Story by Trisha Chakraborty
Staff Writer
South Pasadena’s Restoration Concerts Series is a chamber music concert program hosted by Friends of the South Pasadena Library. Every season, eight concerts will raise funds to benefit the South Pasadena Public Library and Community Room. With the second half of the concert series’ 2024-25 season underway, community members can look forward to an exciting variety of performances, the soonest of which will occur on Sunday, Jan. 16 in the Library Community Room.
Violist Robert Brophy, Flutist Susan Greenberg, violinist Maya Magub, and harpist Christina Montes Mateo will be performing a diverse array of chamber music works from composers including Mozart, Andres, Saint-Saens, Fiorillo, Salvador Brotons, and Ravel.
The Restoration Concert Series was founded in 1996 by volunteer Cindy Line as part of South Pasadena’s 100th birthday celebrations. The concert was so well-received that it became a cherished annual series. Currently, each season features eight chamber music concerts per year.
As it approaches its 30th anniversary, the series remains entirely driven by a team of ten volunteers.
“We all do what we need to get it done, from setting up chairs, to doing the publicity, to contacting musicians, to, you know, serving cookies [during] intermission. You name it,” current member and organizer Betty Emirhanian said. “There are no egos; we all work together.”
True to its name, the Restoration Concert Series uses proceeds to fund improvements to the South Pasadena Library’s Community Room, located behind the library’s main entrance where each concert is hosted. Over the years, the funds have gone toward purchasing new chairs, carpeting, sound systems, and a folding projector screen.
At one point, proceeds went to purchasing a nine-foot Steinway concert grand piano for the Community Room, though that has been subsequently sold and been replaced by a much more up-to-date rental piano. A large part of the concert series’ attraction is its dual purpose of promoting the arts while also supporting the community.
The Restoration Concert Series has also hosted top-tier musicians, including professional performers from ensembles like the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
This season is no exception, with the rest of its lineup including The Mojave Trio, a younger, dynamic group of female musicians, and Robert Thies, a world-class pianist celebrated for his ability to connect with audiences.
The series will also host the Los Angeles Wind & Piano Sextet, a first-time ensemble instrumentation for the series. Closing the season will be the New Hollywood String Quartet, the series’ Quartet in Residence, whose long-standing relationship with the Restoration Concerts make them an audience favorite year after year.
The intimate setting of the library’s Community Room offers audiences a chance to experience chamber music up close. With attendance typically ranging from 120 to 150 people, the concerts attract classical music lovers from South Pasadena and beyond. Even for non-musicians like Emirhanian, attending chamber music concerts leaves lasting emotional impacts.
“When I listen to this music, it takes me out of the world at large, and it brings me into the world of music, of beauty,” Emirhanian says. “It’s just an amazing moment in time that can’t be replicated [in] any other way.”
This upcoming concert holds a deeply personal significance for flutist Susan Greenberg.
“I feel privileged to play some music after these fires. I lost my home, and every concert here in Santa Monica has been canceled for the next month or two,” Greenberg says. “The music [this weekend] will soothe my soul.”
Performers often enhance the experience by providing historical context to audiences about the pieces they play, and briefly explaining how their instruments work.
“We give them a little snapshot of what they’re about to hear,” Greenberg explains. “Not too heavy, just enough to whet their appetite.”
As the series continues to bring world-class music to South Pasadena, audiences have five more opportunities to catch the season’s line-up. The next concert will take place on Sunday, Jan. 26 in the South Pasadena Library’s Community Room with tickets priced at $25.
“It’s such a nice program,” Greenberg says. “I feel privileged to play all the music with such great colleagues.”