For three nights only: Pasadena’s oldest church is hosting a dazzling candlelit concert this fall, celebrating the music of Mozart and Beethoven

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Sofia Delpueche

 –  Staff Writer

 ·  September 8, 2026

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With cozy season just around the corner, there are few better ways to welcome the cooler months than with a candlelit concert, especially when the setting is as distinctive as the music. That’s exactly what Candlelight Pasadena: Mozart vs Beethoven has in store, bringing some of classical music’s most recognizable compositions to Pasadena Presbyterian Church under the warm glow of thousands of candles.

A candlelit showdown between two classical giants

The three-concert series will take place at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, across select dates from September through January. Each 60-minute performance combines live chamber music with a sanctuary illuminated by candlelight. 

The Orchid Quartet will perform a program featuring works by both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Mozart’s selections include Eine kleine Nachtmusik, the overture to The Marriage of Figaro, Turkish March, and the dramatic opening movement of his Symphony No. 40.

Beethoven’s side includes some of his best-known pieces, including Für Elise, Moonlight Sonata, the Pathétique Sonata, the second movement of Symphony No. 7, Ode to Joy from Symphony No. 9 and the opening movement of Symphony No. 5.

Inside Pasadena’s first church

The concert takes place inside Pasadena Presbyterian Church, established in 1875 as the first church in Pasadena. The congregation has occupied its current Colorado Boulevard location since 1908, although the building visitors see today came later.

The original sanctuary was severely damaged by the 1971 Sylmar earthquake and was ultimately replaced. Completed in 1976 and designed by architect John Gougeon of Gougeon-Woodman, the current church takes a modern, Expressionist approach to traditional Gothic forms.

From the rear, its most dramatic features include a soaring half-arch and a 72-foot-high stained-glass window, while the sanctuary was designed with carefully engineered acoustics for a massive 6,000-pipe organ salvaged from the previous church.