PRESS RELEASES
| Paco de Lucía Project to Launch North American Tour in Fall 2017
In the early 1980s, guitarist and composer Paco de Lucía assembled a sextet that, in its instrumentation and jazz-like approach, would forever change the sound of flamenco. It would take the guitarist 20 years to put together another group that would provide him with both the support and push for his talent and his vision.
| Symphonic Music is SOARING at VPAC in 2017-18!
Director Miloš Forman’s film AMADEUS one of the greatest biopics ever made, swept the 1984 Oscars winning eight awards including Best Picture. Now, Valley Performing Arts Center opens its 2017-18 Season on Saturday, September 16 at 7:00pm with a live performance featuring the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) and LA Opera Chorus, conducted by film music specialist and CSUN alum Richard Kaufman, to a newly mastered print created for live orchestral accompaniment.
| 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.