PRESS RELEASES
| CSUN Names the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts
Dr. Dianne F. Harrison, president of California State University, Northridge, today announced the renaming of CSUN’s Valley Performing Arts Center to the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts.
| Valley Performing Arts Center brings the world to its stage for the 2017-18 season!
VPAC’s new season makes a strong commitment to international artists, and to artists who demonstrate VPAC’s theme Music Knows No Borders.
| One of the most enduring works of musical theatre!
Davis Gaines reprises his Ovation Award-winning role as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, winner of the Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Score, and one of the most enduring works of musical theatre.
| Martha Graham and American Music—A program curated especially for Valley Performing Arts Center
Valley Performing Arts Center will present Martha Graham and American Music—a program curated especially for Valley Performing Arts Center, performed by the Martha Graham Dance Company and wild Up, the classical music ensemble, conducted by its artistic director Christopher Rountree. Martha Graham Dance Company returns to VPAC after a sold-out performance in 2015.
| VPAC Celebrates Doc’s 90th!
Valley Performing Arts Center will presents a celebration of Grammy Award winner Doc Severinsen’s 90th birthday with Doc Severinsen and His Big Band on Thursday, April 13 at 8:00pm. The former bandleader for the NBC Orchestra/The Tonight Show is still going strong.
| West Side Story
From the first notes to the final breath, West Side Story is one of the most memorable musicals and greatest love stories of all time. As powerful, poignant, and timely as ever, the thrilling Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim score – including “Tonight,” “Maria,” “America” and the classic “Somewhere,” remains one of the best-ever written. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is transported to modern-day New York City, caught between warring street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. Their struggle to survive in a world of hate, violence, and prejudice is one of the most innovative, heart-wrenching and relevant musical dramas of our time.
| Orson Welles said that The General is the cinema’s highest achievement in comedy and perhaps the greatest film ever made.
Valley Performing Arts Center will present Buster Keaton’s The General with a score performed live by the New West Symphony on Saturday, March 25 at 8:00pm. CSUN alum Richard Kaufman returns to VPAC to conduct. The film will feature a score prepared by American musician and historic preservationist, Dennis James.
| Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Continues Three-Year Residency at VPAC
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB) celebrates the second year of its three-year residency at Valley Performing Arts Center with a program of new works that celebrates the company’s commitment to creating new contemporary dance on Friday, March 3 at 8:00pm.
| Grammy-Winning La Santa Cecilia Brings its Vibrant LA sound to VPAC!
From the heart of Olvera Street, L.A.-based Grammy Award-winning La Santa Cecilia leaps to the VPAC stage on Saturday, February 18 for a one-night only rocking performance. Named for the patron saint of music, La Santa Cecilia has created its own distinct LA sound that blends Latin culture, rock and world music. Drawing its musical inspiration from a vast and varied pool of music—cumbia, bossa nova, rumba, bolero, tango and klezmer music, La Santa Cecilia takes all that to another level, blending its music with a contemporary mix of rock with a solid Latin beat.