Great Performances at Mason

When members of the innovative Australian circus company Circa hit the Center for the Arts stage April 12, expect them to blur the lines of what acrobatics and circus can be, and explore what it means to be human in 2026.

The innovative Dorrance Dance Production "The Center Will Not Hold, a collaboration by Bessie Award-winning choreographer and breakdancer Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie and MacArthur “Genius” Grant awardee Michelle Dorrance, comes to the Center for the Arts May 2.

The Center for the Arts is bringing back its restaurant partner program for the 2026–27 season, giving ticket holders special offers for dinner and a show.

In the new program "Sanctuary," Rhiannon Giddens and the Silkroad Ensemble explore how these traditions help us make sense of our world, process loss, navigate environmental and social changes, and rebuild community through shared musical experience. At its core, the program (March 22 at the Center for the Arts) seeks to uplift—offering joy, hope, and a renewed sense of belonging through collective listening and presence.

“Arguably the world’s most daring circus company” (The Guardian), Australian company Circa presents “jaw-dropping, seat-clawing” (ArtsHub) next level circus at the Center for the Arts on April 12.

Known as the Monty Python of the music world for more than 30 years, the Austrian brass septet Mnozil Brass pays homage to the “King of the Waltz” Johann Strauss at the Center for the Arts March 1.

Traditional Irish musical ensemble Danú celebrates its 30th anniversary, performing a concert the week of St. Patrick's Day at the Center for the Arts, on March 20.

Virginia Opera announces its upcoming production of "Intelligence," the powerful new opera by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer, inspired by the true story of two women who built one of the most daring Union spy networks of the Civil War.

Celebrating America's 250th, Mark Morris Dance Group and Music Ensemble performs "Dances to American Music"

Superstar violinist Ray Chen performs with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on Jan. 23 a sparkling masterpiece which has played a huge role in his stratospheric career: the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, which was the first violin concerto Chen ever performed with an orchestra at the age of 13, and the piece he performed to win first prize in the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels in 2009 which helped launch him to fame.