College of Arts, Media and Communication Highlights
The College of Arts, Media and Communication is the heart of the university's cultural outreach to the San Fernando Valley. About 75,000 people each year attend various cultural events on campus, including about 30,000 who attend events at the college's Art Galleries.
The Imagine the Arts Center at Cal State Northridge, a planned 1,700-seat performing arts venue for the San Fernando Valley region, will serve as a "learning laboratory" for students from the college and other CSUN programs. Due to start construction during 2007, the venue will become the region's cultural center with both professional and student performances.
The Northridge Singers, the Music Department's premiere choral ensemble honored as "Choir of the World" at an international music festival, regularly perform for the American Choral Directors Association and appear with some of the industry's top talent in its top venues. Past concerts have included Carnegie Hall in New York and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Graduate student and Opera Program soprano Ani Maldjian placed first in the Metropolitan Opera's western regional auditions in Fall 2005, becoming the tenth CSUN opera student to win the event in past years. CSUN students now have been selected to compete in The Met's western regionals for more than 30 consecutive years.
Senior film students from the college's Cinema and Television Arts Department get the opportunity to screen their best works before hundreds of industry insiders and film lovers during the college's gala "Student Film Showcase" event held annually at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood.
KCSN 88.5 FM, the college's public radio station, was ranked as Los Angeles' best university-based radio outlet in 2006 by Los Angeles magazine. KCSN, which began broadcasting 43 years ago in 1963 and now features a format of classical and "arts and roots" music, is one of the region's few public radio stations to feature current students as on-air talent.
The KCSN news department, staffed by students from the college's Journalism Department, has won more than 400 national and state awards for news reporting, many competing against professional broadcasters. The station's evening newscast received the "Overall Excellence" award for the third consecutive year from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Graphic design alumni from the college's Art Department are well prepared for great success in their careers. One graduate recently designed a movie poster for the film "Good Night and Good Luck" starring George Clooney, while another created the logo for the 2006 Rose Bowl game.
The college's Theatre Department has a unique commitment that its graduates will gain significant international experience in their art. Past activities have included hosting directors from Barcelona and Zurich, bringing to campus theater companies from Korea and China, and sending students abroad to perform in prestigious theaters in Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing and Mexico City.
The Communication Studies Department helped the university host one of the largest-ever intercollegiate debate tournaments, featuring more than 1,000 debaters, coaches and judges. The award-winning forensics team in the college has a long and proud history of competition.