The Palisades Symphony performs under conductor Joel Lish.
The Pacific Palisades Symphony, conducted by Joel B. Lish, will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 8, at the Palisades Lutheran Church, 15905 Sunset Blvd. Admission, as always, is free.
The orchestra will play Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Suite No. 2,” followed by Peter Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations. Jason Pegio will be the cello soloist.
After intermission, the orchestra will play Franz Haydn’s Symphony No. 101, “The Clock Symphony.”
Eva Holberg, president and manager of the nonprofit, enclosed a letter with the program announcement, sent to Palisades Symphony supporters. She noted that upcoming events will include a March concert, “then Bach’s famous B Minor Mass, to be performed on the first Sunday in May, and our Young Artist Concert in June.”
The Palisades Symphony was founded by Lish as an evening adult-school class at Palisades High and became incorporated as a nonprofit in 1972.
After adult schools were discontinued by the LAUSD, the Symphony became an independent organization. It also adopted the Brentwood Palisades Chorale, saving it from extinction and providing it with rehearsal space, insurance, sheet music, an accompanist and a choir director. The Chorale performs twice a year.
Seven symphony concerts are offered annually and are free of charge. Most people involved are volunteers, although a small stipend goes to soloists, choir director, accompanists and the music director.
“We have not raised the necessary total in order to meet our expenses [for 2020] and keep the concerts free of admission charge,” Holberg wrote. “We need to come back to you, our friends, again, and ask for a donation, especially since our expenses have gone up quite a bit. Palisades High School now charges us for the use of the facility for rehearsals and performances. We hope you will give us your support again.”
Checks of any amount can be made out to the Palisades Symphony Orchestra and mailed to P.O. Box 214, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272.