Caltech’s Concert and Jazz Bands Bring Two Nights of Holst, Grainger and Big-Band Energy to Ramo Auditorium

Caltech is, famously, a science institution. Less famously, it has long produced some of the more spirited concert and jazz programs in town — and once a year, both bands take the same stage on the same nights for Bandorama, the campus’s annual two-evening showcase. The 2026 edition runs Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9, both at 8 p.m., in Ramo Auditorium on the Caltech campus.

The evening’s classical half features the Caltech-Occidental Concert Band performing the First Suite in E-flat by Gustav Holst, selections from Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger, “Rest” by Frank Ticheli and Dance Movements by Philip Sparke. The second half belongs to the Caltech Jazz Ensemble, offering a contrast of styles that has become one of Bandorama’s signatures — same audience, same hall, two utterly different musical worlds.

Bandorama has been a Caltech spring tradition for decades. The Concert Band draws faculty, staff, students and community members; the Jazz Ensemble showcases student soloists alongside guest professional musicians and faculty directors. Past editions have featured guest conductors, world premieres and tributes to retiring JPL scientists and Caltech alumni.

Admission is free, and no tickets or reservations are required. Free parking is available on campus. Ramo Auditorium, donated to Caltech by Simon Ramo and his wife, sits at the heart of the Caltech campus and remains one of the city’s most acoustically distinguished mid-sized concert halls.

Caltech Bandorama Concerts will run on Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. Ramo Auditorium, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena. For more information, email Hyesung Park at hschoe@caltech.edu or call (626) 808-2641. Admission is free.