Thor Steingraber is the executive director of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts at California State University, Northridge. Prior to the pandemic, the Soraya presented a full schedule of performances that included international soloists, orchestras, chamber music ensembles, and dance companies. This year, as the Soraya reopened, it had already been forced to cancel the appearance of the Vienna Boys Choir, and most recently announced the cancelation of the Russian National Orchestra. Still slated to perform are: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko, with piano soloist Olga Kern; the Japanese drumming ensemble Yamato; Van Cliburn gold medalist Vadym Kholodenko; jazz pianist Harold López Nussa; the Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by and featuring Joshua Bell; and Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting the English Baroque Soloists.
--Classical Voice