Colburn Orchestra to Open Season at The Soraya

Following an inspiring performance at The Soraya last season, Mexican conductor and GRAMMY Award-winner Carlos Miguel Prieto returns to lead the Colburn Orchestra on Sun, Oct 4 at 3 p.m.

The concert promises to be a boisterous afternoon of storytelling and surprising soundscapes and marks the start of the Colburn Orchestra's season. Known for championing new music and music education, Maestro Prieto will bring an exceptional program that showcases the talents of the next generation of classical musicians by bridging the journey of young students to professionals through live performance.

'The one quality we all admire about (Carlos Miguel Prieto) is not only that he's a phenomenal conductor, but also a wonderful teacher,' Mert Yalniz, who makes his return to The Soraya after his debut last season, said. 'He really does not just rehearse the music, but we have this feeling that he really…he really cares about us being students, and he really wants to give something, and we are really happy to hear every single thing he says.'

Continuing The Soraya's tradition of presenting major figures in the orchestral world, this concert introduces patrons to two exceptional students in the Colburn Conservatory, including conductor and composer Yalniz, who will conduct Danzón No. 2, marimbist and percussionist Edric Salazar, and mezzo-soprano Guadalupe Paz.

Opening the concert is the irresistibly Danzón No. 2 by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez, conducted by Yalniz, who shared strong feelings about the piece and the evolution of Márquez.

'It is just a piece where you are fully, full taken away by this sheer power of energy...This is the perfect piece to start with, I believe, especially in combination with the end of the program, which is going to be, The Three-Cornered Hat by Manuel De Falla, who was also a Spanish composer. So there's a nice framework,' he said.

'There are more Danzons, and this collection of works is kind of, Arturo Marquez's way of going away from his avant-garde style, as well, and his compositional style...While starting with the Danzons, especially with the first one, he realized that he really needed to sit back and find his own voice and not indulge himself too much in the avant-garde style, but actually do something he really personally admires...All of them are masterworks by themselves.'

The woody and melodic tones of the marimba will also take centerstage in the program, with Colburn Orchestra marimbist and percussionist Edric Salazar performing in Kevin Puts' Mozart-inspired Marimba Concerto.

'Kevin Puts' only Marimba Concerto first premiered in 1997...This is a sweepingly gorgeous 22-minute work in three movements. Mr. Puts drew great inspiration from his love for Mozart, his piano concerto specifically, in putting this together, i.e, as Mozart focused a lot on the relationships between soloists and orchestra, oftentimes putting the two on equal footing, or focusing on the interactions that the two could, have together. The audience will hear the marimba used both melodically and in ornamental ways.'

The concert will include a comic tale of romance, trickery and comeuppance with Manuel De Falla's rambunctious Three-Cornered Hat. Mezzo-Soprano and Colburn Student Guadalupe Paz will bring this story to life.

The afternoon will conclude with a selection from Gerónimo Giménez's famous zarzuela La Boda de Luis Alonso o La Noche del Encierro.

ABOUT THE COLBURN ORCHESTRA

Yehuda Gilad, Music Director

Now in its 22nd season, the Colburn Orchestra is the flagship ensemble of the Colburn Conservatory of Music. Under the direction of Music Director Yehuda Gilad, the Colburn Orchestra performs across Southern California in venues including Walt Disney Concert Hall, Ambassador Auditorium, the Soraya, Soka Performing Arts Center, Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, the Wallis, the Broad Stage, and Segerstrom Concert Hall, as well as on the Colburn campus in Zipper Hall. Dedicated to serving the greater Los Angeles community, the Colburn Orchestra performs for schools in neighboring communities every year, giving five concerts in a one-week period to school children of all ages.

Since the inception of the Orchestra, Gilad and the esteemed Colburn faculty have invited leading guest artists to perform with the Colburn Orchestra to mirror a professional orchestral experience. Esa-Pekka Salonen, head of the School's Negaunee Conducting Program and the Maestro Ernst H. Katz Chair of Conducting Studies, regularly leads the orchestra and previous visiting conductors include Lionel Bringuier, Gustavo Dudamel, James Conlon, Stéphane Denève, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Peter Oundjian, Carlos Miguel Prieto, and Michael Tilson Thomas. Acclaimed artists such as Mstislav Rostropovich and Itzhak Perlman actively worked with the orchestra during its inaugural year. The ensemble made its United Kingdom debut at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2018, followed by a performance in Dublin.

Colburn Orchestra recordings include a live recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 5 led by guest conductor Gerard Schwarz (Yarlung Records); an album of works by Menachem Wiesenberg (Live Classics) featuring Ronald Leonard performing Wiesenberg's Cello Concerto; and If You Love For Beauty (Yarlung), featuring works by John Adams, Chausson, Handel, and Mahler with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke.

ABOUT CARLOS MIGUEL PRIETO

Known for his charisma and expressive interpretations, Mexican conductor and Grammy-winner Carlos Miguel Prieto has established himself not just as a major figure in the orchestra world but also as an influential cultural leader, an educator, and a champion of new music. In a significant career development, he started his tenure as Music Director of the North Carolina Symphony at the beginning of the 2023–2024 season.

Prieto is renowned for championing Latin American music as well as his dedication to new music. He has conducted over 100 world premieres of works by Mexican and American composers, many of which were commissioned by him. Prieto places equal importance on championing works by Black and African American composers such as Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Courtney Bryan, among others.

Prieto has an extensive discography that includes Deutsche Gramophone, Naxos, and Sony labels. Prieto was recognized by Musical America as the 2019 Conductor of the Year. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Prieto studied conducting with Jorge Mester, Enrique Diemecke, Charles Bruck, and Michael Jinbo.

CLASSICAL PERFORMANCES IN THE 2026-27 SEASON WILL INCLUDE

Nemanja Radulovic & Double Sens

Thu, Nov 5 at 8PM

Onstage Classical

Tickets $102 (Onstage Classical General Admission seating)

This performance kicks off the intimate Onstage Classical concerts with an evening of Beethoven and Bach. Double Sens was born from violinist Nemanja Radulović's questions of identity about his music and his life between France and Serbia. Bringing together Serbian and French musicians in 2008, Radulović's artistic vision was realized when the ensemble's music would break down boundaries among genres, styles, and traditions. After recording eight albums and touring throughout Europe and Asia, the chamber orchestra makes its Soraya debut as part of the ensemble's first major coast-to-coast U.S. tour.

National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine

Volodymyr Sirenko, artistic director and chief conductor

Antonii Baryshevskyi, piano

Sat, Jan 23 at 8PM

Tickets $49-99

Considered one of the finest symphony orchestras in Eastern Europe, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine with conductor Volodymyr Sirenko and featured pianist Antonii Baryshevskyi.

Chamber Orchestra of America

Joshua Bell, music director and violin

Wed, Feb 3 at 8PM

Tickets $49-129

Under Joshua Bell's visionary leadership, the Chamber Orchestra of America's (CHO) Los Angeles debut serves as a dynamic platform for extraordinary musicians to exchange ideas, collaborate, and to reinstitute an enlivened human spirit to chamber music performance. In April 2025, GRAMMY Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell introduced CHO to the world on a TED Talk in Vancouver, British Columbia. He created this new ensemble to illustrate the value and importance of classical music in today's world of artificial intelligence, bringing together some of the most promising young professionals alongside seasoned musicians to perform with refreshing vigor and intention.

LA SEEN FESTIVAL

Performances in this section are part of The Soraya's second annual LA Seen Festival, running March 13 through March 19. Learn more at TheSoraya.org/LASeen

Jacob Jonas The Company and Delirium Musicum

Sat, Mar 13 at 8PM

Tickets $42-84

Two Los Angeles companies and longtime Soraya collaborators unite on a double bill of groundbreaking works. Choreographer, filmmaker, and artistic director Jacob Jonas expands his piece River, and Delirium Musicum founder and violinist Etienne Gara premieres his first piece composed for movement, As Eternity Flows, featuring dance soloist Shu Kinouchi. The collaboration between these two burgeoning artists, Jonas and Gara, is the first to be funded by the newly established Thor Steingraber Fund for Artistic Innovation.

Sounds of California

Simone Porter and Blake Pouliot, violin

Hsin-I Huang, piano

Wed, Mar 17 at 8PM

Onstage Classical

Tickets $102 (Onstage Classical General Admission seating)

Musical prodigies Simone Porter and Blake Pouliot became friends while training as students at the Colburn School more than 10 years ago. Their musical journey includes extended parallels as they each performed with the Colburn Orchestra, in separate seasons, on The Soraya's stage. Their professional careers have taken off ever since. All the while, their friendship remains. In this collaboration between the two classical music phenoms, the eclectic Sounds of California program assembles a kaleidoscope of musical scenes inspired by Southern California, ranging from the Eagles to Stravinsky. Friend and musician Hsin-I Huang will accompany the two on piano.

Angel Stanislav Wang

Onstage Classical

Fri, Mar 19 at 8PM

Onstage Classical

Tickets $102 (Onstage Classical General Admission seating)

Los Angeles-born pianist Angel Stanislav Wang takes a break from his training at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory to return home for his recital tour, which includes his Soraya debut in LA SEEN. At age 23, he has quickly become a captivating performer with artistic individuality, commanding technique, a growing global following, and more than 35 international awards. Wang's major accolades include: the Silver Medal at the 17th International Tchaikovsky Competition; the youngest finalist at the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; and winning first prize at the Rachmaninoff International Competition for Pianists.

The LA Phil

Domingo Hindoyan, conductor

Sonya Yoncheva, soprano

Fri, Mar 26 at 8PM

Tickets $49-179

Adding to The Soraya's tradition of presenting the world's greatest orchestras, the LA Phil will at last make their Soraya debut. In 2017, The New York Times described the LA Phil as 'the most important orchestra in America. Period.' LA Opera's newly appointed music director, Domingo Hindoyan, leads the LA Phil and soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the world premiere of an LA Phil-commissioned song cycle from Venezuelan-Chilean composer Miguel Farías. Farías' incandescent new work, Mistralianas, which pays homage to Nobel Prize-winning poet Gabriela Mistral, is paired with Barber's Medea's Dance of Vengeance, taken from his ballet Cave of the Heart which he wrote for Martha Graham, and Dvořák's beloved and enduring Ninth Symphony.

National Symphony Orchestra — Closing concert of the 26-27 Season!

Gianandrea Noseda, music director and conductor

Ray Chen, violin

Thu, Apr 29 at 8PM

Tickets $49-158

Formerly based at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the National Symphony Orchestra makes its Soraya debut with Music Director Gianandrea Noseda on the podium and returning violin soloist Ray Chen. The program will include Rossini's William Tell Overture, Barber's Violin Concerto, Op. 14, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, Pastoral. This concert will be the final of The Soraya's 2026-27 Season.

ABOUT THE SORAYA

The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) is one of Los Angeles' most prominent performance venues, recognized globally as the intellectual and cultural hub of the San Fernando Valley and its 1.8 million residents. The stunning, architecturally significant building was designed by HGA Architects and Engineers and launched as the Valley Performing Arts Center in 2011. In 2017, a transformative gift from Los Angeles residents and philanthropists Younes and Soraya Nazarian resulted in the venue being renamed The Soraya.

Today, The Soraya remains committed to innovation and amplifying access by presenting diverse performances representing LA's many distinctive communities, along with new works from local and International Artists.

The Soraya's 2026-27 Season continues its journey by presenting the world's finest symphonic orchestras, innovative dance companies, the freestyle and vast vibes of jazz, innovations of dance luminaries, and as always, a vast array of global voices.

Located on the vibrant campus of California State University, Northridge (CSUN), The Soraya and the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication share an integral link that enhances student opportunities in the arts and performing arts. This partnership fosters academic opportunity and artistic excellence, elevating the talents of CSUN's students. A $5 million contribution from record producer and former California Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb was pivotal in ensuring The Soraya was completed and opened in 2011. For his founding support and in acknowledgment of the integral relationship between the Mike Curb College and The Soraya, Mike Curb is recognized as one of The Soraya's Cornerstone Benefactors.