SEASON OPENING CONCERT
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2023 | 8PM
LeAnn Rimes: the story…so far tour
“Virtuosic vocalizing” Variety
“1998 Artist of the Year” Billboard
LeAnn Rimes is an international multi-platinum selling acclaimed singer and ASCAP award-winning songwriter. She has sold more than 48 million units globally, won 2 Grammy® Awards; 12 Billboard Music Awards; 2 World Music Awards; 3 Academy of Country Music Awards; 2 Country Music Association Awards and one Dove Award. At 14, Rimes won “Best New Artist” making her the youngest solo artist to take home a Grammy® Award, and at 15, she became the first country artist to win “Artist of the Year” at the Billboard Music Awards.
In 2022, LeAnn was presented with the prestigious ASCAP Golden Note Award, which is an award presented to genre-spanning songwriters, composers and artists who have achieved extraordinary career milestones.
Out of the 63 singles she has released throughout her expansive career, LeAnn’s ballad
“How Do I Live” holds the record as Billboard’s Hot 100 all-time #1 hit by a female artist and currently ranks #6 on Billboard’s “Greatest of All Time: Hot 100 Songs” list. 15 of her multi-genre singles are top-10 hits, including “Can’t Fight the Moonlight,” which went #1 in 11 countries.
The last couple of years have been quite a resurgence for LeAnn. In 2022, the worldrenowned singer had a big year including the release of her 19th album god’s work (EverLe Records via Thirty Tigers/ The Orchard). The album, which features a roster of accomplished artists including Ziggy Marley, Mickey Guyton, Aloe Blacc, Ben Harper, and more, was listed as #9 on Variety’s “The Best Albums of 2022.” They said: “You won’t find a richer collection of melodic writing on any album released this year, with the twists and turns that maybe only someone capable of all that virtuosic vocalizing could think to take a set of songs into.”
She performed songs from the project on national shows including LIVE With Kelly and Ryan and TODAY. In April of the same year, LeAnn headlined an episode of the iconic music series CMT Crossroads entitled “LeAnn Rimes & Friends” alongside Mickey Guyton, Carly Pearce, Ashley McBryde, and Brandy Clark, who helped commemorate Rimes’ career and recognize the path she blazed forward for women in all genres.
LeAnn also served as the inspiration judge on the discovery+ competition series, Meet Your Makers Showdown, alongside Chrissy Metz and Mark Montano in November 2021 and won season four of FOX’s The Masked Singer, with Entertainment Weekly stating that she delivered .”.. the most beautiful performance in the history of The Masked Singer.”
In honor of the 2019 Record Store Day, the Grammy-winning superstar unveiled her first-ever LIVE recording as an exclusive vinyl release titled Rimes: Live at Gruene Hall where Rimes celebrated music of all genres. And during the 2018 holiday season she starred and served as an Executive Producer in Hallmark’s It’s Christmas, Eve, which earned the highest TV original movie debut to-date for the channel premiering to over 4.3 million viewers. Earlier that year, Rimes revealed a new EP for her fans titled Re-Imagined that featured five new versions of some of her record-breaking hits, including an epic duet with the music icon Stevie Nicks. In 2017, LeAnn released Remnants, which debuted at # 4 on Billboard’s Independent Album Chart, peaked at #3 on iTunes ® overall
charts in its first week, garnered two #1 Billboard Dance hits with “Long Live Love” and “LovE is LovE is LovE,” and one Top 5 hit with “Love Line.” Additionally, for her Remnants UK Tour, she joined Elton John at the historic Hyde Park in London.
Passionate about using her voice to help heal the world, LeAnn was honored with the Ally of Equality Award by the Human Rights Campaign for her over 20 years of support of equal rights, the 2019 HOPE Award for Depression Advocacy, and 2009 ACM Humanitarian Award, among other recognitions. She continues to channel her voice in new ways, releasing CHANT: The Human & The Holy (EverLe Records / Thirty Tigers) in 2020, which spent 5 weeks at #1 on iTunes New Age Chart, as well as her iHeartRadio mental health and wholeness podcast, Wholly Human, that brings her lifestyle blog, Soul of EverLe, to life. Wholly Human, which currently has three seasons, previously reached #2 on iTunes Health & Fitness Chart, placed in the Top 35 overall for podcasts worldwide and was named as one of the 15 best mental health podcasts that educate and empower listeners by Good Housekeeping.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2023, 3PM SOKA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
SCHUMANN Phantasiestücke for Piano Trio, Op. 88 SAINT-SAËNS Piano Trio No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18
INTERMISSION
BEETHOVEN Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1, “Ghost”
“The cleanly articulate performance was elevated by an uncommon passion, both in the tender Adagio and in the finale that shifts abruptly from sadness to joy.” - The Chicago Tribune
“With Pinchas Zukerman’s matchless musicianship and charisma at its core, this is a trio made in heaven.” - Limelight
To Engage, Educate, and Elevate the Human Spirit…
Soka Performing Arts Center strives to elevate humanity through transcendent experiences. Come experience our exquisite acoustics. Come to expand your understanding and appreciation of music. Come to forge community and emotional connections through the shared experience of live music.
Come to Listen. Feel. Transform.
Soka Performing Arts Center is located on the beautiful hilltop campus of Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo. Our facility includes the 1,032seat Concert Hall featuring world-class acoustics designed by master acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, designer of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, among many others. We also have an intimate 350-seat Black Box Theatre that allows for multiple seating configurations including club seating with bistro tables.
More than 750 performances have taken place since the center’s dedication on May 27, 2011. The 2023-24 season marks our twelfth season presenting first-class programming in our world-class concert hall. We are continuing to expand our programming and outreach with the addition of a Children’s Concert Series, Blues Festival, and the only Great Pianists Series on the West Coast. From classical and jazz to world and contemporary music, the Soka Performing Arts Center has become a prized space for artists and audiences alike.
We are proud to be the home of the Pacific Symphony Chamber Orchestra. Our Sundays @ Soka Series with Pacific Symphony continues to be one of our most popular series year after year. Our presentations with other Orange County arts organizations have enabled us to reach further into our community to offer arts education and programming. Our partnership with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County includes our PSOC Series, which brings superlative artists to our stage. We also partner with PSOC for our Outreach Program, bringing over 7,000 school children to Soka Performing Arts Center to experience live performances with outstanding musicians.
With its world-class acoustics and first-class performances, Soka Performing Arts Center is quickly becoming one of the cultural jewels of Orange County.
OUR SUPPORTERS
DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE ($75,000+)
Dr. Kenneth & Sandra Tokita
Sam & Lyndie Ersan
CONCERTMASTER ($10,000+)
Ms. Emi Maeda
STAGE CHAMPION ($5000+)
Anonymous
STAGE BENEFACTOR ($1000+)
John and Sue Prange
Terumi Saito
GOLD CLEF ($500+)
Jeffrey Hendrix
Jane A. Lynch
Alex & Sandy Scott
SILVER CLEF ($200+)
Lorraine Leiser
Anson and Marilyn Wong
BRONZE CLEF ($25+)
Raquel Bruno
Sammy Chang
Judy Kaufman
Jeannette Pease
Thomas Prigorac
Jonia Suri
Naomi Uchiyama
Joseph Whitaker
Joyce M Wrice
Anonymous
List current as of 09/21/2023
The Soka Performing Arts Center deeply appreciates the support of its sponsors and donors, and makes every effort to ensure accurate and appropriate recognition. Contact Renee Bodie, General Manager at (949) 480-4821 to make us aware of any error or omission in the foregoing list.
Soka Performing Arts Center resides on the beautiful campus of Soka University of America. We thank the SUA Board of Trustees for all of their support.
SUA BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Steve Dunham, JD
Chair Vice President and General Counsel Emeritus, Pennsylvania State University | Baltimore, Maryland
Tariq Hasan, PhD
Vice Chair Chief Executive Officer, SGIUSA | New York, New York
Andrea Bartoli, PhD
President, Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue | New York, New York
Matilda Buck
Benefactor | Los Angeles, California
Lawrence E. Carter, Sr, PhD, DD, DH, DRS
Dean, Professor of Religion, College
Archivist and Curator, Morehouse College | Atlanta, Georgia
Andy Firoved
CEO, HOTB Software | Irvine, California
Jason Goulah, PhD
Professor of Bilingual-Bicultural Education and Director, Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education, Director of Programs in Bilingual-Bicultural Education, World Language Education, and Value-Creating Education for Global Citizenship, College of Education, DePaul University | Chicago, Illinois
Clothilde V. Hewlett, JD
Commissioner of Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, State of California | San Francisco, California
Lawrence A. Hickman, PhD
Director Emeritus, The Center for Dewey Studies and Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, Southern Illinois University Carbondale | Carbondale, Illinois
Kris Knudsen, JD Attorney | Wilsonville, Oregon
Karen Lewis, PhD
Sondheimer Professor of International Finance and Co-Director, Weiss Center for International Financial Research, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Luis Nieves
Founder, Chairman Emeritus AUL Corp, Benefactor | Napa, California
Gene Marie O’Connell, RN, MS Health Care Consultant, Associate Clinical Professor, University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing | Corte Madera, California
Adin Strauss
General Director, Soka Gakkai International-USA | Santa Monica, California
Yoshiki Tanigawa
Benefactor, Soka Gakkai | Tokyo, Japan
Edward M. Feasel, PhD
President, Soka University of America (ex-officio member) | Aliso Viejo, California
