SoCal Saturday Night

Upcoming broadcasts

In the 2025-26 season, Classical California will be broadcasting seven of Pacific Symphony's Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation Classical Series concerts.

Rich Capparela hosts the Pacific Symphony broadcasts, which include fascinating interviews with conductors, guest artists and Symphony musicians.

The performances are broadcast Saturdays at 7 p.m and not available for streaming.

Saturday, July 4

Shelley Conducts Scheherazade Experience a vibrant journey through modern energy, soulful tradition, and timeless myth. Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst shimmers with cosmic energy, followed by Arturo Márquez’s Mystical and Profane concerto featuring acclaimed Spanish guitarist Pablo Sainz-Villegas. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade weaves the magical tales of One Thousand and One Nights, with lush melodies and dazzling orchestration. Join us for a night of radiant music that celebrates nature, culture, and the magic of storytelling.

Alexander Shelley, conductor Pablo Sainz-Villegas, guitar

JESSIE MONTGOMERY: Starburst (Full Orchestra) ARTURO MÁRQUEZ: Concerto for Guitar Mystical and Profane RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade

Saturday, July 11

Shelley Conducts Carmen & Daphnis and Chloe Experience a night of rhythmic passion and orchestral storytelling. Bizet’s Suite No. 1 from Carmen ignites with fiery Spanish melodies and drama. Montero’s Latin Concerto blends vibrant Latin rhythms with lush melodies and rich textures. The evening concludes with Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, a stunning masterpiece of Greek myth, filled with lyrical beauty and sensuous dance.

Alexander Shelley, conductor Gabriela Montero, piano Pacific Chorale —Robert Istad, artistic director

BIZET: Suite No. 1 from Carmen GABRIELA MONTERO: Piano Concerto No. 1, "Latin Concerto" RAVEL: Daphnis and Chloe

Past broadcasts

LA Phil Broadcasts on Classical California are made possible through the endowed LA Phil Broadcast Program Fund, generously supported by the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund.

Saturday, June 27

Gustavo Dudamel: Celebrating 17 Years Gustavo Dudamel honors his Venezuelan and American identities, presiding over two poetry-inspired choral symphonic works in his final Walt Disney Concert Hall program as Music & Artistic Director. At times hushed and mysterious and at others pulsating and ecstatic, Harmonium was a breakthrough for John Adams’ compositional voice. Borrowing texts from Emily Dickinson and John Donne, Adams explores time, harmony, and rhythm, unraveling gentle meditations into an awe-inspiring swirl of sound.

In the second half, Dudamel guides Cantata Criolla, another breakthrough work that is not just definitive of composer Antonio Estévez’ voice but an emerging national Venezuelan style. The cantata follows Florentino, a troubadour on the Venezuelan plains who challenges the devil to a battle of wit and song. Estévez’s cross-cutting rhythms and musical textures follow the contest from ominous peril to triumph. Driven by his belief that music can build bridges between cultures, Dudamel selected the cantata as one of the first pieces he wanted to bring to Los Angeles in his inaugural season as Music Director, and it fittingly sets the stage for Gustavo’s finale concert of the 2025/26 season.

Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel, conductor Anthony León, tenor Gustavo Castillo, baritone Los Angeles Master Chorale Grant Gershon, Artistic Director Jenny Wong, Associate Artistic Director

John ADAMS Harmonium ESTÉVEZ Cantata Criolla

Saturday, June 20

Sierra and Strauss Richard Strauss’ tone poems are arguably among some of the most richly orchestrated and strikingly adventurous pieces written for orchestra. Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) is no exception as it closely follows the composer’s own real-life conflicts, resolutions, and romances along the way through its bold battle music, soaring melodies, and passionate spirit. Join Gustavo Dudamel as he conducts Strauss’ heroic journey for the first time in Los Angeles after the LA Phil performs a brand-new orchestral piece by Roberto Sierra—the Puerto Rican composer known for his unique fusion of European modernism and Latin American folk elements called “tropicalization.”

Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

Roberto SIERRA Estudios sinfónicos (world premiere, LA Phil commission) R. STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben

Saturday, June 13

Dudamel, Dante, and Beethoven 6 Noted for its blissful introduction, birdsong via woodwinds, and rumbling thunder of cellos, Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony embodies the calming charm of the countryside. In a letter to one of his beloved pupils, he wrote, “How happy I am to be able to wander among the bushes and grass, under trees and over rocks, no man can love the country as I love it. Gustavo Dudamel captures the serenity of the symphony before steering the orchestra into the treacherous depths of Thomas Adès’ “Inferno”—the fiery first movement of the work that won the LA Phil a Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance. Within minutes of hearing Dante, “You can feel the lightning bolt of [Adès’] virtuosity, the sense of pure enjoyment as he uses every orchestral resource to create a battery of exhilarating sound from a 75-strong orchestra” (The Guardian).

Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral" Thomas ADÈS "Inferno" from Dante (LA Phil commission)

Recent Broadcasts On Demand

Listen to the latest SoCal Saturday Night on demand for one week following each broadcast.