World-renowned composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct the Colburn Orchestra at The Soraya on the California University, Northridge campus on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 8 p.m.

The program will feature Strauss tone poems – the playful “Til Eulenspiegel” and grand “Also Sprach Zarathustra” – as well as Mozart’s “Clarinet Concerto” performed by Cristina Mateo Sáez, a Colburn Conservatory student and Jacques Lancelot International Clarinet Competition prizewinner.

Salonen joined the Colburn School faculty in September 2018 to develop, lead, and direct a pre-professional conducting program, known as the Negaunee Conducting Program.

Salonen will develop a course of study in the school’s Conservatory of Music for a small, select group of aspiring young conductors. Known as Salonen Fellows, these students will develop their craft and nurture their talent through personal mentorship.

At both the Colburn School and with the Philharmonia Orchestra, where Salonen currently serves as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, the Salonen Fellows will gain significant real-world podium experience in Los Angeles and throughout the world.

Salonen was recently appointed Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, succeeding Michael Tilson Thomas, who concludes his 25-year tenure as Music Director in July 2020. Salonen will assume the position in September 2020.

The Colburn Orchestra, the flagship ensemble of the Colburn School’s Conservatory of Music, regularly performs throughout Southern California with esteemed guest conductors and soloists.

Upcoming Colburn Orchestra performances include an LA Phil Sounds About Town series concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Saturday, March 2 under the baton of guest conductor Xian Zhang, and a concert at the Ambassador Auditorium on Saturday, April 13 under the baton of Claur Peter Flor.

About the Colburn School
The Colburn School comprises four academic units united by a single philosophy: that all who desire to study music and dance should have access to top-level instruction.
Units of the School are:

* the diploma- and degree-granting Conservatory of Music, a preeminent training ground for professional musicians
* The Music Academy, a pre-college program preparing musicians to study at top conservatories
* The Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, a comprehensive dance program including the elite pre-professional Dance Academy
* The Community School of Performing Arts, offering a graded curriculum of private lessons and group instruction in music performance, appreciation, and theory for everyone, from the youngest children to adults

Together, these units provide performing arts instruction to more than 2,000 students from around the world, with a renowned artist faculty who serve as invaluable mentors guiding the students’ artistic development.

About Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya)
The 2018-19 season marks the eighth year the award-winning Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts which has quickly become one of the cultural jewels of the greater Los Angeles region. Under the leadership of Executive Director Thor Steingraber, The Soraya continues to expand its programming and outstanding multidisciplinary performances. The mission of The Soraya is to present a wide variety of performances that not only includes new and original work from the Los Angeles region but also work from around the world that appeal to all of LA’s rich and diverse communities.

Located on the campus of California State University, Northridge, The Soraya’s season offers a vibrant performance program of nearly 50 classical and popular music, dance, theater, family, and international events that will serve to establish The Soraya as the intellectual and cultural heart of the San Fernando Valley, and further establish itself as one of the top arts companies in Southern California. The award-winning, 1,700-seat theatre was designed by HGA Architects and Engineers and was recently cited by the Los Angeles Times as “a growing hub for live music, dance, drama and other cultural events.”