The avant-garde opera company the Industry threw a feel-good bash at downtown L.A.’s historic Bradbury Building last week. Called the “Decade Party,” the evening was dedicated to honoring founder Yuval Sharon, who has risen to become one of the opera world’s best-known innovators and a MacArthur fellow while radically transforming how the city — and other opera creators — view the art form.

Late last year, Sharon announced that he was stepping down as artistic director of the groundbreaking company. He plans to spend much of his time in New York City, where he will direct the Metropolitan Opera’s next “Ring” cycle beginning in 2028.

I’ve been writing about Sharon for a decade, and have watched his transformation from an exuberant young man to one of the city’s most respected artistic leaders. During his speech at the Decade Party — so named because the Industry, which was founded in 2010, didn’t get to celebrate its 10-year-anniversary due to COVID — Sharon joked about how he used to bristle at the way he was viewed by the press and others early in his career.

The word “enthusiastic” was thrown around quite a bit and Sharon wasn’t sure he liked it. Then he realized that enthusiasm really means “being connected to something bigger than yourself,” and he understood that it perfectly described him, the Industry and Los Angeles itself.

“L.A. is so enthusiastic, and that is something that I loved and drew me here,” said Sharon, adding that the city’s art scene felt bold and original — pushing boundaries in new music, theater and visual arts. “And opera, for me, was always the intersection of those three different layers.”

It was the sense of joy and wonder that audiences brought with them that made Sharon certain that experimental opera could grow in the city’s artistically fertile soil. And it did. Over the years the Industry has staged some of this era’s most acclaimed site-specific works — a few so outrageously ambitious that it is a wonder they came to be at all. “Hopscotch” in 2015, for example, unspooled as guests and artists drove in limos around the city.

And now, Sharon is stepping down and moving on, leaving Tim Griffin as the company’s new artistic and executive director, and Ash Fure and Malik Gaines as its artistic advisory council.

“The platform of our work will continue to grow,” said Sharon. “I never wanted the Industry to be about me.”

Still, no one in the grand building — with its ornate ironwork and soaring atrium — seemed ready to let Sharon go. Applause for his speech was sustained, and affectionate hugs were many.

At the evening’s close, singers branched out to the open stairwells, singing the finale from “Hopscotch.” Their voices rose to the ceiling with the reverence of unified purpose. Tears glistened in the eyes of artists and viewers alike, bringing to mind a remark Sharon had made earlier in the evening: “For the audience to be transformed by the work, the artists have to be transformed by the work.”

Sharon has been transformed too. It was clear in the tilt of his head and the wistful smile on his face as he watched the performance. He will take the spirit of the Industry with him to New York, and we will miss him — this man who helped bring such vibrant and exceptional art to our vast, unknowable city.

I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt wondering about all the people out there dreaming big dreams about impossible things and hoping I can one day write about them. Ashley Lee and I are here, as always, to give you the down-low on the arts scene.

Best bets: On our radar this week

Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin welcomes the audience to the DC JazzFest 20th Anniversary Opening Night Celebration.

(Shannon Finney / Getty Images)

Jazz at Naz
The Soraya’s signature jazz festival kicked off this past weekend and continues this week with performances by Lakecia Benjamin (Wednesday and Thursday) and Christian McBride and Ursa Major (Friday and Saturday). As an opportunity to heal with music and community after the devastating L.A. fires, the Northridge organization is offering pay-what-you-can tickets to Jason Moran’s Duke Ellington celebration (Feb. 13); Kurt Elling’s Weather Report tribute featuring original band member Peter Erskine, with Yellowjackets opening the evening (Feb. 15); and Chucho Valdès’ Irakere reunion with Arturo Sandoval, plus an appearance by Cimafunk (Feb. 20). Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. thesoraya.org

‘Seeds of Resistance’
Last year, Times columnist Steve Lopez described Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries as “the patron saint of second chances.” This year, Boyle is among the four community leaders who are the subject of short plays written by students from Roosevelt High School’s Math, Science and Technology Magnet Academy. The pieces — which also celebrate the decades of social justice efforts by actress Nobuko Miyamoto, musician Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara and educator Victoria Castro — will be fully staged and performed by the students. Admission is free with online RSVP. Thursday, 6 p.m. Roosevelt High School Performing Arts Center, 2530 E. 4th St., Boyle Heights. aboutpd.org

“Weathering,” by Faye Driscoll, will make its West Coast premiere at REDCAT.

(Maria Baranova / Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater)

‘Weathering’
The West Coast premiere of this piece from choreographer Faye Driscoll is meant to resemble a human sculpture, as 10 dancers morph and evolve together on a raft-like stage and a vocal score resonates in the space like a storm. Amid the three performances and postshow programming: a special Saturday afternoon preshow “warm-up” with the company that’s open to local dancers and movers. (Register for the free movement workshop here.) Thursday through Saturday, 8:30 p.m. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown. redcat.org

— Ashley Lee

The week ahead: A curated calendar

MONDAY
Foster the People Mark Foster’s band tours behind its fourth studio album, “Paradise State of Mind.”
7 p.m. Monday, The Observatory, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana; 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd. fosterthepeople.com

Richard Pryor/Eddie Murphy The stand-up comedy icons converge in a concert film double bill.
7:30 p.m. “Richard Pryor: Live in Concert”; 9:20 p.m. “Eddie Murphy: Raw.” New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd. thenewbev.com

TUESDAY
Reggie Burrows Hodges Distinctive black backgrounds mark the painter’s work created in cities across Europe and featured in the exhibition “Authorities of Reason.”
Through Feb. 13, closed Sunday and Monday. Karma, 7351 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. karmakarma.org

The Japanese group KODO performs Tuesday at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

(L.A. Phil)

KODO The Japanese group returns with “Warabe,” a new pulse-pounding program of traditional Taiko drumming.
8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

Our Voices, Our Getty: Reflecting on Manuscripts The museum reopens with a selection of never-before-seen pages from its collection of medieval manuscripts, accompanied by personal interpretations by 2024 participants in the Getty Marrow Undergraduate Internship program.
Through April 27. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive. getty.edu

WEDNESDAY
The Great Yes, The Great No Director William Kentridge, in collaboration with theater maker Phala Ookeditse Phala and choral conductor and dancer Nhlanhla Mahlangu, weaves together drama, Greek choir and chamber opera as artists and intellectuals flee Vichy France aboard an ocean liner in 1941.
8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org

Macbeth David Tennant and Cush Jumbo star in the Donmar Warehouse production recorded live in London.
Wednesday and Sunday, check showtimes. AMC Universal CityWalk, AMC Burbank 16, AMC Century City, Cinemark Huntington Beach, Cinemark West L.A., Laemmle Theatres, Landmark Pasadena and Regal L.A. Live. macbethdonmarcinema.com

THURSDAY
Hamlet Ensemble Theatre Company and director Margaret Shigeko Starbuck reimagine Shakespeare’s tragedy for the modern era.
Through Feb. 23. ETC at the New Vic, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara. etcsb.org

Lady and the Tramp If the thought of seeing Disney’s 1955 animated romance on the big screen has you craving pasta, there’s a Sweethearts Dinner and a Movie package available for evening shows with a meal at Miceli’s Italian Restaurant.
10 a.m., 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. El Capitan Theatre, 6838 Hollywood Blvd. elcapitantheatre.com

Tom Morello The Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave guitarist performs with special guests.
7 p.m. Thursday. House of Blues, 400 W. Disney Way, #337, Anaheim; 8:30 p.m. Friday. Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd. tommorello.com

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev in recital at Hahn Hall, Music Academy of the West on Jan. 24, 2025.

(David Bazemore / UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures)

Times classical music critic Mark Swed tells the story of two young pianists, both with Russian backgrounds: Alexander Malofeev, who played a recital in the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall as part of the UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures series; and Alexandre Kantorow, who made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall as a soloist in Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” This new generation of talent is ascendant, writes Swed, noting that both men are “exceptional virtuosos.”

Altadena Community Church, which burned in the Eaton fire in January, was home to the Pasadena Chorale.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The Pasadena Chorale lost its home base when the Altadena Community Church burned in the Eaton fire. A number of its singers were displaced by the fire, including the chorale’s founding artistic director, Jeffrey Bernstein, who lost his home. The upheaval comes on the heels of a successful year, with the chorale launching the High Notes, a choir for middle school students in Pasadena and Altadena , as well as the Pasadena Choral Society. The group also won the 2024 American Prize in Choral Performance — a high honor in the world of choral music. The organization is working on rebuilding, and was invited by Katy Perry to back her onstage during her FireAid performance at Intuit Dome last week.

Desert X announced the 11 artists participating in its fifth edition. The international art exhibition, which opens March 8 and runs through May 11, stages site-specific work across the Coachella Valley. Check out the list, which includes talent from around the world.

The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in Los Angeles has launched an initiative called the James Baldwin Scholarship — a tuition award of $10,900 to be used toward study at the school. The scholarship confirms the institute’s commitment to supporting actors of color during a time when DEI initiatives are under attack. More about the program, and how to apply, can be found, here.

And last but not least

A classical gas from the internet: Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Arnold Schwarzenegger sign up for a movie in which they each play a famous composer. Stallone says, “I’ll be Beethoven,” Van Damme says, “I’ll be Mozart” and Schwarzenegger responds, “C’mon guys, I’m not going to say it.”