Making Waves

Pacific Serenades has been making waves for a long time. Not tidal waves, but the kind of waves that lap gently and persistently, bringing with them treasures that gradually change the shore.

Born as a rebellion against the iron-fisted notions of what new music was once required to be, our waves have eroded those beliefs—that new music is supposed to be abrasive and abstruse, and that all “important” composers are dead, or at least from the East Coast or Europe.

Yes, chamber music has changed a lot since our first concert in 1982, and in our own quiet but powerful way, we have played a significant role in that change.

We have sent out wave after wave—110 pieces commissioned and premiered by Pacific Serenades, nearly all by Southern California composers—each reinforcing what we’ve always known, that music is supposed to be beautiful, that music is a pleasure to play and a joy to hear. Yes!—newness and beauty are entirely compatible.

Like radio waves, our music is being picked up by ensembles all over—with performances in Alaska and Colorado, in Texas and North Carolina; in Mexico, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Poland; in Ojai, Newport Beach, Fresno, and San Francisco. And our audience is the first ever to have heard those pieces, now being heard round the world!

With the devoted involvement of the best performers around—members of the likes of the LA Phil, LACO, and the Long Beach Symphony—as well as the enthusiasm of our wonderful audience, our award-winning ensemble will continue to send out waves of the music of our own time and our own community, during this, our 27th season and beyond.