About
Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts Music Programs include an Instrumental Competition, the Music Mobile™ program, and Pasadena Showcase Youth Concerts. The programs connect young people with concerts, choral productions, music theater, opera, jazz quartets, marching bands, orchestras, musical theater, orchestra, jazz ensembles, and choral groups at local schools. They also support music therapy for at-risk children, scholarships for young musicians, and music education at a variety of levels.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Price: In the first year of the Pasadena Showcase House of Design, admission was $1.50 including coffee and cookies; current tickets range from $35 to $60.
These music programs are part of an all-volunteer organization whose members present three annual Music Programs and administer a large Gifts & Grants program. Since 1985, the Instrumental Competition has awarded nearly $700,000 in prize money and currently awards approximately $30,000 in cash awards in strings, woodwinds, and brass, and since 2022 it has been limited to high school students ages 14 to 19. Music Mobile™ is an award-winning, hands-on program that uses a van outfitted with symphonic instruments to visit schools throughout the San Gabriel Valley, introducing third graders to classical music and a simulated orchestra, and has reached most of the 130,000 kids it has visited as their first real brush with classical music and instruments. Since 1953, nearly 260,000 fourth graders have attended the annual youth-focused Pasadena Showcase Youth Concerts, which are performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for more than 4,000 fourth graders each year, are free, and include musical concepts and history.
Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts was founded in 1948 as a California non-profit and has been supporting the arts since then, with 77 years of success referenced in its About Us section. The organization has contributed $28 million to date, awarded over $27 million to support music programs in the community, and has given over 1,000 gifts and grants, including longstanding support of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, $1 million to help build Walt Disney Concert Hall, and funding for local concerts, choral productions, music theater, opera, jazz quartets, marching bands, and orchestras at local schools and senior centers. The Pasadena Showcase House of Design, produced annually as a fundraiser, has reimagined 61 homes, draws more than 26,000 visitors each year, and has become one of the oldest, largest, and most successful home and garden tours in the country.
The mission of Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts Music Programs is to nurture the study and appreciation of music, provide music as a vehicle toward health, healing and music education, underscore that music enhances other academic subjects as well as cultural enrichment, and make music available to a broad range of audiences. The Music Mobile™ program operates in partnership with the Pasadena Conservancy of Music. Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts is a 501(c)3 California corporation.
Leadership for these programs includes President Dotty Ewing; First Vice President Marybeth Rehman-Dittu; Second Vice President – Benefit Cynthia Bengtson; Third Vice President – Finance Jennifer Crastz; Fourth Vice President – Gifts & Grants Judy Tsai; Membership Jackie Jones; Secretary Wende Lee; Advisor / Parliamentarian Matt McIntyre; Hospitality Teresa Pfiffner; Instrumental Competition Chair Jessisca Green Harrison; Music Mobile™ Chair Michele Hemmings; Youth Concert Chair Danielle Takata; Provisional Chair Jan Suter; Public Relations / Marketing Chair Suzanne Hart; Publications Chair Susan Pickering; Season Tickets Chair Garrett Collins; Treasurer Undine Schwarz; Archivist / Historian Colleen Robertson and Debra Qurtman; Associate Representatives Michele Lembo and Joy Sullivan; and Benefit Co-Chairs Cynthia Bengtson, Lynne Graves, and Lydia Rubin.
Last updated July 22, 2026.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Price: In the first year of the Pasadena Showcase House of Design, admission was $1.50 including coffee and cookies; current tickets range from $35 to $60.
These music programs are part of an all-volunteer organization whose members present three annual Music Programs and administer a large Gifts & Grants program. Since 1985, the Instrumental Competition has awarded nearly $700,000 in prize money and currently awards approximately $30,000 in cash awards in strings, woodwinds, and brass, and since 2022 it has been limited to high school students ages 14 to 19. Music Mobile™ is an award-winning, hands-on program that uses a van outfitted with symphonic instruments to visit schools throughout the San Gabriel Valley, introducing third graders to classical music and a simulated orchestra, and has reached most of the 130,000 kids it has visited as their first real brush with classical music and instruments. Since 1953, nearly 260,000 fourth graders have attended the annual youth-focused Pasadena Showcase Youth Concerts, which are performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for more than 4,000 fourth graders each year, are free, and include musical concepts and history.
Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts was founded in 1948 as a California non-profit and has been supporting the arts since then, with 77 years of success referenced in its About Us section. The organization has contributed $28 million to date, awarded over $27 million to support music programs in the community, and has given over 1,000 gifts and grants, including longstanding support of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, $1 million to help build Walt Disney Concert Hall, and funding for local concerts, choral productions, music theater, opera, jazz quartets, marching bands, and orchestras at local schools and senior centers. The Pasadena Showcase House of Design, produced annually as a fundraiser, has reimagined 61 homes, draws more than 26,000 visitors each year, and has become one of the oldest, largest, and most successful home and garden tours in the country.
The mission of Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts Music Programs is to nurture the study and appreciation of music, provide music as a vehicle toward health, healing and music education, underscore that music enhances other academic subjects as well as cultural enrichment, and make music available to a broad range of audiences. The Music Mobile™ program operates in partnership with the Pasadena Conservancy of Music. Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts is a 501(c)3 California corporation.
Leadership for these programs includes President Dotty Ewing; First Vice President Marybeth Rehman-Dittu; Second Vice President – Benefit Cynthia Bengtson; Third Vice President – Finance Jennifer Crastz; Fourth Vice President – Gifts & Grants Judy Tsai; Membership Jackie Jones; Secretary Wende Lee; Advisor / Parliamentarian Matt McIntyre; Hospitality Teresa Pfiffner; Instrumental Competition Chair Jessisca Green Harrison; Music Mobile™ Chair Michele Hemmings; Youth Concert Chair Danielle Takata; Provisional Chair Jan Suter; Public Relations / Marketing Chair Suzanne Hart; Publications Chair Susan Pickering; Season Tickets Chair Garrett Collins; Treasurer Undine Schwarz; Archivist / Historian Colleen Robertson and Debra Qurtman; Associate Representatives Michele Lembo and Joy Sullivan; and Benefit Co-Chairs Cynthia Bengtson, Lynne Graves, and Lydia Rubin.
Last updated July 22, 2026.
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