Pacific Jazz Orchestra

with Eva Noblezada

Sat Feb 1 | 8PM

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Event details

Returning after their sold-out debut last season, Pacific Jazz Orchestra (PJO) opens the Jazz at Naz festival’s fourth season headlined by GRAMMY© Award-winning and two-time Tony nominated Broadway and West End star, Eva Noblezada. Following her riveting performances in London’s revivals of Miss Saigon and Les Misérables, she dazzled Broadway as Eurydice in the original production of the mega-hit Hadestown, and is currently wowing audiences as Daisy Buchanan in the new Broadway musical adaptation of The Great Gatsby. On screen, she starred alongside Lea Salonga in Yellow Rose and voiced the lead role of Sam in Apple TV+’s Luck. Noblezada joins Hollywood veteran Chris Walden and 40 of the finest musicians in Los Angeles for a concert of jazz, Broadway, and pop songs hand-picked and newly arranged by Walden for his big band and Noblezada’s soaring vocals. The PJO concert in May 2024 was heralded as the “Best Jazz Performance” by San Francisco Classical Voice’s Reader’s Choice Awards.

Sat Feb 1 | 8PM

*Price includes all fees.

Ticket prices

$55 - $158

About the Artist

Pacific Jazz Orchestra

The Pacific Jazz Orchestra is LA’s resident 40-piece ensemble for jazz and beyond, presenting an annual concert season, each with different guest artists. Spread out over a select few venues in LA, the program reaches far beyond the boundaries of jazz, as it features music of a diverse range of styles, genres, and backgrounds. The PJO is the only orchestra of its kind in the country, and with its talent pool of musicians, Los Angeles is the only city where an ensemble like this can be put together, representing jazz, the uniquely American art form. A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the members of the advisory board of the PJO include names like David Foster, Quincy Jones, Monica Mancini, Alan Bergman, Rickey Minor, Harvey Mason Jr., and Ledisi.

Chris Walden, Artistic Director

The artistic director and conductor of the orchestra is 7-time Grammy-nominated composer/arranger Chris Walden, who has worked for artists like Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, Paul McCartney, Diana Krall, Aretha Franklin, Rihanna, Seal, Barbra Streisand, John Legend, Herb Alpert, and many more. He has been the lead arranger at the Oscars, the Kennedy Center Honors, and has conducted the LA Phil, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Metropole Orkest, Boston Pops, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, WDR Big Band Cologne and many more. His vast experience in writing orchestral and big band arrangements in many different styles and working with artists from different backgrounds makes him uniquely qualified to serve as music director, as he can draw from his many connections to artists he has worked with to attract talent for a program.

Chris Walden

Eva Noblezada

Eva Noblezada is currently starring on Broadway as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. She won a Grammy and was nominated for a Tony for Hadestown. It was Eva’s second Tony nomination in her first two Broadway roles, following her earlier nod in 2017 for the title role of Miss Saigon. She was featured in the Amblin feature, Easter Sunday, and as the lead in the AppleTV+ animated film, Luck. Previously, she starred for director Diane Paragas in the acclaimed Sony Pictures film, Yellow Rose. She also starred in the West End revivals of Miss Saigon and Les Misérables.