Classical Nights at The Soraya Continue with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra  

The Soraya's Classical Series continues on Jan. 21, 2024 with  the return of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) under the music direction of conductor  Vasily Petrenko and featuring in-demand pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason who will perform Clara  

Schumann's Piano Concerto, a work that also appears on Kanneh-Mason's 2019 critically  acclaimed debut recording. RPO also performs Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, Pathétique,  which debuted in 1893 just nine days before the composer's death.  

Vasily Petrenko is Music Director of the RPO (since 2021), and Chief Conductor of the European  Union Youth Orchestra (since 2015). He is Conductor Laureate of the Royal Liverpool  Philharmonic Orchestra, following his hugely acclaimed fifteen year tenure as their Chief  Conductor from 2006-2021, and has also served as Principal Guest Conductor and subsequently  Artistic Director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia (2016-2022), Chief  Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (2013-2020), Principal Conductor of the National  Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (2009–2013), and Principal Guest Conductor of St Petersburg's  Mikhailovsky Theatre, where he began his career as Resident Conductor (1994–1997). 

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, the former Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Philharmonic  Orchestra, is in great demand internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. She was an 

ECHO Rising Star in 21/22, performing in many of Europe's finest halls and is also the recipient  of the coveted Leonard Bernstein Award and an Opus Klassik award for best young artist. Her  debut album on Decca Classics, “Romance – the Piano Music of Clara Schumann,” drew popular  and critical acclaim, entering the UK classical charts at No. 1.  

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's (RPO) mission to enrich lives through orchestral experiences that are  uncompromising in their excellence and inclusive in their appeal, places it at the forefront of music making in the UK and internationally. Typically performing approximately 200 concerts a year and with a  worldwide live and online audience of more than 60 million people, the Orchestra is proud to embrace a  broad repertoire and reach a diverse audience. Whilst artistic integrity remains paramount, the RPO is  unafraid to push boundaries and is equally at home recording video game, film and television soundtracks  and working with pop stars, as it is touring the world performing the great symphonic repertoire. 

Throughout its history, the RPO has attracted and collaborated with the most inspiring artists and in  August 2021, the Orchestra was thrilled to welcome Vasily Petrenko as its new Music Director. A  landmark appointment in the RPO's history, Vasily's opening two seasons with the RPO have been lauded  by audiences and critics alike. Highlights included a star-studded gala concert to mark the RPO's 75th  Anniversary (with soloists Sheku Kanneh-Mason MBE and Sir Bryn Terfel), all three of Mahler's epic Choral  Symphonies at the Royal Albert Hall, performances at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International  Festival, and major tours to the USA, Japan, Germany, Spain and a host of prestigious European festivals. 

The RPO is recognized as the UK's most in-demand orchestra, an accolade that would have pleased Sir  Thomas Beecham, who founded the Orchestra in 1946. As well as a busy schedule of national and  international performances, the Orchestra enjoys an annual season of concerts in London's Royal Albert  Hall (where the RPO is Associate Orchestra), the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall and Cadogan Hall,  where it is celebrating its 20th Season as Resident Orchestra. In the 2023/2024 Season, Vasily Petrenko  and the Orchestra take a fresh look at the works of five major composers in Icons Rediscovered. The series  explores the burning inspiration, the living emotion and the human personality behind some of the most  iconic masterpieces, including Rachmaninov's The Bells, Elgar's Falstaff, Verdi's Requiem, music from  Wagner's greatest operas and a semi-staged production of Tchaikovsky's Iolanta. The Season will also  feature an autumn residency in Florida, followed by tours to the UAE and Germany, a twelve-concert tour  of the USA, a series of relaxed performances across the UK, and collaborations with guest artists including  Principal Associate Conductor Alexander Shelley, Yunchan Lim, Sheku-Kanneh-Mason MBE, Miah Persson,  Nikolai Lugansky, John Rutter, Jennifer Johnston, and Artist-in-Residence Zlatomir Fung, amongst others.

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason is in great demand internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. She  offers eclectic and interesting repertoire with recital programs encompassing music from Haydn and  Mozart via Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann, Chopin and Brahms to Gershwin and beyond. In  concerto, she is equally at home in Felix Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann (whose piano concerto  featured on Isata's chart-topping debut recording) as in Prokofiev and Dohnányi. 

Highlights of her 2023/2024 season include performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, National Arts  Centre Orchestra Ottawa, London Mozart Players, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on tour in the USA and  Germany, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Cleveland Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and Stockholm Philharmonic.  With her cellist brother, Sheku, she appears in recital in Japan, Singapore, and South Korea in addition to  an extensive European recital tour. Isata also gives a series of solo recitals on tour in the USA and Canada  as well as at London's Wigmore Hall, the Lucerne Festival, and across Germany. 

In 2022/2023 Isata made successful debuts at the Barbican, Queen Elizabeth and Wigmore halls in  London, the Philharmonie Berlin, National Concert Hall Dublin, Perth Concert Hall and  Prinzregententheater Munich. As concerto soloist, she appeared with orchestras such as the New World  Symphony Miami, City of Birmingham Symphony, Barcelona Symphony, Geneva Chamber Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic and was the Artist in Residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Isata is a Decca Classics recording artist. Her 2019 album, Romance – the Piano Music of Clara Schumann,  entered the UK classical charts at No. 1, Gramophone magazine extolling the recording as “one of the most  charming and engaging debuts”. This was followed by 2021's Summertime, featuring 20th-century American  repertoire including a world premiere recording of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Impromptu in B minor and  2023's endearingly titled album Childhood Tales is a tour-de-force showcase of music inspired by a nostalgia  for youth.  

2021 also saw the release of Isata's first duo album, Muse, with her brother Sheku Kanneh-Mason,  demonstrating the siblings' musical empathy and rapport borne from years of playing and performing  together. Isata and Sheku were selected to perform in recital during the 2020 BBC Proms, which was a vastly  reduced festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic and they performed for cameras to an empty auditorium. 2023 saw her BBC Proms solo debut, this time to a fully open Royal Albert Hall, alongside Ryan Bancroft and 

the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Isata was an ECHO Rising Star in 21/22 performing in many of Europe's  finest halls and she is also the recipient of the coveted Leonard Bernstein Award, an Opus Klassik award for  best young artist and is one of the Konzerthaus Dortmund's Junge Wilde artists. 

About the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya)  The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for The Performing Arts (The Soraya) is an award-winning, state of-the art 1,700-seat theatre designed and built by HGA Architects and Engineers and opened in January  2011 as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC). Through a transformative gift by Younes and Soraya  Nazarian the venue was renamed as The Soraya in 2017. Vibrant  

programming has served to establish The Soraya as the intellectual and cultural heart of the San Fernando  Valley and its 1.8 million residents, and as one of the top arts and culture venues in Southern California.  Since its inaugural season, The Soraya has presented over 500 artists and companies across the genres of  music, dance, theater and film and is a highly in demand location for filming and rental events.

The Soraya's 2023/2024 Season boldly advances the expansive sound of orchestras both traditional and  contemporary; the freestyle vibe of jazz; an array of dance luminaries, and a cultural bounty drawn from  the musical well of global voices. The Soraya continues its vigorous commitment to innovating, excelling,  and amplifying access by offering a wide variety of performances that reflect Los Angeles' many distinctive  communities and featuring new and original work and artists from the local region as well as nationally and  around the world. 

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 access and  opportunities in the arts and performing arts. A $5 million contribution from record producer and former  California Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb was pivotal in ensuring the completion and opening of The  

Soraya 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. This partnership fosters academic and artistic excellence, elevating the talents and the future  growth of CSUN's students through master classes, student tickets, concerts of student ensembles, and  students appearing alongside renowned artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Aida Cuevas, and Martha  Graham Dance Company. 

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