Soka Performing Arts Center Announces Opening Season Schedule

The entertainment schedule for the Grand Opening season at Soka University's new 1,000 seat performing arts center was announced Wednesday. 

See the full schedule below:

Sep. 17 — 8 p.m. Pacific Symphony, Grand Opening with Horacio Gutierrez, Piano

Sep. 23 — 7:30 p.m. Jazz Monsters

Sept. 29 — 7:30 p.m. Woven Harmony, Robert & Rebecca Bluestone

Oct. 4 — 7:30 p.m. St. Petersburg Symphony w/Xiayin Wang - Piano

Oct. 23 — 3 p.m. Water is Rising

Oct. 26 — 6 p.m. City of Aliso Viejo 10^th Anniversary State of the City Address

Oct. 28-30 — 11 Soka Blueport Festival featuring Trio da Paz

• Friday – Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday – Oct. 29, 3 p.m.
• Saturday – Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday – Oct. 30, 3 p.m.

Nov. 5 — 8 p.m. New Zealand String Quartet

Nov. 18 — 7:30 p.m. Jazz Monsters

Dec. 10 — 7 p.m. Aliso Viejo 10th Anniversary Holiday Show

Jan. 14, 2012 — 8 p.m. Peking Acrobats

Jan. 20, 2012 — 7:30 p.m. Jazz Monsters

Feb. 4, 2012 — 8 p.m. Uncommon Time, Kenny Endo/Abhijit Bannerjee/John Santos

Feb. 9, 2012 — 7:30 p.m. Tokyo String Quartet

Feb. 16, 2012 — 7:30 p.m. Pacific Symphony – Family Concert

Feb. 24, 2012 — 7:30 p.m. Jazz Monsters

Mar. 16, 2012 — 7:30 p.m. Jazz Monsters

Mar. 18, 2012 — 7 p.m. Emanual Ax,  Solo Recital

Apr. 13, 2012 – 7:30 p.m. Jazz Monsters

Apr. 21, 2012 — 8 p.m. First Person: Seeing America, Ensemble Galilei with Neal Conan

Apr. 28, 2012 — 8 p.m. Pacific Symphony with Karen Gomyo, violin 

SERIES PACKAGES

Orchestra Series

• Oct. 4 — 7:30 p.m. St. Petersburg Symphony with Xiayin Wang 
• Feb. 16, 2012 — 7:30 p.m. Pacific Symphony, Family Concert
• Apr. 28, 2012 — 8 p.m. Pacific Symphony with Karen Gomyo

Chamber Series

• Sept. 29 — 7:30 p.m. Woven Harmony, Robert and Rebecca Bluestone
• Nov. 5 — 8 p.m. New Zealand String Quartet
• Feb 9, 2012 — 7:30 p.m. Tokyo String Quartet
• Mar. 18 2012 – 7 p.m. Emanual Ax, Solo Recital

Special and Unique Artists (S.U.A.)

• Sept. 29 — 7:30 p.m. Woven Harmony, Robert and Rebecca Bluestone (5-day residency/outreach program for schools and community) What is creativity?  How does creativity affect my life?  Does art have a practical application?  Enjoy the unique and heartfelt interaction between classical guitarist Robert Bluestone and his wife, renowned fiber artist Rebecca Bluestone, as they explore the connections between their individual work and how it helped them through Rebecca’s battle with cancer and opened their eyes to the power of the arts.

• Oct. 23 — 3 p.m. Water is Rising: Music & Dance Amid Climate Change (2-day residency/ outreach program for schools) What happens when your country is slowly disappearing as the oceans rise due to global climate change?  Meet and hear how the residents of the Pacific Atolls of Tokelau, Tuvalu and Kiribati approach life and face the inexorable fate of their beloved land as the water rises and reclaims the land back into the sea.  Their joy and unyielding spirit are infectious and never to be forgotten. 

• Jan. 14, 2012 — 8 p.m. Peking Acrobats. Unforgettable artistry, unimaginable strength, amazing dexterity, awesome entertainment.

• Feb. 4, 2012 — 8 p.m. Uncommon Time: Taiko, Tabla and Timbale with master percussionists Kenny Endo, Abhijit Banerjee, and John Santos (2-day residency) Blend the sounds of Japanese Taiko, Indian Tabla and Latin Timbale into a unique and exciting rhythm that will have you moving to an entirely new beat.

• Apr. 21, 2012 — 8 p.m. First Person: Seeing America – Ensemble Galilei with Neal Conan (4-day residency/ outreach program for schools & community) First Person: Seeing America combines iconic photographs from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, searing pictures of the Civil War and haunting portraits from the Great Depression — with the music of Ensemble Galilei and narration by NPR’s Neal Conan and actress Lily Knight to create a remarkable and powerful performance.
  • Begin with the strength, diversity and depth of the photography collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art: photographs by Walker Evans, Edward Curtis, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Weegee and Thomas Eakins. Take those images and accompany them with the words of Langston Hughes, Carson McCullers, Damon Runyan, John Muir, Frederick Douglass, and others. The soundtrack is the evocative music of Ensemble Galilei – Bach, traditional music from Scotland and Ireland, and new compositions featuring fiddles, harp, viola da gamba, percussion, whistles and oboe.
  • Transcendent and soulful music winds around the text as high-resolution images are projected on a large screen in the center of the stage. In their second touring project with Ensemble Galilei, NPR’s Neal Conan and actress Lily Knight brilliantly bring people, events and places to life. What people—The haunted faces of rural Americans as they struggle to survive the Dust Bowl, indelible portraits of Native Americans. The events that shaped a nation—the Civil War, the Great Depression, the immigrant experience. And what places – from the sidewalks of New York to the majesty of Yosemite. Great photographers captured it all. Hardship, war and despair and the gritty determination of extraordinary people in a magnificent land. This is what these extraordinary photographers saw — First Person: Seeing America.