Pasadena Symphony Announces 2016-17 Classics Season

The Pasadena Symphony is proud to announce its 16/17 Classics Season with its expanded schedule of seven concert weekends for the 2016-17 Season. The Singpoli Classics Series season commences on October 8th through April 29th with both 2pm and 8pm performances at Pasadena's historic Ambassador Auditorium. The season also includes the annually sold out Holiday Candlelight Concert on December 17, 2016 with both 4pm and 7pm performances at All Saints Church. The Pasadena Symphony further cements its position as the area's premiere destination for live symphonic music with an eye for long term stability in its artistic leaders by renewing the contracts of both Music Director David Lockington and Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas McGegan through 2019.

The 2016-17 season kicks off on October 8, 2016 with Music Director David Lockington and acclaimed BBC New Generation Artist Elena Urioste performing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. ComposerAndrew Norman will also be in attendance for opening night, as the orchestra will perform his piece inspired by Alexander Calder's monumental sculpture, The Great Swiftness. The Pasadena Symphony continues its tradition of showcasing the stars of tomorrow here today with Ray Ushikubo performingGershwin's Rhapsody in Blue on November 5. Winner of the first-ever Steinway Concerto Competition at the Colburn Academy Piano Festival in 2015, Ushikubo has been stunning audiences since the age of ten when he premiered at Los Angeles's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Known as "one of the finest baroque conductors of his generation" (London Independent), Nicholas McGegan will jump start the new year as only he can on January 21, 2017 with Baroque Connections: Bach and Handel with violinist William Hagen and Soprano Sherezade Panthaki. Other season highlights include Natasha Paremski performing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 on February 18 and Mozart & Mendelssohn on March 18 with Rachel Barton Pine, whom the Washington Post calls "an exciting, boundary-defying performer ... [with] a power and confidence that puts her in the top echelon." Lockington will close out the season on April 29 with the soul-stirring Beethoven 9, accompanied by a full chorus with both the Donald Brinegar Singers and the Los AngeLes Children's Chorus taking the stage.

The Pasadena Symphony provides a quintessential experience specially designed for the music lover, the social butterfly or a date night out, and the inner epicurean in us all. Audiences can enjoy a drink or a bite in the lively Sierra Auto Symphony Lounge, yet another addition to the care-free and elegant concert experience the Pasadena Symphony offers. A posh setting at Ambassador Auditorium's beautiful outdoor plaza, the lounge offers uniquely prepared menus from Claud &Co for both lunch and dinner, a full bar and fine wines by Michero Family Wines, plus music before the concert and during intermission.

All Symphony Classics concerts take place at Ambassador Auditorium, 131 S. St. John Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105. Six-concert subscription packages start at $186, regular individually priced tickets start at $35 and may be purchased online at www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org or by calling (626) 793-7172.