"The show must go on!" With Pasadena Symphony’s New Series

In the time of COVID and social distancing, Pasadena Symphony's “Pasadena Presents” will serve as a new intimate concert experience.

Author:
Sara Smola
Publish date:
Oct 29, 2020

The Pasadena Symphony orchestra’s full 2020-2021 Symphony Classics Series repertoire has been rescheduled, but in the meantime, the organization is pivoting to a new series format called “Pasadena Presents,” which offers a fall schedule of four performances starting Oct. 17 through Nov. 14, 2020.

In the time of COVID and social distancing, the organization has adapted to guidelines set forth by local and state authorities, and “Pasadena Presents” will serve as a new intimate concert experience that will feature guest artists and musicians from the orchestra in a socially distanced concert setting.

Curated and hosted by Music Director David Lockington, each concert will feature a renowned soloist performing a concerto in recital, followed by an ensemble of PasadenaSymphony musicians performing chamber music works.

“We started thinking like a startup and found a surprising freedom in reimagining what a new concert model might look like to fit the COVID realities we all have to work within,” explains Pasadena Symphony and POPS Chief Executive Officer Lora Unger. “Continuing to stay dark, after the summer we've all had to live through, is just not in our DNA. We always had a firm belief that if we applied some imaginative problem-solving and stayed true to the music and our mission, that we'd find a path forward to bring concerts back to the community in the fall.”

According to Unger, there are two scenario plans in place: the first brings “Pasadena Presents” live in-person and outdoors at the Pasadena Pavilion (formerly known as the Levitt Pavilion), and the second brings Pasadena Presents exclusively online for its ticket buyers and donors.

“We don’t want to overpromise and under-deliver, and yet we also want to make the right decisions at the right time,” says Unger. “We will continue to monitor public health guidelines as they evolve over the next two months so we can act based on what guidelines will be in place in October. We’re focused on ensuring we can deliver exciting concerts to our audience and bring musicians back to work safely. Both scenarios achieve those goals. The show must go on and, if need be, the show will go online.”