Live music in Pasadena this fall

Fall is when Pasadena's concert calendar fills in, and this season has two standout dates. The Pasadena Symphony opens its 2026-27 Classics season on Saturday, October 24 with Brahms Symphony No. 1 at the Ambassador Auditorium, and on Saturday, November 14 the K-pop group PLAVE brings its first-ever U.S. show to the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Around those two anchors, the Pasadena Conservatory of Music keeps a steady calendar of community concerts, and MUSE/IQUE returns to the Ambassador for a free open house. I am Alejandro Espitia, a Broker Associate and REALTOR with Apex Realty and Investments, and Pasadena is my home turf. Licensed in California since 1996, with 200+ homes sold serving Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Gabriel, and Riverside, and fluent in English and Spanish, I check the local listings each week so you can spend your evenings out enjoying the city instead of researching it. Every show below comes from a current public listing, with sources at the bottom of the post.

October 24: the Pasadena Symphony opens with Brahms

The Pasadena Symphony opens its 2026-27 Classics season on Saturday, October 24 with Brahms Symphony No. 1 at the Ambassador Auditorium, 131 S. St. John Avenue. There are two performances, a 2:00 pm matinee and an 8:00 pm evening concert. Music Director Brett Mitchell conducts, with violinist Benjamin Beilman as soloist. The program pairs Joan Tower's Made in America and Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto with Brahms's Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68, a piece that took Brahms more than two decades to finish and remains one of the most stirring openings in the orchestral repertoire. Tickets are available through the Pasadena Symphony and Pops site or by phone at (626) 793-7172, and the onsite box office opens at noon on concert days. The full program note lives on the concert page.

November 14: PLAVE brings its first U.S. show to the Pasadena Civic

On Saturday, November 14, at 7:00 pm, the K-pop group PLAVE brings 2026 PLAVE World Tour [Keep It Manic] in U.S. to the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green Street. This is the group's first-ever U.S. show and its only U.S. stop on the tour, presented by hello82 and promoted by Live Nation, with tickets sold through Ticketmaster. The venue seats roughly 3,000, so if this one is on your list, it is worth moving early. Tickets and details are on the Live Nation event page and the Ticketmaster artist page.

October 28: MUSE/IQUE's American Sound Takes Flight

The inventive Pasadena ensemble MUSE/IQUE hosts “American Sound Takes Flight”, an open house at the Ambassador Auditorium on Wednesday, October 28. MUSE/IQUE is known for staging concerts that weave music with story, dance, and design, and their open-house format is a relaxed way to see what they are building before the full production lands. The event is listed on the Visit Pasadena events calendar, which is the best place to confirm timing and how to join.

Keep an eye on: the Pasadena Conservatory of Music

The Pasadena Conservatory of Music keeps a year-round calendar of concerts, recitals, and community performances across Pasadena, including its popular free outdoor series. Later this month the calendar includes a Music in the Rose Garden program on Monday, October 26, and the Conservatory's events page is the reliable place to watch for the next free concert near you. These smaller shows are how you discover the neighborhood's musical life beyond the big stages.

A note on times: concert listings can shift, and details like start times, ticket availability, or program order are occasionally updated by the presenters. Please confirm directly with the venue before you head out, and use the links below for the latest. If you have a favorite Pasadena music event I missed, text me and I will add it to the next edition.

Sources: Brahms Symphony No. 1, Pasadena Symphony and Pops, Pasadena Symphony and Pops tickets, PLAVE World Tour, Live Nation, PLAVE tickets, Ticketmaster, Visit Pasadena events calendar, and Pasadena Conservatory of Music events.