2025
August
Happy Hour No. 131: Gloria Cheng
Sunday, August 24, 2025 @ 3 PM - West LA + Livestream
A Frame Theater at The Wende Museum >> MORE INFORMATION
Pianist Gloria Cheng is a muse to composers from John Williams to Esa-Pekka Salonen. In this afternoon of music and conversation, Gloria shares stories, insights, and spellbinding performances in equal measure. With half the program devoted to dialogue and the other to a mini recital, it’s a rare chance to engage with a living legend — up close and unscripted. On the program: a movement from John Williams' Conversations and selections from Gloria's album Root Progressions. This Happy Hour is free to attend.
Virtual Happy Hour: Sounds Promising World Premieres
Saturday, August 30, 2025 @ 12 PM - Online
Salastina’s Zoom Room >> MORE INFORMATION
Join us for our virtual event for conversation with and world premieres from this year’s Sounds Promising cohort. Featuring premieres by Rain Hou, Veronika Reutz Drobnić, Sergey Nesterov, Nicholas Edwards, and Daixuan Ai. Read more about our 2025 Sounds Promising cohort here. This Happy Hour is free to attend but requires a Zoom account. Sign up for a free account at https://zoom.us/signup.
2025
September & October
Chamber Music Reading Party
Sunday, September 7, 2025 @ 2 PM - Glendale
Concert at a private residence in Glendale >> MORE INFORMATION
Back by popular demand! Join Salastina’s resident artists for an intimate afternoon of chamber music, camaraderie, and connection in the home of Salastina’s Co-Artistic Director Maia Jasper White. Designed especially for adult amateur musicians, this salon offers the rare chance to read through favorite chamber works side-by-side with professionals in a supportive, joy-filled setting. We can’t think of a better living expression of Salastina’s mission: to break down barriers between performers and audience, and to celebrate music as something we share — not just perform. This free event is exclusively open to active Salastina Members only.
Main Series No. 1: Ben and HyeJin Recital
Friday, September 26, 2025 @ 7:30 PM - West LA
Moroccan Room at The Village Studios >> MORE INFORMATION
Saturday, September 27, 2025 @ 3 PM - OC + Livestream
Charlie and Ling Zhang Orchestra Hall at Concordia University Irvine >> MORE INFORMATION
Friday, October 10, 2025 @ 7:30 PM - Santa Barbara
Lehmann Hall at Music Academy of the West >> MORE INFORMATION
Saturday, October 11, 2025 @ 3 PM Pasadena
Private Residence in San Marino >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Two masters of their instruments take on a trio of Russian-born visionaries—one who stayed (Prokofiev), one who left (Rachmaninoff), and one who redefined music abroad (Stravinsky). Salastina’s Resident Flutist Ben Smolen and Resident Pianist HyeJin Kim play Prokofiev's Flute Sonata in D, Op. 94 and premiere Ben’s original arrangement of Stravinksy’s Suite Italienne. The program also includes several of Rachmaninoff’s preludes for solo piano.
2025
November
Main Series No. 2: Beauty in Tension
Friday, November 7, 2025 @ 7:30 PM - Palos Verdes
Private residence in Palos Verdes >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Saturday, November 8, 2025 @ 3 PM - West LA
Moroccan Room at The Village Studios >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Sunday, November 9, 2025 @ 7:30 PM - OC
Chamber Music | OC >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Friday, November 14, 2025 @ 7:30 PM - Pasadena + Livestream
Barrett Hall at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Sometimes, music soars. Sometimes, it aches. And sometimes, it refuses to resolve — until it finally does. This program explores the fragile, cathartic space between dissonance and harmony. From Mozart’s “Dissonance” Quartet and Janáček’s Intimate Letters to Prokofiev’s lyrical modernism, Caroline Shaw’s crystalline sound world, and Gesualdo’s haunting Renaissance chromaticism, this is music that finds beauty in unrest, and invites us to do the same.
Mozart Masquerade: A Salastina Fundraiser
Thursday, November 20, 2025 @ 6 PM - Pasadena
Maxwell House >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Step into the elegance of the 18th century for an evening of music, mystique, and merriment. Join Salastina’s resident pianist HyeJin Kim as she brings Mozart to life on the fortepiano, the instrument of his time. Guests are invited to don their finest masquerade attire and enjoy a night where period style meets artistry, period. All proceeds support Salastina’s live concerts, Vital Sounds virtual bedside concerts at Huntington Health, and Sounds Promising Young Composers program.
2025
December
Happy Hour No. 132: Emmanuel Ceysson
December 13, 2025 @ 2 PM - DTLA
Pompeian Room at the Doheny Mansion at Mount Saint Mary’s University + Livestream >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Join us for an unforgettable afternoon in the stunning Doheny Mansion, where Emmanuel Ceysson, the dynamic and virtuosic harpist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, takes center stage. With a background that includes principal positions at the Paris Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, and an international reputation for exuberant and boundary‑pushing performances, Ceysson brings his infectious energy and poetic flair to both conversation and performance. This relaxed, intimate event invites you to enjoy a friendly exchange with the artist and be swept away by the shimmering harp up close, all within the warm, historic elegance of the mansion.
Sounds Delicious: A Gilded Christmas Tea
December 14 - DTLA
Pompeian Room at the Doheny Mansion at Mount Saint Mary’s University >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Step into a Victorian winter wonderland at Salastina’s signature Christmas Tea. Set in the opulent Pompeian Room of the historic Doheny Mansion, this festive gathering features traditional carolers, a string quartet performing music of the era, and a lavish holiday tea service. With its Dickensian charm and unforgettable setting, replete with a twenty-foot Christmas tree (under an ombre glass dome made of 2,836 pieces of original Tiffany gold-favrile glass), this event sells out quickly each year. Two seatings available; reserve early!
2026
January
Main Series No. 3: Les Délices Impressionistes
Friday, January 23, 2026 @ 7:30 PM - Lake Forest
Chamber Music I OC >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Saturday, January 24, 2026 @ 3 PM - Palos Verdes
Private residence in Palos Verdes >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Sunday, January 25, 2026 @ 3 PM - West LA
Moroccan Room at The Village Studios >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Saturday, January 31, 2026 @ 3 PM - Pasadena + Livestream
Barrett Hall at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
This program celebrates the evocative power of French music for strings, flute, and harp. At its heart is the rarely heard Jean Cras, a naval officer-composer whose music lends modern color to Romanticism. Alongside him: Saint-Saëns’ elegance, Ravel’s refined sensuality, and Debussy — who bristled at the label Impressionist — offering sound worlds more exacting, expressive, and immersive than any Monet fridge magnet.
2026
February & March
Main Series No. 4: Beethoven and Schubert
Saturday, February 21, 2026 @ 7:30 PM - OC
Location to be announced >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Sunday, February 22, 2026 @ 3 PM - West LA
Moroccan Room at The Village Studios >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Friday, February 27, 2026 @ 7:30 PM - Santa Barbara
Lehmann Hall at Music Academy of the West >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Sunday, March 1, 2026 @ 3 PM - Pasadena + Livestream
Barrett Hall at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Before the concert hall, there was the salon. Before the grand piano, the fortepiano. This program invites you into the sound world of Beethoven and Schubert as they themselves might have heard it: with warm gut strings, responsive transitional bows, and a fortepiano’s round touch. On the program: Beethoven’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in A Major and Sonata for Violin and Piano in F Major, “Spring” as well as Schubert’s Piano Trio in B Flat Major.
2026
April
Main Series No. 5: Familiar | Forgotten | Fresh
Sunday, April 19, 2026 @ 3 PM - OC
Location to be announced >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Saturday, Apr 25, 2026 @ 3 PM - West LA
Moroccan Room at The Village Studios >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Sunday, Apr 26, 2026 @ 3 PM - Pasadena + Livestream
Barrett Hall at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Three piano quintets bridge time and taste through music that’s beloved, overlooked, and brand-spanking new. On the program: Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Julius Rontgen’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in a minor, and a world premiere commission from one of our Sounds Promising Young Composer alumni.
2026
May
Happy Hour No. 133: Sounds Mysterious with Brian Lauritzen
Saturday, May 23, 2026 @ 3 PM - West LA + Livestream
The Wende Museum’s A-Frame Theater >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Brian Lauritzen leads our audience in our patented game of Guess The Composer. Though we’ve practiced every note, we still don’t know who wrote the music. In this audience-favorite musical guessing game, even the performers are in the dark about the composers’ identities. The audience joins us in sleuthing out the clues. Is that a hint of Haydn? A whiff of of Walton? A shade of Shostakovich? Or is it a total red herring? We’ll guess together, laugh together, and delight in the fact that classical music is more about curiosity and connection than the comfort of the familiar. (And yes: you’ve guessed the composers’ identities correctly more than we have.) This Happy Hour is free to attend.
2026
June
Sounds Delicious: A Jane Austen Garden Tea Party
Saturday, June 6, 2026 - 1:00 PM
Virginia Robinson Gardens >> TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
Join us for a special tea celebrating Jane Austen’s semiquincentennial at the beautiful and timeless Virginia Robinson Gardens. Ticket sales coming soon.