MUSE/IQUE’s free annual Open House is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 28, at Ambassador Auditorium, 131 S. St. John Ave. in Pasadena. An RSVP is required, and seating is first come, first served. The organization says attendees can use code OH26 at checkout to get complimentary tickets; Pasadena Now lists 626-844-7703 for questions. Details are available from MUSE/IQUE.
The event features soprano Liv Redpath, performer Brandon Victor Dixon and the MUSE/IQUE Orchestra, led by Artistic and Music Director Rachael Worby. MUSE/IQUE’s program listing cites Redpath’s work with the Metropolitan Opera and Berliner Philharmoniker, and Dixon’s Grammy win and three Tony nominations. The program is presented with The Wallis and Classical California, according to the organization’s event page.
The program links Copland and Simon
The evening pairs Copland’s Simple Gifts with Simon’s American Tune. MUSE/IQUE places the works in a broader account of American composition that also references Leonard Bernstein and Rhiannon Giddens, according to the organization.
A Pasadena-based organization
Worby founded MUSE/IQUE in 2011. Her biography says she conducted the Pasadena Pops from 2000 to 2010 and led the Young People’s Concerts at Carnegie Hall for 12 years.
Pasadena Now reported that the October 28 performance will be MUSE/IQUE’s first at Ambassador Auditorium.
The auditorium’s cultural history
According to the City of Pasadena’s historical-resources database, Ambassador Auditorium was intended for religious services as well as public performing-arts concerts. The database records that its concert series ended in 1995, Ambassador College closed in 1997, and the property was purchased by Harvest Rock Church and Maranatha High School in 2004 and reopened for their activities.
The auditorium after 2004
The City of Pasadena’s historical-resources record, cited above, describes the property’s post-2004 uses as including church services and school programs, conferences, special events and performances; it does not identify particular public performances. PBS’s Huell Howser program also described the public concert series as ending in 1995, while noting that the church continued to use the venue.
