The Pasadena Symphony Association, which in November cancelled many of its 2008-09 classical and pops concerts as the result of a financial crisis, has restored more events in its comeback season. The Pasadena POPS will host a March 21 concert at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium featuring the Celtic-music group Cherish the Ladies. The Pasadena Symphony returned to the concert stage in January and continues its 2008-09 concerts in March and April with two programs highlighting the theme of “new life,” with works including Schumann’s “Spring” Symphony and Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”). The reinstatement of concerts in the Pasadena Symphony Association’s season came after the organization brought in Paul Jan Zdunek, first as a crisis-management consultant and then as its chief executive officer. Zdunek left his position as president and CEO of the Modesto Symphony to take his current position in Pasadena. Zdunek’s tenure at Modesto, from 2003 to 2008, included guiding that orchestra through a difficult budget period. The Pasadena organization will no longer be known as “The Orchestras of Pasadena”; it has returned to its original name, the Pasadena Symphony Association (or Pasadena Symphony / Pasadena POPS).
Photo of Paul Jan Zdunek courtesy of Pasadena Symphony Association
