Pan Harmonia wraps 26th season with Joy concerts in Black Mountain, Asheville

Pan Harmonia ended its 26th season with two donation-based chamber concerts that kept the music accessible in both Black Mountain and Asheville, with no fixed ticket price and no one turned away for lack of funds. The pay-as-you-can model, with listed prices ranging from $0 to $100, put the focus on community access as much as performance.

The final offering of Season 26, Joy, was set for Friday, May 15, at 7 p.m. at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, 117 Montreat Road, and Sunday, May 17, at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Asheville, 40 Church Street. The Black Mountain performance also listed doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Pan Harmonia built the season finale as part of its Aftermath trilogy, a spring series that moved from Wonder to Grief Leads to Gratitude and then Joy, with the series running from March through May 17.

For the closing program, Pan Harmonia featured Kate Steinbeck on flute, Jessica Schaeffer on harp and Rosalind Buda on bassoon. The repertory included John Marson’s Suite of Spring Blooms and Strawberries and Cream, Adrienne Albert’s Doppler Effect, Frederick Glesser’s Variations on a Theme by Catharina Pratten, and tunes by Alec Wilder. Pan Harmonia also identified the Glesser work as a Western North Carolina premiere, giving the finale an extra local dimension beyond the seasonal theme.

The concerts underscored how much small arts groups shape daily life in Buncombe County. Pan Harmonia describes itself as an independent, artist-directed chamber music company based in Asheville, and it says its mission is to share acoustic music with audiences across the full spectrum of society. Founded in 2000 by Kate Steinbeck and recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2004, the organization began as Keowee Chamber Music before adopting the Pan Harmonia name.

That local reach extended beyond concert halls. Pan Harmonia says its outreach includes performances in prisons and homeless shelters through its Shining Light Project, a reminder that the company’s work reaches people who may never buy a standard ticket. The organization also noted that Tropical Storm Helene pushed its silver-anniversary season into spring 2025, adding weight to a 2026 program built around endurance, recovery and joy.