[photo credit: Pasadena Senior Center]
The March 12 performance, billed as The Great American Songbook, pairs pianist Bob Lipson and vocalist Don Snyder with fellow musicians for an afternoon that blends live music with narrative — the performers not only play the songs but tell the stories behind them. The event is free for center members and $5 for non-members.
Lipson performs throughout Southern California and is recognized as an accomplished pianist and accompanist of the Great American Songbook repertoire, according to a Pasadena Now profile of the musicians. Snyder has performed with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera and has worked on television and radio commercials in addition to the Dean Martin shows, the profile states. He also performs with local orchestras in oratorio and pop concerts.
Their frequent collaborator, bassist David Young, brings a resume rooted in major American orchestras. A former member of the Rochester Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Young has also served as principal bass with the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, according to the Rabbath Institute Los Angeles, where his faculty biography is posted. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and USC, and has taught at the Colburn School of Performing Arts for more than 35 years.
Drummer Matt Crawford has also performed with the group at past senior center concerts.
The performance draws from the Great American Songbook — the loosely defined canon of influential American popular songs and jazz standards written primarily during the first half of the 20th century, according to the Great American Songbook Foundation. The repertoire spans works composed for Broadway, musical theater and Hollywood musicals by songwriters including Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, and Richard Rodgers, among others.
Lipson and Snyder have performed regularly at the Pasadena Senior Center for several years. Past concerts have been billed under titles including “Standards and Show Tunes with Bob, Don and Dave” and “Music on the Patio,” with audiences invited to sing along, dance or tap their feet, according to center press releases.
The Pasadena Senior Center, at 85 E. Holly St. in downtown Pasadena, is an independent, donor-supported nonprofit that has served adults 50 and older since it opened in May 1960. It was the first nonprofit senior center in Southern California. Residency in Pasadena is not required to attend events.
The performance begins at 1:30 p.m. Reservations are requested. To register, visit pasadenaseniorcenter.org or call 626-795-4331.
At past performances, the center has described the concerts as events where audiences are welcome to sing along, dance or simply tap their toes to the music.
The Great American Songbook Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. Cost: Free/Members, $5.00/Non-members. For more information call: 626-795-4331 Or click here: https://www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org/activities-events/special-events/2257-the-great-ameri can-songbook-25
