The Pasadena Symphony and POPS are looking for new places to play. But not auditoriums or theaters.

Now that the two production companies have combined, they’re thinking bigger.

"The goal for us is to make music more accessible," Pasadena Symphony Executive Director Tom O’Connor says. "To make music have a place in everyone’s life."

This year marks the eightieth year of the Pasadena Symphony and O’Connor and the rest of the Symphony crew are creating new programs to bring new meaning to music to the people of Pasadena . Expansion is the word in the Pasadena Symphony’s office, with the creation of new programs for schools and new shows that combine classical music with modern styles.

"We’re passionate about it," O’Connor says. "To sit in a room with 2,000 other people and listen to a musical creation is the best community builder. Music is the great unifier."

It should be noted that many programs presented by the Pasadena Symphony are free.

With that in mind, Clazzical Notes is the jazz program – a show dedicated to moderating the similarities between classical music and jazz. Its next show is "Les Femmes: Women of Jazz and Classical Music," on Nov. 12, staged at the Jazz Institute at Paseo Colorado (right next to the PF Chang’s). Featuring Nedra Wheeler, a jazz bassist who has worked with Ella Fitzgerald and Ravi and Alex Coltrane, and Yvette Devereaux, a classical violinist who has worked with Alicia Keys and John Legend, the two will play and discuss the similarities between the two genres.

The Symphony has expanded to include a couple more programs, one for kids called the Tempo Program, for first, second and third graders in the area. The idea is to reach out and get kids while they’re young, because the older they get, the less likely they’ll be interested.

"In addition to all the education programs, one of our objectives is to engage at-risk youth, because they don’t have anything to do [after school], so we look to after-school programs that work for them."

Clasica is the latest program, designed for the Latino community and aimed at exploring the connection between the roots of Latin, Hispanic and Classical music.

"With Clasica, we have a committee with members of the community to help guide us with what would be best for the program. I don’t want to plunk a program, a foreign body, into a community. It has to have some sincerity. This is not just the Arts Institution saying ‘this is good for you.’ That’s the thing we’re fighting against – that castor-oil mentality."

For more information on any of these events, contact the Symphony at (626) 793-7172 or log onto www.pasadenasymphony.org.