Carl St.Clair to Lead BEETHOVEN'S VIOLIN CONCERTO in His Debut as Pacific Symphony Laureate

Pacific Symphony will welcome back Carl St.Clair for his first concerts as Music Director Laureate, with a program that showcases the friendship, collaboration, and shared artistry of the musicians in the orchestra. Taking place February 5-7, 2026, at 8 p.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the program opens with one of the most beloved works in the violin repertoire, Beethoven's Violin Concerto, featuring acclaimed guest violinist Paul Huang. Paired with the transcendent concerto is Richard Strauss' playful musical portrait of Cervantes' "Don Quixote."

To open the concert, St.Clair partners with Huang to perform Beethoven's luminous Violin Concerto. Winner of the 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Huang has been praised by The Washington Post for his "big, luscious tone, spot-on intonation and a technique that makes the most punishing string phases feel as natural as breathing."

The timeless spirit of Cervantes' novel "Don Quixote," with its themes of honor, nobility, and courage, is captured by the orchestra as St.Clair leads Pacific Symphony in Richard Strauss' sweeping musical journey. Three of the orchestra's illustrious principal musicians step into starring roles, with cellist Warren Hagerty portraying the idealistic knight Don Quixote, violist Meredith Crawford as his faithful squire Sancho Panza, and Concertmaster Dennis Kim as the noble Dulcinea.

"I chose Strauss's 'Don Quixote' because it allows me to share this extraordinary music while featuring three of our principal players-musicians who are not only leaders in the orchestra, but dear friends and longtime collaborators," continues St.Clair. "There's a sense of joy and homecoming in making this music together. At the same time, Don Quixote is a work that engages the entire orchestra, giving every musician a voice in Strauss's vivid and deeply human storytelling."

Drawing directly from Cervantes' episodes, Strauss uses his extraordinary imagination to translate narrative, character, and satire into sound with each variation mirroring a specific chapter, misadventure, or emotional turn in the novel. Windmills become whirling brass and strings, sheep transform into bleating woodwinds, and Don Quixote's lofty ideals soar through the cello line, only to be gently undercut by irony, humor and sudden collapse. The result is music that thinks, laughs, and dreams alongside its hero, capturing both the comedy and the aching humanity of Cervantes' text.