Saturday, March 28, 2026 | 8PM
With five GRAMMY® Awards, 14 Blues Foundation Awards, and a groundbreaking career spanning more than 50 years under his belt, Keb’ Mo’s got nothing left to prove, just don’t tell him that.
Born and raised in Compton, Keb’ began his remarkable journey at the age of 21, when he landed his first significant gig playing with Jefferson Airplane violinist Papa John Creach. For 20 years, Keb’ would work primarily behind the scenes, establishing himself as a respected guitarist, songwriter, and arranger with a unique gift for linking the past and present in his evocative playing and singing. Though he recorded a one-off album in 1980 under his birth name, Kevin Moore, it wasn’t until 1994 that he would introduce the world to Keb’ Mo’ with the release of his widely acclaimed self-titled debut. Critics were quick to take note of Keb’s modern, genre-bending take on old-school sounds, and two years later, he garnered his first GRAMMY® Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album with Just Like You. In the decades to come, Keb’ would take home four more GRAMMY® Awards, top the Billboard Blues Chart seven times, perform everywhere from Carnegie Hall to The White House, collaborate with many, including Taj Mahal, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, The Chicks, and Lyle Lovett; have compositions recorded and sampled by artists as diverse as B.B. King, Zac Brown, and BTS; release signature guitars with both Gibson and Martin; compose music for television series like Mike and Molly, Memphis Beat, B Positive, and Martha Stewart Living; and earn the Americana Music Association’s 2021 award for Lifetime Achievement in Performance.
In addition to his extraordinary musical output, Keb’ has also established himself as a captivating onscreen presence over the years, appearing as himself in Martin Scorcese’s The Blues, Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing, and even the iconic children’s series Sesame Street. He flexed his acting chops in a wide variety of projects, as well, portraying Robert Johnson in the 1998 documentary Can’t You Hear The Wind Howl, Howlin’ Wolf on CMT’s Sun Records, and the ghostly bluesman Possum in John Sayles’ 2007 film Honeydripper. A fixture on late-night TV and award show stages, Keb’ has also performed on Letterman, Leno,
Conan, Colbert, and Austin City Limits in addition to appearing on nationally televised broadcasts from The Kennedy Center, The Ryman Auditorium, and Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival.
A passionate philanthropist and outspoken activist, Keb’ has devoted countless hours and helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to support social, environmental, and racial justice throughout his career. As a celebrity mentor with The Kennedy Center’s Turnaround Arts Program, which began under the guidance of First Lady Michelle Obama and the President’s Committee for the Arts and Humanities, Keb’ “adopted” The Johnson School for Excellence in Chicago, where he teamed up with teachers, students, and parents to help develop a thriving arts education program. As a longtime ambassador for the Playing For Change Foundation, he’s supported the non-profit from its early days in its quest to provide free music education and basic needs like food, water, medicine, clothing, books, and school supplies to children worldwide.
Concessions
A wide variety of wine, beer, soft drinks and freshly prepared snacks will be available before the concert and during intermission.
Staff Drink Pick
Tennessee Honey
We asked the staff for their favorite drink pick to feature at concessions! Tennessee Honey was selected and will be available for purchase before the performance and during intermission.
Click here for menu and to order
Pre-order your concessions and skip the line during intermission!
Our mission is to Engage, Educate, and Elevate the Human Spirit
Soka Performing Arts Center is dedicated to elevating the human spirit through transcendent live experiences. Discover the unmatched beauty of our acoustics. Expand your understanding and appreciation of music through our programs that illuminate new perspectives. Build community and forge deep connections through the shared experience of live performance. We invite you to become a part of our Soka Performing Arts Center family and 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 1,042seat 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 800 performances have taken place since the center’s dedication on May 27, 2011. The 2025-26 season marks our fifteenth 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 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 Philharmonic Society Series, which brings superlative artists to our stage. We also partner with Philharmonic Society 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+)
Yoshitomo & Takemi Daido
STAGE BENEFACTOR ($1000+)
Anonymous
OC Chinese Cultural Club
John and Sue Prange
Terumi Saito
Jochen Schumacher
Alex & Sandy Scott
Scott A Shuping
Anson and Marilyn Wong
PLATINUM CLEF ($500+)
Anonymous
Jeffrey Hendrix
Edward D. Jones
Jane A. Lynch
GOLD CLEF ($200+)
Judy Kaufman
Lorraine Leiser
Naomi Uchiyama
SILVER CLEF ($100+)
Renée Bodie
Sam Chang
Masako Inage
Debrah Jiang
Chiharu Nagai
Paul Porto
Thomas Prigorac
Jonia Suri
Joseph Whittaker
BRONZE CLEF ($25+)
Raquel Bruno
Kenneth Hanawa
Ryosuke Iga
Jeannette Pease
Joyce M Wrice
Taro Yamanashi
* Deceased
List current as of 09/26/2024
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 Renée Bodie, General Manager at (949) 480-4821 to make us aware of any error or omission in the foregoing list.
DONATE TO SOKA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Your support helps ensure Soka Performing Arts Center fulfills its purpose: to engage, educate, and elevate the human spirit. Your gift supports the programming of world-class performances, provides transformative educational outreach experiences, and opens the opportunity to build engagement with our community by sharing the joy of live music.
Our subscription and renewal program provides you with even more flexibility in our season packages*. With our enhanced program, you now have the power to curate your very own unique experience.
• 15% Discount for a 3 performance package
• 18% Discount for a 4 performance package
• 20% Discount for a 5+ performance package
*full details online at soka.edu/pac
OUR PARTNERS
• Blueport Jazz
• Philharmonic Society of Orange County
• Pacific Symphony
• Parnassus Society
SOKA PAC MANAGEMENT TEAM
Renée Bodie
General Manager & Artistic Director
John Morgan
Box Office Manager
Antoinette Rossman
House Manager/Assistant to the General Manager
Steve Baker
Production Manager
Jarmil Maupin
Internal Events Manager
Ian Smith
Technical Services Manager
Katie Ohrn
Lighting Supervisor
Piano Tuners
Kathy Smith Lead Tuner
Ron Elliott
David Stoneman
David Vanderlip
Website soka.edu/pac
Soka Performing Arts Center resides on the beautiful campus of Soka University of America. We thank the SUA Board of Trustees and the SUA Leadership Council for all of their support.
SUA BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Stephen S. Dunham, JD | CHAIR
Vice President and General Counsel Emeritus, Pennsylvania State University | Baltimore, Maryland
Tariq Hasan, PhD | VICE CHAIR
Chief Executive Officer, SGI-USA | 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
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
Isabel Nuñez, PhD, MPhil, JD
Professor of Educational Studies, Dean of School of Education, Purdue University Fort Wayne | Fort Wayne, Indiana
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
Gregg S. Wolpert
Co-president, The Stahl Organization | New York, New York
Edward M. Feasel, PhD
President, Soka University of America (ex-officio member) | Aliso Viejo, California
Edward M. Feasel, PhD
President
Chief Academic Officer
Professor of Economics
Archibald E. Asawa
Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Investment Officer
Katherine M. King, PHR
Executive Vice President of University
Community
Chief Human Resources Officer
Title IX and Section 504 Coordinator for Faculty, Staff and Others
Michael Weiner, PhD
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor of East Asian History & International Studies
Bryan E. Penprase, PhD
Vice President for Sponsored Research and External Academic Relations Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Tomoko Takahashi, PhD, EdD, LHD
Vice President for Institutional Research and Assessment
Dean of the Graduate School Professor of Linguistics and Education
David Welch, JD Vice President University Counsel
M. Robert Hamersley, PhD Dean of Faculty Professor of Environmental Biogeochemistry
Hyon J. Moon, EdD Dean of Students
Title IX and Section 504 Deputy Coordinator for Students
Michelle Hobby-Mears, MBA
Associate Dean of Students Director of Student Activities
Andrew Woolsey, EdD Dean of Enrollment Services
Martin Beck, MA
Executive Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications
