When California’s top gubernatorial candidates step on stage at Pomona College’s historic Mabel Shaw Bridges Music Auditorium this month, they will join a who’s who of people to have appeared at the iconic performance venue.
The 2,400-seat auditorium nicknamed “Big Bridges” has hosted famed entertainers, thought leaders and groundbreakers.
And on April 28, it will host a live gubernatorial debate for the first time.
“We are thrilled to host this debate and welcome meaningful dialogue on the future of California,” says Matthew Pavey, director of programming at Bridges Auditorium.
The list of people who’ve appeared at Bridges since Artur Rodzinski conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in October 1931 is as diverse as it is long, and the gubernatorial candidates won’t be the first political speakers to take the stage.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Senator Mark Kelly and former Congressmember Gabby Giffords have held audiences inside Bridges. Taylor Swift, John Legend and Ella Fitzgerald are a few musicians who’ve graced the stage, and in recent years, Anita Hill, Bill Nye and Kwame Anthony Appiah have delivered lectures to captivated attendees.
Not to mention, hundreds of professional and student performers showcasing their talents.
