Wednesday (8/18) on the Los Angeles Times blog Culture Monster, Mike Boehm reports, “The Valley Performing Arts Center at Cal State Northridge is about to fill a void in the San Fernando Valley, which heretofore has lacked a major hall for concerts, opera, dance and Broadway musicals. … The Moscow State Symphony, under music director Pavel Kogan, will put the $125-million, 1,700-seat hall to an early test on Nov. 1 in what’s billed as one of two invitation-only shakedown shows for the venue. The gala opening is Jan. 29, 2011, followed on Feb. 5 by the first regular performance. The announcement of the inaugural season is planned for Oct. 27. The center, designed by the Minneapolis firm Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, features adjustable acoustic panels, and the Muscovites, who according to their agents’ website are scheduled to tour with soloists Jeremy Denk (piano) and Jennifer Koh (violin), have been engaged to provide the music for the required tuning. … Two smaller venues in the new center, a 178-seat black box theater and a 230-seat lecture hall, will be used for the university’s educational programs, [Cal State Dean Robert] Bucker said, with the main multipurpose hall primarily for professional offerings.”
Posted August 19, 2010
