Alan Reinecke, son of PCO founders Wayne and Sue Reinecke, former PCO Music Director from 2008-2013, and percussionist/timpanist for 30 years, died November 4 after a brief but courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

Alan was born February 6, 1961, in Anaheim, California, and grew up in Arcadia. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in percussion performance at USC in 1983. In the 1980s he coached percussion classes at Arcadia High School and Mountain View High School.

He was music director of the Pasadena Community Orchestra from 2008 to 2013, succeeding his father, the founding director. Alan had been the orchestra’s principal percussionist and timpanist from its founding in 1983; he held similar positions in the Whittier-based Rio Hondo Symphony for more than 30 years. He also played for St. Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra (Pacific Palisades), the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra, the Redlands Symphony and many other Los Angeles-area music groups. He worked most recently as an information technologist for Panda Restaurant Group. He previously held similar positions at Toyota of Torrance, Delta Dental of California, and 20th Century Fox Studios.

Alan is survived by his wife, Fatima; stepson Lance Corporal Shawn Mortazevi of the U.S. Marines, and stepdaughter Noura Mortazevi; his parents, Wayne and Susanne Reinecke; sister and brother-in-law Janet and Wayne Kawamoto; three nieces and two nephews. Another sister, Lynn Horton, preceded him in death (1995).

PCO music director, board of directors, and musicians extend their heartfelt condolences to Fatima and her family and to Wayne and Sue Reinecke and their family in their loss. We are grateful for the many years we spent in Alan’s company and for his generous gifts of time and his talents to this orchestra.

In lieu of flowers, the families ask that memorial gifts may be made to the Pasadena Community Orchestra, the Convalescent Aid Society or the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

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