Altadena's Pasadena Mausoleum is about to get its own soundtrack. On Sunday, Nov. 1, the nonprofit Melodia Mariposa presents “Music in the Shadows,” a candlelit evening of Debussy, Schubert, Handel and music from classic Halloween films, with a string quartet and a mezzo-soprano performing among the crypts.
The concert starts at 7 p.m., with a pre-concert reception at 6:15 p.m., according to Pasadena Now. That account puts the event at the Pasadena Mausoleum, 2227 N. Raymond Ave., Altadena, and says admission is free, though a reservation is required with a $5 refundable deposit per seat.
Debussy, Handel and a Mezzo-Soprano Among the Candles
The program includes Debussy's String Quartet in G minor, works by Schubert and Handel, and selections from classic Halloween films, per Local News Pasadena. Mezzo-soprano Meagan Martin joins the Zelter String Quartet for the evening.
Martin's selections include Schubert's “Gretchen am Spinnrade” and “Where shall I fly” from Handel's Hercules (HWV 60), as listed on the Melodia Mariposa concert page. The Zelter String Quartet formed in Los Angeles in 2018, and the group won the Gold Prize at the 2021 Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition, according to a Melodia Mariposa page on last year's concert.
Reports differ on who is in the quartet. Local News Pasadena lists violinists Gallia Kastner and Kyle Gilner, violist Carson Rick and cellist Alan Hon, while Pasadena Now names Kastner and Eleanor Dunbar on violins, with Rick on viola and Allan Hon on cello.
Where to Enter and Park
Getting there takes a little attention. The concert is at the historic Pasadena Mausoleum, and the organization stresses that it is not at the main mausoleum building on Marengo Avenue. Concertgoers should enter Mountain View Cemetery through the gate on Woodbury Avenue, with parking outside the mausoleum and on cemetery driveways.
A Pandemic Driveway Series That Survived the Eaton Fire
Melodia Mariposa is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded and directed by violinist Irina Voloshina, who has worked on more than 600 film scores, according to the organization's About Us page. It began as a pandemic-era series on the driveway of her Altadena home, which the group says drew more than 65 free public concerts, while Altadena Now describes almost 70.
The Eaton Fire in early January 2025 destroyed Voloshina's home and that driveway performance space, ColoradoBoulevard.net reports. The group kept playing, offering seven free public concerts and eleven outreach concerts in local senior and medical facilities in 2025, and Altadena Now notes it pledged to present all concerts at no cost throughout 2025 and 2026.
This isn't the group's first Halloween-week outing. Last year's Nov. 1 concert paired Schubert's Death and the Maiden with a selection of Hollywood movie pieces celebrating the holiday.
