Instruction Through Arts

Sparking creativity, imagination and culture.

Give to the Arts Education Program

Each year, about 8,000 K-12th grade students hailing from the San Fernando Valley “travel” around the globe through music and dance, all without leaving the state-of-the-art Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts. It’s here that the Student Matinee Series with in-classroom workshops inspire future citizens, spark the imagination and creativity of youth and excite educators about integrating the arts into their classrooms.

The Soraya’s Arts Education Program enlightens, engages and educates students and teachers through exposure of multiple performing arts disciplines. From South African gospel music to Mexican folk dance and Mozart to Bollywood, the youth experience diversity and inclusion and innovation, positively impacting their learning outcomes.

All education program offerings are directly aligned with the California Core Content Standards as well as the California Visual and Performing Arts Standards. Your support to the Soraya’s Arts Education Fund provides essential funding for the following program offerings:

For students: Inspiring the next generation of artists, the Student Matinee Series is a standards-based, cross-curriculum and student-focused experience delivered to students K-12. Programming includes in-classroom workshops with teacher artists, study guides and lesson plans aimed at different grade levels.

CSUN Master Classes including week-long intensives and residencies provide CSUN students who are involved in musical or performing arts the opportunity to learn alongside international world-class artists.

Leadership Lecture Series give current CSUN students insight on the effective leadership practices of artists in their sector.

For educators: Integrative arts pedagogy and curriculum are offered to K-12 grade teachers and administrators via the Internet, print and in-person workshops. Resources encourage and promote active learning and expand the educational possibilities of the student matinee programming.

The Summer Arts Institute is an annual three-day workshop for K-12 teachers designed to promote arts and learning in the classroom. Topics have included using arts integration strategies to enhance literacy skills or as a vehicle to increase social and emotional learning (SEL) in students, and using music to help special needs children with socialization, adaptation, communication and language.

Philanthropic support is critical, allowing us to keep our commitment to our students through these research-based and innovative curriculum enhancement activities.