Pasadena Symphony Association and Pasadena Pops to Combine

Pasadena Symphony Association and Pasadena Pops to Combine

PSA to Present Year-Round with Complete Symphonic and Pops Series and Planned Growth of Education and Community Programs

PASADENA, Calif., June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pasadena Symphony Association (PSA) today announced the city's two foremost orchestral institutions, the Pasadena Symphony and the Pasadena POPS Orchestra, will be brought together to create one unified and dynamic orchestra that will present performances year-round. Based on the Boston Symphony Orchestra/Boston Pops model, the PSA will become one board and one orchestra with two music directors. Serving as an umbrella organization, the PSA will continue to present The Pasadena Symphony winter season at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium under Music Director, Jorge Mester. The PSA will also present the newly named Pasadena Pops Symphony summer season at the Descanso Gardens under Music Director Rachael Worby. The PSA also has plans to expand the existing education and community engagement programs of both the Symphony and the Pops. The planned integration begins immediately, with dissolution of the Pasadena POPS Orchestra effective October 1, 2007.

Led by a combined board of directors and Executive Director Tom O'Connor, the newly energized PSA is positioned to deliver both Symphony and Pops Symphony seasons at a high artistic level, increasing the organization's range of offerings, while deepening its reach in the community and increasing fundraising opportunities. "As The Pasadena Symphony approaches its 80th anniversary, and the POPS its 20th, both boards recognize the opportunity to enhance the quality of our artistic offerings and educational services for the Pasadena community and beyond through this strategic union," commented Linda Krantz, President of The Pasadena Symphony Association Board of Directors.

Jorge Mester, music director of The Pasadena Symphony said, "This provides opportunities for the musicians to perform together year-round. Our concert programming will appeal to the widest demographic."

Harvey Knell, President of the Pasadena POPS Orchestra, added, "Our education programs will expand into even more schools than ever before."

"Great live music must be the right and privilege of all people. The marriage of these two strong musical entities will surely prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It will provide our community with a platform from which to say to people far and wide that Pasadena cares about music," commented Pasadena Pops Symphony Music Director Rachael Worby. "I am honored and inspired to be a part of sending this message to the world."

BIOGRAPHIES

Described as a "virtuosic conductor" of "passionate vision" by the Los Angeles Times, Jorge Mester has served as music director of The Pasadena Symphony since 1984. In addition to his work in Pasadena, he serves as music director of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra in Florida. In 2006 Mester was named music director of the Louisville Orchestra, a position he previously held from 1967 - 1979, during which time he made over 72 world premiere recordings. Mester is conductor laureate of the prestigious Aspen Music Festival, which he led as music director for 21 years. Over the course of his career, Mester has given more than 70 world-premiere performances of works by such composers as Philip Glass, Peter Schickele, Michael Daughtery, Carl Ruggles, Joan Tower, and George Tsontakis. In 1985, he received Columbia University's prestigious Ditson Conductor's Award for the advancement of American music. Other Ditson Award recipients include Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy and Leopold Stokowski. A sought-after guest conductor, Mester has led an impressive list of international orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cincinnati Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony. In June 2007, Mester will conduct Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 4" at the National Orchestra Institute in Maryland. As an opera conductor, Mester has led numerous productions for the New York Opera, the Sydney Opera, Spoleto and the Washington Opera. In 2006 Mester conducted "Don Giovanni" in Naples, Florida; during the 2007 - 2008 season he will conduct Saint-Saëns "Samson and Delilah" and Berlioz's "Romeo and Juliet" in Louisville. Notably, Master's passion for conducting extends from the stage to the classroom. He served as director of Juilliard's Conducting Department during the early 1980s and has also been a guest conductor at the USC Thornton School of Music. In May 2007, Mester led an intensive, week-long conducting workshop in Naples, Florida. Nearly 20 young conductors participated during the rigorous week, which included 8 orchestral rehearsals and culminated in a sold-out concert. Of Hungarian descent, Mester was born and raised in Mexico City and currently resides in Southern California. An accomplished violist, he performed with the Beaux-Arts Quartet for several years before focusing exclusively on conducting.

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "inspiring and accessible," Rachael Worby is distinguished as a visionary in the orchestral world, and celebrated internationally for her extraordinary talents, exuberant style, and versatile command of all musical genres. She has led orchestras throughout the world including the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra (England), the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Transylvania Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony, the Herzliya Chamber Orchestra in Israel, the China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing, and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, where she accompanied American soprano, Jessye Norman, during her first appearances in mainland China. As Music Director of The Pasadena POPS Orchestra, Ms. Worby has been instrumental in the expansion of the orchestra's performance season, and its national and local profiles. Since 1999, she has quadrupled the number of yearly concerts played, developed new programs, dramatically increased audience attendance, instituted two annual free-to-the-public concerts on the steps of Pasadena City Hall, and secured dynamic corporate sponsorship. She has brought national attention to the orchestra by appearing in the internationally televised Rose Bowl Parades since 2001 and has brought her orchestra to the Rose Bowl July 4th celebrations. She has expanded the institution's outreach programs to underserved communities, securing significant ongoing funding for programs in South Central Los Angeles and Pasadena. Ms. Worby is also Artistic Director and Conductor of the American Music Festival in Cluj, Romania, and Laureate Conductor of the Wheeling West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. She has been honored with the Spirit of Achievement from Albert Einstein College, the Women of Excellence award from the YWCA, a Doctor of Humanities from Marshall University, a Doctor of Letters and the Presidential Medal of Honor for her consummate lifetime achievements from Claremont University. In 1994, she received a Presidential appointment to the National Council of the Arts and in 1990 was nominated for an ACE Award for programs she created, narrated and conducted for the Disney Channel. Previous posts include Music Director and Conductor of the Young People Concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City (1984-1996) and Assistant Conductor to the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1984-1987).

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Source: Pasadena Symphony Association

CONTACT: press, Elizabeth Hinckley of Rogers & Cowan, +1-310-854-8199,
ehinckley@rogersandcowan.com, for Pasadena Symphony Association

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