STORY AND LINKS: Jorge Mester's 25-year tenure as Pasadena Symphony music director to end tomorrow

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News

Jorge Mester’s 25-year tenure as music director of the Pasadena Symphony came to an abrupt end today when the Pasadena Symphony Association issued a media release that said, in part, the orchestra and Mester “could not reach agreement on revised contract terms necessary for the continued success of the Recovery Plan for a Sustainable Future” (see the full release below).

Mester’s final concert will be an all-Beethoven affair Saturday at 8 in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The program will include the Corolian Overture, Symphony No. 5, and the Violin Concerto, with Jennifer Frautschi as soloist (LINK)

“We’ve been in intense discussions with Jorge for the past six months,” said Paul Jan Zdunek, the orchestra’s chief executive officer by phone this afternoon, “and were still in negotiations this week. However, Jorge told the musicians last night that Saturday would be his final concert and when I began getting phone calls this morning, we reacted by putting out the news.” Mester has not yet responded publicly.

The announcement was put together so hastily that Zdunek said exact plans on how to honor Jorge Saturday night are undetermined at this point. In addition, he said, “there are no immediate plans to launch a search for Mester’s replacement.” The orchestra will use guest conductors for next season’s five programs, which will be the orchestra’s first at nearby Ambassador Auditorium. The programs and soloists for the upcoming season, which begins Oct. 23, will remain the same, said Zdunek. (2010-2011 season details HERE)

Mester, now age 75, became the Pasadena Symphony’s music director in 1983, succeeding Daniel Lewis in that post. During his tenure, Mester has elevated the orchestra’s playing quality, making it one of the nation’s top ensembles of its size. Many of the orchestra’s musicians — who often play for motion pictures, commercials and similar commercials — have performed with the PSO for much of Mester’s tenure, a testament of their appreciation for the Mexico City-born conductor.

In addition to his Pasadena post, Mester is currently music director of the Louisville Orchestra and the Naples (Fla.) Philharmonic. From 1970 to 1990, he was music director of the Aspen Music Festival, and was also director of the conducting department at The Juilliard School in New York City.

More details as they become available.

Here’s the full release:

PASADENA SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION
RECOVERY PLAN NEGOTIATIONS UNSUCCESSFUL
 
Pasadena, CA- After a 25-year tenure with the Pasadena Symphony, the Association is saddened to report that it could not reach agreement with its Music Director, Jorge Mester, on revised contract terms necessary for the continued success of the Recovery Plan for a Sustainable Future — a plan that has enabled the Pasadena Symphony Association to once again find solid financial ground.
 
In response to its economic crisis that began in October 2008, the Pasadena Symphony Association drafted their recovery plan in June 2010, which requires a holistic approach to solving the financial and organizational challenges it had been facing.  “The Recovery Plan’s fiscally responsible and sustainable success necessitates everyone’s participation and demands that the Association address each and every line item in the organization’s $3.2 million-dollar budget,” notes Melinda Shea, President of the PSA Board of Directors. 
 
Mester’s final concert as Music Director will be Saturday May 15, 2010 featuring violinist Jennifer Frautschi in an all-Beethoven concert at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.  This will also be the last concert the orchestra performs in its Classics Series before they move into their new home at Ambassador Auditorium beginning October 2010.
 
About the Pasadena Symphony and POPS
The Pasadena Symphony Association was founded in 1928 by Conductor Reginald Bland. Originally named the Pasadena Civic Orchestra, its first members were mostly volunteer musicians, many of whom were students of Bland. The annual operating budget was a mere $3,500, which was funded entirely by the City of Pasadena.

Over the past 80 years, the Pasadena Symphony has artistically matured into one of the top performing symphonic ensembles in southern California, comprised of the most gifted and sought after musicians from the motion picture film industry.
 
In the fall of 2007, the Pasadena Symphony incorporated the Pasadena POPS into its Association under the new name Pasadena Symphony and POPS. This merger created an expanded Classics and POPS series providing the community with a full spectrum of live symphonic concerts year-round at the historic Civic Auditorium in downtown Pasadena and at its new summer venue on the Lawn adjacent to the Rose Bowl.

A hallmark of its robust education programs, the Pasadena Symphony Association has served the youth of the region since 1972 through the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra comprised of gifted middle school students from all over the Southland.
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(c) Copyright 2010, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

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