The JMU Symphony Orchestra is the premier orchestra within the School of Music at James Madison University. Membership is open, through the audition process, to all JMU students who attend the University. A pre-concert talk will be held in the Forbes Grand Lobby at 6:30 pm.

The JMU Brass Band is one of the most successful collegiate brass bands in the world. Formed by Professor Kevin Stees in the fall of 2000, the band quickly rose to prominence, winning the North American Brass Band Association 1st Section Championship in 2004 and 2005. They were also the NABBA Championship Section Runner-up six times between 2006 and 2022, before being crowned the NABBA Championship Section Champions in 2024.

This fully instrumentated Concert Band is blended with talents from both non-music and music majors; freshmen through fifth-year students with a variety of experience and musical backgrounds. The Symphonic Band performs two to three concerts per semester with music ranging from standard wind band repertoire to the latest in contemporary composition.

In this recital, pianist and composer Masa Ishikawa will perform with David Pope, saxophone, Sam Suggs, bass, and Karl Tietz, drums. Ishikawa has performed at various jazz festivals and concerts in Italy, China, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States.

Three-time GRAMMY Award nominee, Stile Antico, is one of the world's most accomplished and innovative vocal ensembles. Working without a conductor, they thrill audiences with their fresh, vibrant and moving performances of Renaissance polyphony. If you’ve never experienced Renaissance music before, there is simply nothing else like it.

Recipient of the 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant, American pianist Mackenzie Melemed is known for performances that combine refined pianism, thoughtful curation, and a natural gift for bringing audiences closer to the music.

Get ready to kick off your Sunday shoes and cut loose with Footloose: The Musical! Bursting with high-energy dance numbers, electrifying music and a story that celebrates freedom, friendship and finding your voice, this stage adaptation of the iconic film will have audiences on their feet from start to finish.  

Contains adult content and violence. Parental discretion advised. FOOTLOOSE is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. www.concordtheatricals.com

The JMU Jazz Band is open to all JMU students and typically includes students from majors across campus. Students study repertoire that includes all major styles of big band jazz, as well as student arrangements and compositions. The ensemble has performed with a variety of well-known jazz artists. Recent guests include NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan, Joe Sullivan, Mike Titlebaum, Jim White, and Steve Wilson.

The JMU Jazz Ensemble has performed at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in Washington, DC, the Montreux International Jazz and Blues Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, and the Virginia Music Educator's Association annual convention. 

Hailed by the Gramophone Magazine as “brilliant and intrepid”, violinist Airi Yoshioka has concertized throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Canada as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. Versatile, Grammy-nominated pianist John Novacek regularly tours the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia as solo recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist; in the latter capacity he has presented over thirty concerti with dozens of orchestras.

Kevin Stees leads an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, conductor and music educator.

The JMU Madison Singers is the premier advanced auditioned choral chamber ensemble at James Madison University, performing a wide variety of musical genres from the Renaissance to the present and maintains an active and demanding concert schedule. The Treble Chamber Choir is the select auditioned soprano and alto ensemble.

With echoes of Stoppard, Kafka and the Brothers Grimm, The Pillowman centers on a writer in an unnamed totalitarian state who is being interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a series of child murders. The result is an urgent work of theatrical bravura and an unflinching examination of the very nature and purpose of art. THE PILLOWMAN is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Dramatists Play Service www.concordtheatricals.com. Contains adult content and violence. Recommended for ages 15+. Viewer discretion advised.