Executive & Artistic Director
Thor Steingraber
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Anat Cohen Quartetinho
Wed Feb 11 | 8PM
Thur Feb 12 | 8PM
Run time: approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes including a 20-minute intermission ________ Program | Program Note
Vitor Gonçalves | Tal Mashiach | James Shipp
Jazz Club Concessions & Bar Menu
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Program
Songs will be announced from the stage. All ticket purchasers will receive an email Friday morning with a link to watch back this concert for an additional 48 hours so you can enjoy the performance, and backstage artist interviews, with friends and family in the comfort of your home. Enjoy!
Musicians
Anat Cohen | Clarinet/Saxophone Vitor Gonçalves | Piano/Keyboard/Accordion Tal Mashiach | Guitar/Bass James Shipp | Vibraphone/Percussion
Securing The Soraya’s Future
Support the Thor Steingraber Fund for Artistic Innovation to help us continue to bring new works, world premieres, and bold collaborations to life
In the fall of 2015, my family and I attended a performance at the Valley Performing Arts Center at CSUN. My son, David, had received his undergraduate degree from CSUN many years prior, and we were pleased to see how the campus had grown. The recollections that stand out most in my memory from that evening were the extraordinary venue, its artistic excellence, and my first time meeting Thor Steingraber. For those reasons, my family decided in 2017 to invest in The Soraya’s future and long-term sustainability. In the 10 years since, we have come to know Thor and his vision. Through his leadership, we have witnessed values we so admire come to life on this stage — in the artists, their work, and the experiences they create for Los Angeles’ many communities and for CSUN students. Thor’s dedication and imagination serve so many, and it is my wish that his legacy be preserved. In honor and recognition of Thor’s accomplishments, I am pleased to announce a new fund supporting the art and artists who will continue this work: the Thor Steingraber Fund for Artistic Innovation. From the performance that first introduced my family to this majestic venue a decade ago, to the many moments of beauty and inspiration that have graced its stage since, we have Thor to thank. I hope you will join me and my family in supporting this effort — to ensure that these performances, and the spirit they embody, thrive long into the future.
— Soraya Sarah Nazarian
Program Note
The Soraya’s Jazz Club has grown to be a fan favorite. More than just dinner, drinks, and an immersive experience, it has allowed us to expand the roster of artists we bring to The Soraya, featuring smaller ensembles and intimate works that are more effective in this environment. The small space has been filled with some artistic giants, such as Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Vijay Iyer, Antonio Sanchez, Matthew Whitaker, Lisa Fischer, and Booker T. Jones, among others. Jazz artists are accustomed to performing in venues that are widely varied, from outdoor festivals to large concert halls to basements where some of New York’s long-standing clubs reside. Building this type of space at the Soraya each year is costly, but well worth the effort as we increase the number of performances and sell out many of them.
Gratefully,
Thor Steingraber
Executive and Artistic Director,
Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts
Anat Cohen
Clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen has won hearts and minds around the globe with her expressive virtuosity and magnetic stage presence, earning esteem both as a musician’s musician and as a performer who charms new recruits to the jazz art like few others. With her acclaimed albums, sold-out world tours and GRAMMY® Award nominations adding up over the past two and a half decades — not to mention the glowing profiles by such totemic outlets as NPR’s Fresh Air and The New York Times — it has become apparent that the Brooklyn-based Anat has evolved into one of the music’s great border-bounding leaders, as not only an artist but as an educator and ambassador. At the core of this, there is always her jubilant, ever-exploratory music-making, as a soloist, bandleader, collaborator, and composer. Revered journalist and jazz sage Nat Hentoff encapsulated her artistry this way: “Anat does what all authentic musicians do: She tells stories from her own experiences that are so deeply felt that they are very likely to connect listeners to their own dreams, desires, and longings.”
Vitor Gonçalves
After an illustrious career as an in-demand musician in his native Brazil, pianist, accordionist, composer and arranger Vitor Gonçalves made the move to New York City, where he currently resides. Since arriving in 2012, he has garnered much acclaim, including features in NPR’s Jazz Night in America and The New York Times as a guest of the renowned Spok Frevo Orquestra. Gonçalves leads his own projects and collaborates with figures in the New York scene such as Anat Cohen, Vinícius Cantuária, Anthony Wilson, Cyro Baptista, and Yotam Silberstein.
Tal Mashiach
GRAMMY-nominated multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer Tal Mashiach is based in Brooklyn, New York. He combines his skills to create one of the most prominent and original voices in the world jazz music scene. Since moving to New York in 2015, Mashiach has shared the stage with leading artists such as Anat Cohen, Mulatu Astatke, Avishai Cohen, Kamasi Washington, and Paquito D’Rivera, among others. Mashiach has performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages and festivals, such as the Hollywood Bowl, Blue Note NY, Newport Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Pit Inn Tokyo, SFJAZZ, Umbria Jazz, Montreal Jazz Festival, and more.
James Shipp
Born in Columbia, Maryland, percussionist James Shipp moved to New York to study music, and has resided there ever since. His career is full of music that inhabits multiple worlds. Shipp’s earliest noteworthy work as a sideman was with Tito Puente veteran trumpeter Ray Vega, with whom he played in Caribbean jazz quartets and quintets from 2002 to 2005. Shipp has also appeared on several instrumental albums in varying styles. He is the leader of an innovative quartet called Nós Novo, a band that approaches traditional Celtic music with Afro-Brazilian grooves and the spirit of collective jazz improvisation.
The Soraya
The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya/Producer) is an award-winning, state-of-the-art 1,700-seat theater that opened in 2011 as the Valley Performing Arts Center. Through a transformative gift by Younes and Soraya Nazarian, the venue was renamed The Soraya in 2017. The Soraya is located on the campus of California State University, Northridge, the intellectual and cultural heart of the San Fernando Valley.
Executive and Artistic Director Thor Steingraber, in his 12th year leading the organization, sums up what makes The Soraya a central piece of Los Angeles arts and culture. “At The Soraya, we hold a high standard of excellence for every performance from a vast array of artistic disciplines, and we hold steadfast to our commitment to the value and impact of the performing arts in community-building, for the Valley’s 1.8 million residents and beyond.”
The Soraya’s 2025–26 Season is a journey through the expansive sounds of orchestras, the freestyle vibes of jazz, the innovations of dance luminaries, and a vast array of global voices. The Soraya continues its vigorous commitment to excelling, innovating, and amplifying access for Valley residents, students, and arts lovers across Southern California.