert halls.
“When artists and thinkers make loud choices and take bold stances, they teach us that nothing is impossible,” Worby said, describing the philosophy behind the season exploring key musical moments in American history.
Featured artists include Brandon Victor Dixon, who earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for portraying Judas in NBC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and the DC6 Singers Collective. The Los Angeles-based ensemble of dynamic a cappella, gospel, and Motown singers has collaborated with CeCe Winans, Lady Gaga, John Legend, and Michael Bolton while breathing new life into classic Beatles and Motown tunes.
The DC6 Singers originated in Pasadena in 2013, earning their name during a 2014 Washington, D.C., performance with MUSE/IQUE for the State Department’s International Women of Courage Awards Ceremony.
The venue honors both innovation and tradition.
The Pasadena Senior Center opened in 1960 as the first nonprofit senior center in Southern California and became California’s first nationally accredited senior center in 1999.
“MUSE/IQUE Offstage Encounters” will run on Monday, Aug. 18 at 3 p.m. Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St., in Pasadena.Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St., in Pasadena. For more call (626) 795-4331 or visit https://www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org/lectures-classes/informational-lectures/1969-muse-ique-offstage-encounters-8.
