Tickets are now on sale for the 2024 season at The Center for the Arts, Hylton Performing Arts Center, and the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Read more for details on upcoming performances, workshops, and shows. Mason faculty, staff, retirees, alumni, and students receive a handful of discounts and offers, both for single tickets as well as subscriptions.
April 8 – 14
Visiting Filmmakers Series: CONFESSIONS OF A GOOD SAMARITAN with director Penny Lane
Film at Mason
Monday, April 8 at 5 p.m.
Johnson Center Cinema
The Visiting Filmmakers Series invites you to a free screening of “Confessions of a Good Samaritan,” followed by a live Q&A with the film’s director, Penny Lane. Director Penny Lane’s decision to become a “Good Samaritan” by giving one of her kidneys to a stranger launches her on an unexpectedly funny, intimate, and provocative personal quest to understand the nature of altruism.
Mason Symphonic Band Concert #4: Spring 2024
Dewberry School of Music
Wednesday, April 10 at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
The Mason Symphonic Band is an ensemble comprised of music majors and non-music majors from across a myriad of disciplines at George Mason University. This ensemble performs historical and contemporary works from diverse composers spanning multiple genres and styles.
Thrive, or What You Will (an epic)
Mason School of Theater
April 11, 12*, 13 at 8 p.m.
April 13, 14** at 2 p.m.
*ASL Interpreted (ASL) and Talkback
**Audio Described
TheaterSpace, Fairfax Campus
This is a story about a gender-nonconforming 18th-century herb woman who’s trying to carve out a larger sense of space… and ends up on a journey around the world. Her name was Jeanne Baret, and nearly everything we know about her life comes from the journals of the men who knew her. An epic tale of historical fiction about our country’s present moment, THRIVE blends the style and language of our past and present in order to interrogate the nature of “discovery” and its legacy, of (mis)categorizing the world, of species & survival, of power & access, of gender & identity, and of the subjective nature of both history & self. Funny, gripping, poignant, and wild, THRIVE wrestles with the loss of Jeanne’s perspective and tries to imagine possibilities of what it may have been. And as Jeanne journeys and changes, so too does her casting – in this ensemble-driven quest of self-determination. Meanwhile, we watch Jeanne and her companion Commerson on their adventure – from meeting to parting – across lands & seas & 6,000 plants – in a voyage that is part love story, part Latin taxonomy, part feminist wrestling with historiography, and part surrender into awe itself and the universal need to flourish.
Martha Graham Dance Company
Featuring Mason Dance Company
Saturday, April 13 at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
The Martha Graham Dance Company returns to the Center with a program of iconic classics and new work. The evening opens with a special performance of one of Graham’s earliest works, Steps in the Street, danced by Mason Dance Company students. Next, the Martha Graham Dance Company performs Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, followed by a new Jamar Roberts commission. The program concludes with Maple Leaf Rag, Graham’s last choreographic work.
Reduced Shakespeare Company: The Complete History of Comedy (abridged)
Saturday, April 13 at 8 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Merchant Hall
The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) famously skewers long serious subjects, reducing them to fast-paced, side-splitting farces. The Complete History of Comedy (abridged) covers all manner of jokes, physical shtick, and witty repartee through the ages—the ancient Greeks, Shakespeare, Vaudeville, Charlie Chaplin, The Marx Brothers, Monty Python, The Simpsons, and more!
April 15 – 21
Climate Change: Our Response as Artivists (Artist-Activist Speaker Series)
Thursday, April 18 at 4 p.m.
Center for the Arts, Monson Grand Tier III, Fairfax Campus
FREE, registration required
Co-presented with the Inclusive Collaborative Arts at Mason (ICAM) project with panelists BaoBao Chen, Co-Founder and Producer of Small Island Big Song; Mark Cooley, Associate Professor and Director of New Media Arts, Mason School of Art; Founder of Green Studio; moderated by Edward Maibach, distinguished professor at George Mason University and director of Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication. The group will explore ways in which artists can use their voices to expand global conversation on political, economic, social, and cultural questions at the root of the climate crisis. This event is a part of the Artist-Activist Speaker Series, an initiative of the Inclusive Collaborative Arts at Mason (ICAM) project.
Mason Opera presents Mozart’s The Impresario and Steven Stucky’s The Classical Style: an Opera (of Sorts)
Dewberry School of Music
April 19, 20 at 8 p.m.
April 20 at 2 p.m.
April 21 at 3 p.m.
Harris Theatre, Fairfax Campus
The Dewberry School of Music’s Mason Opera presents its Spring 2024 performance. Featuring Mason’s talented vocal students in collaboration with an instrumental chamber ensemble, these live, in-person performances will showcase great vocal skill and dramatic ability and deeply immerse the audience in the action of the story.
Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen
American Roots Series
Saturday, April 20 at 5 and 8 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Gregory Family Theater
Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen is a torrent of Bluegrass. Known for their pile-driving rhythms and Solivan’s bold vocals, the band’s last two albums received GRAMMY nominations for Best Bluegrass Album. Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen’s respect and deep understanding of the bluegrass tradition collides, live on stage, with rock-tinged fiery virtuosity that pushes the boundaries of the genre.
Small Island Big Song
Mason Artist-in-Residence
Saturday, April 20 at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Join Small Island Big Song for an experience combining music, spoken word, and stunning projections to showcase oceanic grooves and island ballads, while shining a light on the devastating effects of global warming. More than 100 indigenous artists are represented to highlight a shared seafaring ancestry with interconnected musical traditions. These unique lineages mixed with diverse contemporary styles—roots-reggae, grunge, R&B, and spoken-word—establish a contemporary musical dialogue between cultures.
Small Island Big Song: Trash to Music Workshop
Saturday, April 20 at 10 a.m.
Free, registration required
The Garden (5380 Eisenhower Ave., Suite C, Alexandria, VA 22304)
Led by Small Island Big Song artist Sammy and hosted at UpCycle Creative Reuse Center, Trash to Music is an inspiring hands-on workshop demonstrating how to make musical instruments from trash, commonly recycled, and/or reused materials. Participants will be making a Malagasy-style berimbau and shaker. Recommended for ages 10 and up, minors must be accompanied by an adult. Limit of 20 participants with waitlist to notify if spots become available.
The Okee Dokee Brothers
Family Series
Sunday, April 21 at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Center for the Arts
GRAMMY and five-time Parents’ Choice Award-winning duo The Okee Dokee Brothers infuse bluegrass music and playful lyrics with an interest in the great outdoors, hoping to spark a desire in children to explore their surroundings and imaginations. “These are songs that encourage kids to find happiness with fewer material possessions and embrace adventure even in trying situations” (Chicago Tribune). (Recommended for ages 3 to 8)
April 22 – 28
Bridging the Gap
Matinee Idylls
Peter Wilson, violin
Aaron Clay, bass
Wednesday, April 24 at 1:30 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Gregory Family Theater
String duo Bridging the Gap features the talents of violinist and American Festival Pops Orchestra Artistic Director Peter Wilson and double bassist Aaron Clay. Celebrating 25 years of performances, this unlikely pair offers a unique voice to musical genres from classical to jazz, folk to film music, funk to popular song, and even Big Band.
Mason Wind Symphony Concert #3: “In Our Hands”
Dewberry School of Music
Thursday, April 25 at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
In collaboration with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Mason Wind Symphony presents “In Our Hands,” a concert curated to bring awareness to humanity’s collective responsibility in Earth conservation. This concert will feature a pre-concert talk highlighting how artists can advocate for environmental awareness. Works on this final concert of the 2023-2024 performance year, the Mason Wind Symphony presents “An Outdoor Overture” by Aaron Copland, “D’un soir triste” by Lili Boulanger, Aaron Perrine’s immersive “Pale Blue on Deep,” Ida Gotkovsky’s “Poem du Feu,” and Jun Nagao’s take on the “missing” movement of Gustav Holst’s The Planets, “Earth.”
Spring: Dance Innovations
Mason School of Dance
April 26 and 27 at 2 and 8 p.m.
Harris Theatre, Fairfax Campus
Spring: Dance Innovations offers two distinct programs of new works created and performed by the Mason Dance Company.
A Concert Presentation of: Once Upon a Mattress
Mason School of Theater
April 26*, 27 at 8 p.m.
April 28** at 2 p.m.
*ASL Interpreted (ASL)
**Audio Described
TheaterSpace, Fairfax Campus
Many moons ago in a far-off place, Queen Aggravain decreed no couples could marry until her son, Prince Dauntless, found a bride. Princesses came from far and wide to win the hand of the prince, but none could pass the impossible tests given to them by the Queen. That is, until the “shy” swamp princess, Winnifred the Woebegone, showed up. Would she be able to pass the Sensitivity Test, marry her prince and help Lady Larkin and Sir Harry to the altar? Carried on a wave of wonderful songs, by turns hilarious and raucous, romantic and melodic, this rollicking spin on the classic tale The Princess and the Pea provides some side-splitting shenanigans. For after all, a princess is a delicate thing.
Mason Symphony Orchestra: Concerto Competition Winners Concert #2 Spring 2024
Dewberry School of Music
Friday, April 26 at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Join the Dewberry School of Music for their spring finale concert featuring the Mason Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Soo Han.
14th Anniversary Gala
Saturday, April 27 from 6 to 11 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center
Celebrate 14 years of artistic excellence at the Hylton Performing Arts Center’s Anniversary Gala! Join fellow arts enthusiasts and community changemakers to provide critical funding for the Hylton Center’s many performances, programs, initiatives, and endowment. The evening includes a lively reception in the Didlake Grand Foyer, an elegant dinner and tribute to Gala honorees in Merchant Hall, and an exciting live auction and “Raise Your Paddle” fundraiser. Don’t miss the community’s premier celebration of the arts!
Bamberg Symphony
Jakub Hrůša, conductor
Hélène Grimaud, piano
Saturday, April 27 at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
The Bamberg Symphony explores Richard Wagner’s complicated legacy and his artistic influence as part of the concert series “The World After Wagner.” Maestro Jakub Hrůša leads a program featuring Wagner’s Prelude to Act I from Lohengrin, Overture to Tannhäuser, and more. Virtuoso pianist Hélène Grimaud, praised by The Washington Post for the “astonishing show of her proficiency and poetic sensibilities,” joins the orchestra for Schumann’s piano concerto.
April 29 – May 5
Spring: Studio Series
Mason School of Dance
Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m.
Center for the Arts
A showcase of new dances created and performed by the Mason Dance Company.
Brian Ganz: A Chopin Recital – Romantic Revolutionary
Saturday, May 4 at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Pianist, scholar, internationally celebrated pianist, and devoted champion of Frédéric Chopin, Brian Ganz performs an evening of Chopin at the Center for the Arts. Widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation, The Washington Post has declared, “One comes away from a recital by pianist Brian Ganz not only exhilarated by the power of the performance but also moved by his search for artistic truth.”