Preview: ‘Pasadena Symphony to Close Season with Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony’

Music Director Brett Mitchell leads the Pasadena Symphony at the Ambassador Auditorium in October 2024. He will lead the final program of his inaugural season on Saturday, May 3. (Photo by Karen Tapia)

PASADENA — Pasadena Now has published a preview of the final program of Brett Mitchell’s inaugural season as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony:

Pasadena Symphony […] will close out its 2024-2025 season with an afternoon and evening of sweeping romanticism and bucolic serenity as Music Director Brett Mitchell leads a program culminating in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, the “Pastoral,” on Saturday, May 3.

Performances are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Ambassador Auditorium.

The concert marks the conclusion of Mitchell’s inaugural season at the helm of the orchestra, and the repertoire reflects his signature approach: programs that are both emotionally resonant and carefully constructed.

“The program ends with a sense of optimism and joy,” the symphony stated in its season announcement. The concert will open with George Whitefield Chadwick’s “A Pastoral Prelude for Orchestra,” followed by Max Bruch’s beloved “Violin Concerto No. 1,” featuring acclaimed American soloist William Hagen.

Hagen, who performs on a rare 1732 Antonio Stradivari violin on loan from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation, is known for his virtuosic presence and lyrical sensitivity. He has appeared with major orchestras across North America and Europe, earning praise from critics for performances that are “captivating, floating delicately above the orchestra,” according to Chicago Classical Review.

Mitchell, named Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony in March 2024, is no stranger to major stages. A former music director of the Colorado Symphony and a frequent guest with top-tier American and international ensembles, he has shared the podium with soloists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Renée Fleming.

Saturday’s program, centered on nature-inspired works, draws a thematic throughline from Chadwick’s turn-of-the-century American romanticism, through Bruch’s dramatic German lyricism, to Beethoven’s ode to the countryside.

Beethoven’s Sixth, subtitled “Pastoral,” is a departure from the composer’s more stormy and structured works. Composed in 1808, it offers a deeply personal reflection of his love for nature, with movements titled “Scene by the Brook” and “Thunderstorm” giving way to the final movement’s sense of peaceful renewal.

Mitchell was appointed Music Director in March last year, signaling a new chapter for Pasadena Symphony.

To read the complete preview, please click here.