View the complete schedules for the Center for the Arts and the Hylton Performing Arts Center.
Mason School of Art
Visual Voices Lecture Series with BLACK KIRBY
Thursday, April 13, at 4:45 p.m.
Virtual via Zoom
BLACK KIRBY is a shared pseudonym that is Stacey Robinson and John Jennings (Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, UC Riverside). BLACK KIRBY functions as a rhetorical tool by sampling and remixing comic legend Jack Kirby’s bold forms and energetic ideas combined with themes centered around Afrofuturism, social justice, representation, magical realism, and using the culture of hip hop as a methodology for creating visual communication. It also utilizes the notion of an alter-ego as a symbolic allegory for DuBoisian “double-consciousness” theory.
Dewberry School of Music
Broadway Chorale Showcase
Saturday, April 15, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center
The University Chorale presents a series of Broadway classics for their 2023 spring showcase. The Broadway Showcase is a popular feature of the choral program at Mason each spring semester. Students assist with the design, coaching, and creating choreography for the production.
State Ballet of Georgia
Mostly B
Saturday, April 15, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Experience the sleek grace and physicality of neoclassical ballet with the State Ballet of Georgia. Led by the renowned Nina Ananiashvili, a native of Georgia and a former Bolshoi prima ballerina, Ananiashvili has revitalized the State Ballet of Georgia, attracting major choreographers from all over the world. Referencing the company’s 2011 tour, the Washington Post said, “Ananiashvili and her company are practicing diplomacy through dance—a great and hopeful gift.”
Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel
Mozart and Friends
Sunday, April 16, at 7 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Jeffrey Siegel closes out the Keyboard Conversations® season with a program that celebrates the power and inspiration of friendship. Join him for Mozart and Friends and hear masterpieces of Mozart, magnificent music by composers who influenced him such as Joseph Haydn, and by those he influenced, including Beethoven. An interactive question and answer session will conclude this program. This performance is appropriate for all ages.
Dewberry School of Music
Jazz Workshop
Monday, April 17, at 8 p.m.
Harris Theatre
Jazz faculty member John Kocur directs the Mason Jazz Workshop big band in their concert! The Jazz Workshop performs music by Thad Jones, Mike Tomaro, Alan Baylock, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Neal Hefti, and many others.
Dewberry School of Music
Symphonic Band Concert
Tuesday, April 18, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
The Mason Symphonic Band, under the vibrant musical leadership of William L. Lake, Jr., provides music majors and increasingly growing numbers of non-music majors an opportunity to study and perform a wide variety of traditional and contemporary wind band literature.
Mason School of Theater
The Road to the End
April 20, 21*, 22 at 8 p.m.
April 22, 23** at 2 p.m.
*ASL-Interpreted Performance and Talkback
**Audio-Described Performance
Center for the Arts, Theatrespace
With huge life changes on the horizon, Henry and his father embark on one last adventure to the Grand Canyon. Along the way the two rediscover old memories while making new ones. This play, at once retrospective and forward looking, reveals roads to healing and bridges generations. The Road to the End is a brand-new, student-written play making its world premiere by The Mason Players and George Mason University’s School of Theater this spring.
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
George Li, piano
Christopher Zimmerman, music director and conductor
Saturday, April 22, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
The Center for the Arts is proud to co-present a soaring classical music program by the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, featuring George Li performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Music Director Christopher Zimmerman and the FSO bookend the evening with a pair of Sir Edward Elgar’s rousing masterpieces, graduation staple Pomp and Circumstance, March No. 1 and Symphony No. 1. Don’t miss this inspirational program from one of the premier regional orchestras in the country.
Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel
Chopin and Grieg – A Musical Friendship
Sunday, April 23, at 2 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center
Romance is in the air in this Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel concert. From Chopin’s stirring polonaises and dreamy nocturnes to Grieg’s enchanting and humorous Lyric Pieces, be swept away by the music and the histories of these two beloved Romantic composers. An interactive question and answer session will conclude this program. This performance is appropriate for all ages.
Family Series
The Passing Zone
The Passing Zone Saves the World!
Sunday, April 23, at 4 p.m.
Center for the Arts
The Passing Zone has been wowing audiences for decades with hilarious, award-winning performances. In their latest show, The Passing Zone Saves the World!, they deliver a pulse-pounding and funny performance, combining juggling, comedy, and daredevil stunts. Their interactive performance will have the whole family in fits of laughter and gasping for breath as they showcase their zany blend of juggling, dangerous stunts, and comedy. Recommended for ages eight and up.
Dewberry School of Music
Mason Jazz Vocal Night
Monday, April 24, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Join Darden Purcell, the Mason Jazz Voice Studio, and Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble for an evening of swinging standards and classic hits from the Great American Songbook.
Dewberry School of Music
Mason Wind Symphony
Tuesday, April 25, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
The George Mason University Wind Symphony, led by Director of Bands William L. Lake, Jr., is a select ensemble comprised of outstanding wind, brass, and percussion players in the School of Music and the university. The ensemble’s mission is to study and perform the best literature available for wind band, while emphasizing soloistic and orchestral performance practice. The Wind Symphony ranks among the finest collegiate wind bands in the commonwealth and performs the best of new band literature.
Dewberry School of Music
Jazz Combos Concert
Wednesday, April 26, at 8 p.m.
de Laski Performing Arts Building, Room 3001 (Rehearsal Room)
Directed by jazz pianist Wade Beach, these exploratory groups provide students opportunities in improvisation, composition and arranging as well as small ensemble performing experience. The Mason Jazz Combos perform several times a semester and are open to music and non-music majors, instrumentalists, and vocalists of all musical abilities.
Dewberry School of Music
Mason Opera presents Die Fledermaus
Saturday, April 29, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 30, at 3 p.m.
Harris Theatre
Join Mason Opera for the second production of their year with a cast of talented vocal students.
Mason Artist-in-Residence
Indigenous Enterprise
Indigenous Liberation
Saturday, April 29, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Indigenous Enterprise is on a mission to share their heritage and culture through explosively authentic dance and song. Comprised of dancers from Native American and Canadian tribes and Nations, this group first stunned crowds at the Sydney Opera House in 2018, and has been on the rise since. Indigenous Liberation invites its audience to revel in the pageantry, history, and kaleidoscope of colors in a celebration of what lies at the heart of these traditions. This performance is appropriate for all ages.
American Roots Series
Wicked Sycamore
Saturday, April 29, at 8 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center
The all-female ensemble Wicked Sycamore brings their tight vocal harmonies, instrumental prowess, and mischievous edge for a contemporary folk concert grounded in traditional roots, Americana, and bluegrass. In 2019 they won two WAMMIES for best Bluegrass Group and best Bluegrass Album. Let Wicked Sycamore charm you with their original music that spans the genres, ranging from the playful and lighthearted to the soulful and introspective.
Dewberry School of Music
International Jazz Day
Sunday, April 30, at 7 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Share the vibrancy and vitality of jazz music with Mason Jazz students and faculty. International Jazz Day brings together communities, schools, artists, historians, academics, and jazz enthusiasts on all continents to celebrate and learn about jazz and its roots, future, and impact. Various Mason Jazz ensembles will perform in this celebratory and educational event.
Dewberry School of Music
University Singers Concert
Tuesday, May 2, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Under the direction of Lisa Billingham, the University Singers is a select choral ensemble at Mason dedicated to the performance of advanced vocal chamber music ranging from Renaissance to contemporary and commissioned works.
Dewberry School of Music
Jazz Steel Pan, Latin American, and Braddock Road Ensembles Concert
Wednesday, May 3, at 8 p.m.
de Laski Performing Arts Building, Room 3001 (Rehearsal Room)
The Steel Pan Ensemble, directed by Victor Provost, Braddock Road Brass Band, directed by Graham Breedlove, and Latin American Ensemble, directed by Juan Megna, perform their spring concert. These specialty groups, within the Jazz Studies department, allow students to focus on genre-specific music from around the world. From traditional brass bands of New Orleans, to musics of the Caribbean, including Calypso and Soka, to the Brazilian sounds of Bossa Nova and Samba, these ensembles showcase the beauty and breadth of global artistry.
Mason School of Dance
Spring: Dance Innovations
May 5–6 at 2 and 8 p.m.
Harris Theatre
Mason choreographers showcase new works performed by the Mason Dance Company.
Mason School of Theater
A Concert Presentation of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
May 5* and 6 at 8 p.m.
May 7** at 2 p.m.
*ASL-Interpreted Performance
**Audio-Described Performance
Hylton Performing Arts Center
Charlie Brown and the entire Peanuts gang explore life’s great questions as they play baseball, struggle with homework, sing songs, swoon over their crushes, and celebrate the joy of friendship.
Dewberry School of Music
Mason Symphony Orchestra Concert
Sunday, May 7, at 7 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 Soo Han.
Mason School of Dance
May Studio Series
Tuesday, May 9, at 7 p.m.
de Laski Performing Arts Building, Room A301 (Dance Studio)
Studio Series is an intimate black-box experience showcasing new dances by George Mason University’s School of Dance.
Dewberry School of Music
Honors Recital
Saturday, May 13, at 7 p.m.
Harris Theatre
Join the Dewberry School of Music for their spring finale concert featuring the Mason Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Soo Han.
CAMMO Voices
Saturday, May 13, at 8 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Gregory Family Theater
CAMMO Voices joins with George Mason University’s Veterans and the Arts Initiative to present a concert that honors our servicemembers and families. The evening-length celebration includes music honoring Mother’s Day from the American Military Spouses Choir, made up of military spouses from all branches and from across the United States. Feel the healing power of music infused with a message of hope and community when CAMMO Voices takes to the stage. This performance is appropriate for all ages.