We regret to inform our patrons that the entire United States tour of the Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra has been cancelled due to delays in processing their international work visas. Ticket refunds for the Friday, January 31st performance will begin to be processed to the original point of purchase when the box office reopens on January 2nd.  

Land, Freedom and Friends, featuring Furious Flower Poetry Center poets and Diane Phoenix Neal, viola.

Celebrating the literary arts and melody, JMU’s Furious Flower Poetry Center joins forces with faculty violist Diane Phoenix-Neal in a concert affirming the collaborative kaleidoscope of music and poetry.

Soprano Symone Harcum comes off of the 2022-2023 season with a successful string of role and house debuts including the Glimmerglass Festival in the role of Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, Almirena in Handel’s Rinaldo and Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Minnesota Opera, and, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, she sang the role of Sandra in the world premier of Will Liverman’s Factotum. Last season, Harcum appeared with Minnesota Opera as Léontine in The Anonymous Lover and Micaëla in Carmen, and Virginia Opera as La Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Pianist Lori Piitz is a versatile artist whose career includes such diverse opportunities as playing chamber music at Lincoln Center in New York City and performing in a German opera house dressed as a baby chick!  She holds graduate degrees from Indiana university as well a Certificate in Injury-Preventive Piano Technique from Salem College.  She has spent the past seventeen years teaching at JMU, working with talented piano students and teaching courses in pedagogy and “Preparing for the Job Market”.

Red Wing presents a third annual Winter Roots Concert with The Steel Wheels and special guest, Driftwood. Virginia-based indie folk-rock band, The Steel Wheels, has spent two decades crafting their own distinct style of American roots music. Renowned for their heartfelt lyrics, masterful musicianship, and astounding harmonies, they have captivated audiences with their authentic sound and storytelling. The band is also the founder and host of the Red Wing Roots Music Festival, a three-day music festival in the Shenandoah Valley that draws artists and music fans from around the world.

Jeff Wells is a seasoned voice-over artist whose passion lies in the art of transforming words into persuasive emotion. The voice is the world's most versatile instrument and Jeff brings a unique blend of charisma and skill to his work, whether he's singing or speaking.

Jamison Walker is a versatile and accomplished vocalist with a commanding vocal range and an extensive repertoire spanning opera, oratorio, musical theater, and pops. With performances in recital, opera, symphonic, and academic settings, he has captivated audiences nationally and internationally across the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Carl Donakowski was a prize winner in the 1989 Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin. His recital performances have aired on WQRS Detroit, WQXR New York and Sudwestfunk Radio Baden-Baden. As a member of the West End Chamber Ensemble, he participated in the National Endowment for the Arts/Chamber Music America Rural Residency Chamber Music Initiative. His major teachers were Timothy Eddy, Janos Starker, Gary Hoffman and Christoph Henkel.

Masa Ishikawa, a pianist/composer orginally from Japan, will premiere his original new works dedicated to various critters, such as sandhill cranes, evening cicadas, fireflies, swallowtail butterfiles and northern cardinals. The performance features Ishikawa on piano, Dave Pope on saxophones, Sam Suggs on bass, Wanchi Huang on violin, Adam Larrabee on guitar, and Emre Katari on drums. 

Flutist Beth Chandler Cahill enjoys a performance career as soloist and chamber musician. Praised for her musical versatility and colorful sound, she has been featured at major venues, universities, and festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad. She can be heard on TIME PLACE SPIRIT (MSR Classics), an album of music for flute and piano. In demand as a pedagogue, she is Professor of Flute at James Madison University. She is a past president of the National Flute Association. Dr. Paulo Steinberg has performed as a soloist and as a collaborative pianist across the U.S., Canada, South America, and Europe, including prestigious music venues such as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo.

Written when Mozart was only 25, this operatic masterpiece filled with stunning arias, choruses, and ensembles, brings the myth of Idomeneo to life. On his way home at last from the Trojan War, the King of Crete, Idomeneo, is shipwrecked at sea. In desperation, he promises to sacrifice the first creature he finds if he safely survives the storm. However, in a twist worthy of the greatest Greek tragedies, it is his son, Idamante, he first encounters along the beach. Sung in Italian with English Surtitles.