Attend performances by leading musicians in a facility that combines advanced design with sustainability at the Soka Performing Arts Center, part of Soka University in southern Orange County. The roughly 1,000-seat venue is one of the you-can-hear-a-pin-drop venues with acoustics crafted by world-renowned Yasuhisa Toyota, who also worked on Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Toyota incorporated Alaskan white cedar into the hall’s design to enhance the acoustics. The center’s sustainable measures, including a living roof and the use of solar power, earned the facility gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.
Since opening its doors in 2011, the Arts Center has played host to more than 500 performances. Drop by on a Sunday for the Sundays@Soka with Pacific Symphony series; other recurring events that bring regular crowds include the Children’s Concert Series, Blues Festival, and the Great Pianists series, which has drawn such talents as Emanuel Axe and Sir András Schiff. Non-series programming is diverse mix of musicians and styles from all over the world; a recent season included visiting artists from Taiwan, Zimbabwe, Russia, New Zealand, Korea, and Chile performing everything from jazz to traditional Eastern European songs to gospel, pop, and folk.
For a more intimate experience, check the calendar for performances in the center’s 350-seat Black Box Theatre in Wangari Maathai Hall. To take in a number of past performances at Soka Performing Arts Center from home, pay a visit to their virtual programming page.
