Rebirth at the Pasadena Symphony

by Leticia Marie Sanchez 

A few months ago, the Pasadena Symphony unfortunately reported the cancellation of several concerts due to the recession.

Good news Pasadena- Spring is on the Horizon.

On March 14, the Pasadena Symphony, led by the ever-vivacious Jorge Mester, performed an uplifting troika celebrating “Rebirth.” The reinvigorating and thematically unified program was composed of Spring by Vivaldi, Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland, and Spring Symphony by Robert Schumann. 

Complementing the revitalizing music was the resurgence of community support on stage. Before the concert started, the Women’s Committee presented Mr. Mester with a $90,000 check to the Pasadena Symphony, a contribution that helped to make the March Rebirth and April New World concerts possible. 

The revival of the Pasadena Symphony could be heard through the ebullient spring program. One of the liveliest pieces of the night was Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, a ballet score for which Copland won the Pulitzer Prize.

The seventh section of the ballet derives from “Simple Gifts,” a one-verse dance song composed in 1848 by American Shaker Elder Joseph Bracket. The lyrics to Simple Gifts embody the fortune of the Pasadena community, blessed to have our local symphony once again in our midst.  

“Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free; ’Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right; Twill be in the valley of love and delight.” 

The night of Rebirth was a renaissance of music and community support. We are slowly moving towards the place that we ought to be.: A community that treasures our artists. A community filled with love and delight. Listening to the stirring music we are unshackled from the chains of worry in daily life. Only then can we be uplifted. Only then can we truly be free.