Valley Performing Arts Center Announces 2016-17 Season!
Following the success of the record-breaking and celebratory Fifth Anniversary Season, the award-winning, 1,700-seat Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) will present a unique mix of musical theatre, orchestral and classical music, dance, jazz and Latin music for its 2016-17 Season. Thor Steingraber, VPAC’s Executive Director, today announced complete details of the season that will present 44 performances and will open on September 30, 2016 and run through May 13, 2017.
The season includes four family Sunday matinees and a series of world music and dance performances, with a focus on Africa and Asia. “This is a storybook season for VPAC,” says VPAC’s Executive Director, Thor Steingraber, “and like a storybook, it’s a season that celebrates cultural narratives from around the world as well as the global communities found in Los Angeles.”
Steingraber further emphasizes eight original performances that VPAC will present, many that rely upon the talents of LA and Southern California artists. “Nothing is as important to me as our growing partnerships with local artists. As these artists find a home on the VPAC stage, new audiences follow them. This symbiotic relationship between artists and audiences is essential in building a sustainable and vital organization, and this is one of the reasons we saw significant growth in our Fifth Anniversary Season. Personally, my focus is as keenly focused on the lobby as it is on the stage; building a broad audience, attracting a young crowd, and generally creating a venue that acts as the modern town square. The CSUN campus is the ideal backdrop for this kind of vision.”
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The VPAC 2016-17 Season trailer highlights include:
• In coordination with LA Philharmonic, VPAC offers a month-long celebration – The Age of Adams – of American composer John Adams at his 70th birthday featuring two LA-based music collectives, wild Up, conducted by Christopher Rountree (February 16) and Jacaranda Music with a program curated by Patrick Scott (January 14), as well as guest artists the St. Lawrence String Quartet (February 3) performing the quartet Adams composed specifically for them.
• Esa-Pekka Salonen brings his Philharmonia Orchestra, London to VPAC’s expansive stage (October 5); the St. Petersburg Philharmonic performs Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 (March 16), and the nation’s most lauded chamber music repertory company, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, brings its perennial performances of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos (December 13). Praised by artists and audience for its hall’s keen acoustics, VPAC continues its growth as a primary LA presenter for visiting and international symphonic orchestras.
• Emmy and Tony Award-winning Tyne Daly stars in a one-night only concert performance of Jerry Herman’s DEAR WORLD, which opens the season (September 30) and will be followed by Tony Winner Kelli O’Hara (October 14) in concert. Full productions of WEST SIDE STORY (March 10-12) and MAN OF LA MANCHA (May 5-7) round out the season, both co-presented with McCoy Rigby Entertainment.
• VPAC strengthens its commitment to Latin audiences with four performances, turning its focus to some of the most groundbreaking young artists in this field, including several women who are redefining Latin music: Aida Cuevas, the ‘Queen of Ranchera’ with Reyna de los Angeles, the LA- based all-women mariachi band (October 16) and Mexican-American singer Lila Downs sings on a bill with Latin Grammy winning Monsieur Periné (April 22); Las Cafeteras will headline, Hecho en LA featuring special guests and compañeros (December 9) and a pre-Presidential election celebration created by Culture Clash, VOTE OR DIE LAUGHING, A Post-Modern Political Vaudeville, directed by Dan Guerrero (November 1) that will feature several of LA’s major Latino music stars.
• VPAC’s commitment to Hollywood’s legacy continues in collaboration with New West Symphony. Together, they present two silent films accompanied by full orchestra – Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 classic MODERN TIMES, screened with a live performance of Chaplin’s own original score with contributions from two film music legends, Alfred Newman and David Raksin, conducted by Timothy Brock. Buster Keaton’s silent film classic THE GENERAL is performed with a new score conducted by Richard Kaufman.
• Only at VPAC, a special tribute to the legacy of one of America’s most influential artists — Martha Graham Dance Company will perform MARTHA GRAHAM AND AMERICAN MUSIC, an entire evening of Graham originals performed with live musicians playing some of the most notable musical pieces commissioned by Martha Graham herself. Christopher Rountree will conduct wild Up. Aspen Santa Fe Ballet enters its second year residency presenting a new work by LA choreographer Cherice Barton, co-commissioned by VPAC.
• Building on its success hosting jazz orchestras, VPAC announces a New Big Band & Jazz Series that opens with the great Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with legendary musician Wynton Marsalis (October 8). The most recent Grammy winner for Best Large Jazz Ensemble, Maria Schneider brings her orchestra to VPAC (February 22). Capping the series will be a 90th Birthday Celebration for Valley favorite Doc Severinsen (April 13).
• Holiday offerings including Vienna Boys Choir (December 2), Handel’s Messiah with Trinity Wall Street Choir and Baroque Orchestra (December 7), Danú, Féile Na Nollag (A Christmas Gathering) (December 11), and The Hot Sardines’ Holiday Stomp (December 17).
Tickets for initial series offerings go on sale May 10; additional series go on sale June 20. Single ticket sales begin Tuesday, July 5. For ticket and subscription information, visit ValleyPerformingArtsCenter.org or call (818) 677-3000.
Valley Performing Arts Center is located on the campus of California State University, Northridge (CSUN), 18111 Nordhoff Street Northridge, CA 91330-8448, at the corner of Nordhoff and Lindley.
Valley Performing Arts Center 2016-17 Season
BIG BAND / JAZZ SERIES | BROADWAY AT VPAC | CLASSICAL MUSIC | DANCE AT VPAC | HECHO EN LAS AMÉRICAS | HOLIDAY OFFERINGS | ORIGINAL EVENTS | WORLD | FAMILY
Now entering its sixth season, VPAC’s mission is to present a wide variety of performances that not only includes new and original work from the Los Angeles region, but also work from around the world that appeals to all of LA’s rich and diverse communities. The Valley Performing Arts Center’s 2016-17 Season signals a new era for the premiere event venue. Under the leadership of Executive Director Thor Steingraber, VPAC expands its programming and outstanding multi-disciplinary performances. Located on the campus of California State University Northridge, VPAC’s season offers a vibrant and diverse performance program of nearly 50 classical and popular music, dance, theater, family and international events that will serve to establish VPAC as the intellectual and cultural heart of the San Fernando Valley and further establish itself as one of the top arts companies in Southern California. The award-winning 1,700- seat theatre was designed by HGA Architects and Engineers and was recently cited by the Los Angeles Times as “a growing hub for live music, dance, drama and other cultural events.”
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