Pasadena Symphony to Open 85th Season at Ambassador Auditorium

An infectious dynamo, Conductor Mei-Ann Chen wowed audiences last season and now marks her highly anticipated return to open the Pasadena Symphony’s Singpoli Classics Season on Saturday, Oct. 6 at Ambassador Auditorium. Maestra Chen will lead the orchestra in a program featuring Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Shostakovich’s boisterous Symphony No. 9, and Rachmaninoff’s mesmerizingly beautiful Piano Concerto No. 2. The concerto will be performed by George Li, the seventeen-year-old Gilmore Young Artist Award winning pianist.

"In the conviction that music nourishes the mind, body and spirit of the individual and enriches the community, the Pasadena Symphony Association serves as a curator of instrumental music of the past, present and future with an unwavering pursuit of access for all," Symphony Association CEO Paul Jan Zdunek and Boad President Diane Rankin said.

Chen, who appeared with the Pasadena Symphony last season conducting Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, received rave reviews from audiences and critics alike such as “remarkable” and “unrelenting” from the Los Angeles Times. She is regarded as one of the most sought after young conductors in the field, and serves as Music Director for both the Memphis Symphony and Chicago Sinfonietta; in June, she was awarded the prestigious Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras recognizing her “potential for an important national and/or international career.”

Alluring, sensuous, romantic, virtuosic, poetic – all are suitable in describing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Stunning audiences around the country, Pianist George Li earned a reputation as a dynamic and captivating wunderkind, winning major awards including the Gilmore Young Artist Award and the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York as well as five prizes within that competition. This summer, he performed for President Obama and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel at this White House.

The 2012-13 Singpoli Classics Series marks the Pasadena Symphony’s third season as the resident professional orchestra of the historic Ambassador Auditorium. Tickets to the Rachmaninoff Season Opener on Saturday, October 6 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. begin at $35 and may be purchased by visiting www.PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org, calling (626) 793-7172 or onsite day of concert.

With information from a Pasadena Symphony and POPS Association press release.