Chris Walden Leads Pacific Jazz Orchestra As Tony-Winner Aaron Tveit Makes His Soraya Debut

Fresh from his leading role in Broadway's revival of Sweeney Todd, Tony award-winning Aaron Tveit comes to The Soraya for one night only on Saturday, May 11 as Chris Walden and The Pacific Jazz Orchestra take center stage for an unforgettable night of Broadway, jazz and American standards music.

Bringing his powerhouse vocals and matinee idol charisma, Tveit will join The Pacific Jazz Orchestra, forty of the finest musicians who have quickly emerged as the latest addition to the Los Angeles musical landscape.

About Aaron Tveit

Aaron Tveit is a Tony Award-winning theatre, television, and film actor. Currently finishing a run as the “Demon Barber of Fleet Street” in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Tveit earned a Tony Award for his performance in Moulin Rouge! The Musical.  He also received an Outer Critics Circle honor for this role.  Previously, Tveit was seen on Broadway in Catch Me If You Can, Next to Normal (Helen Hayes Award), Wicked, and Hairspray. He also starred in the national tours of Hairspray and Rent. He is featured on the cast recordings for Catch Me If You Can and Next to Normal, as well as his solo album, The Radio In My Head: Live at 54 Below. 

Tveit can also be seen in both seasons of the Apple TV+ musical comedy series “Schmigadoon!” Additional film and TV appearances include “Grease: Live,” One Royal Holiday, Les Misérables, Out of Blue, Created Equal, Better Off Single, Undrafted, Premium Rush, Howl, Ghost Town, “American Horror Stories,” Audible and Broadway Video's podcast Hit Job, Graceland, Braindead, “The Good Fight,” “Gossip Girl,” “The Good Wife,” “Ugly Betty” and “Law & Order: SVU.” He will be making his debut at New York's Café Carlyle this June.

About Pacific Jazz Orchestra

The Pacific Jazz Orchestra (PJO) is LA's new resident 40-piece ensemble for jazz and beyond, presenting an annual concert season consisting of 5 projects, 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.

The artistic director and conductor of the orchestra is seven-time Grammy-nominated composer/arranger Chris Walden, who has worked for artists such as Rufus Wainwright, 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.

Walden's 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. 

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