Musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic will take the stage at First United Methodist Church of Pasadena this Saturday for a free chamber concert titled The Three Bs, spanning works by Beethoven, Bach and Brahms from 4 to 5 p.m. The performance, featuring pianist Dr. Junko Ueno Garrett alongside the visiting LA Phil players, opens the 2026-27 season of the Third at First concert series at the church's sanctuary at 500 E. Colorado Blvd.
The program brings together works by Beethoven, Bach and Brahms in a single hour. There is no admission charge, continuing the series' longstanding model of free monthly concerts held on the third Saturday of each month from October through July.
Now in its 12th season, Third at First was founded in 2014 by Garrett and former church music director Sébastien Vallée with a mission of connecting the Pasadena community through free performances spanning classical, jazz and choral music, per the same outlet's reporting and corroborated by the series' own account of its founding. Garrett, who serves as the series' artistic coordinator, holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Rice University and trained at Tokyo's Toho Gakuen School of Music before joining the music faculty at Occidental College, where her biography also notes she received the Japanese Consul General's Award for international cultural exchange tours across Latin America and Europe.
No Church Budget, Just Donations
Rather than drawing on church operational funds, the series relies entirely on voluntary audience donations collected during intermissions, with individual contributions ranging from $1 to $100, Pasadena Now reported. These gifts and pledges help the series hire guest artists.
That funding model has supported a wide range of programming over the years. The series has hosted full orchestral works, including a 2018 performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Garrett and the Third@First Orchestra conducted by Gregory Norton, according to First United Methodist Church's own account of its music program. More recently, the series closed its 12th season in June with UCLA university organist Christoph Bull performing alongside painter Norton Wisdom, who created real-time visual interpretations on stage, as ColoradoBoulevard.net reported.
A Season Built on Variety
The series has also leaned into inclusive programming, hosting the 50-member Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles in April as part of its effort to present diverse community music offerings, per Pasadena Now's reporting. That same breadth continues into the new season: Third at First will present Echoes of Japan, featuring Garrett performing works by Joe Hisaishi, Radwimps, Ado, Yoasobi, Hikaru Utada, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Takashi Yoshimatsu, on November 21, followed by a Christmas Joy concert on December 19 and a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration with vocal and instrumental ensembles from the California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley on January 16.
The spring lineup includes the Belrose Duo, featuring cellist David Garrett and pianist Junko Ueno Garrett, performing music ranging from Fauré to Poulenc on February 20, the Celtic band Sligo Rags on March 20, and organist Aaron Shows playing 1980s hits on the church's pipe organ on May 15. The season closes June 19, 2027, with Pasadena Pro Musica and the church's Chancel Choir performing Ralph Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem.
A Sanctuary With Deep Roots
The First United Methodist Church congregation traces its founding to 1875, and the church sits east of Old Pasadena in the Playhouse District. The congregation celebrated its 150th anniversary with a historical documentary titled Building on Faith — The First 150 Years, produced alongside Pasadena Heritage, according to Pasadena Now, which noted that charter members of the congregation were among those who signed Pasadena's original city charter.
The sanctuary itself was dedicated in December 1924 and seats 1,500, featuring an Ernest M. Skinner pipe organ and stained-glass windows produced by Los Angeles's Roy C. Baillie Studios, according to the church's own history. Beyond its concert and worship programs, the church's campus has also served as a shared civic space, hosting interfaith prayer services for local Jewish and Muslim congregations in its historic chapel, which features English College Gothic architecture and historic stained glass, as LAist reported.
Third at First's free model places it alongside other accessible classical offerings in the region. South Pasadena's long-running Restoration Concert Series marks 30th season at the South Pasadena Public Library, which launched its 30th season in September and offers eight low-cost chamber concerts annually in a 184-seat acoustic room, reflecting the broader San Gabriel Valley's active local chamber music culture.
