On April 6, the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts at Cal State Northridge unveils its newest initiative, the LA Seen festival, a monthlong series of programs dedicated to shining a spotlight on the performing arts in the City of Angels. For more than a decade, Los Angeles artists have found a home at The Soraya, whose presentations serve the city’s multicultural audience and emphasize a breadth of artistic experience..
Opening the festival is seven-time Grammy winner and two-time Academy Award nominee Terence Blanchard. The trumpeter and composer’s two operas — Champion (2013) and Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2019) — premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and were subsequently seen at the Metropolitan Opera. For LA Seen’s opening concert on April 6, The Soraya has commissioned an arrangement of selections from both works, with Blanchard leading his E-Collective ensemble accompanied by the Turtle Island Quartet. The vocal soloists are baritone Justin Austin and soprano Adrienne Danrich, while artist Andrew F. Scott provides the visuals.
On April 12, the Colburn Orchestra returns to The Soraya under the baton of Stéphane Denève, music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and artistic director of the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida. Leading this top-tier student ensemble from the Colburn School, the French maestro continues to inspire the next generation of classical musicians, conducting a program of favorites by George Gershwin, Maurice Ravel, and Antonín Dvořák.
On April 17, Emmy Award-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Adrian Younge makes his Soraya debut with his touring ensemble, Jazz Is Dead, along with a 35-piece orchestra, choir, and 25 of CSUN’s best instrumentalists. The program is drawn from Younge’s “vinyl psychedelic soul trilogy” Something About April, in celebration of the release of the third of those albums.
The festival closes on April 26 with “LA Dances Graham100.” With soloists from the Martha Graham Dance Company, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, CSUN School of Dance, and Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, the concert features rarely seen masterpieces by the pioneering modern-dance choreographer. This is The Soraya’s second contribution to the multiyear celebration of the Graham company’s centenary.
Explained Thor Steingraber, The Soraya’s executive and artistic director: “Engaging in deep collaboration with Los Angeles-based artists and arts organizations is something I brought to The Soraya over a decade ago. I’m not sure that it has always received the full attention it deserves because it has been integrated with all other programs in our seasons. Now, with the launch of LA Seen festival, we are continuing that tradition which brings a greater intentionality and a higher level of visibility to this important work.”
