Dear Mason Music Family,

Please join us this weekend for the Broadway Chorale Showcase on Saturday April 15 at the Hylton Performing Arts Center and the Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble Concert in An Afternoon of Elegance on Sunday April 16.  We invite you to join us for The Innocents Percussion Group performing their work The Intersection of Social Justice and Music, a 21st Century Masterpiece on Tuesday April 18 at 3 pm in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. 

April is Jazz Appreciation Month and we are thrilled to honor one of America's earliest and iconic art forms. We are pleased to present the Mason Jazz Workshop on April 17, Mason Vocal Jazz Ensemble at Blues Alley on April 19, Mason Vocal Jazz Night on April 24, Jazz Combos on April 26, and International Jazz Day on April 30.

We are excited to present the Mason Symphonic Band Concert on Tuesday April 18 at 8 pm in a program entitled Landscapes, a musical adventure through the terrain of earth, sky, and score! We are eagerly anticipating the Mason Wind Symphony and United States Army Band Shared Concert on Tuesday, April 25 in Ecstatic Waters. 

Purchase your tickets now for our Mason Opera production of Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss on April 29 at 8 pm and April 30 at 3 pm. Performed with our Mason Symphony Orchestra, this is a not-to-be-missed Mason Opera performance in the beautifully renovated Harris Theater on the Fairfax campus.  

Please support our Dewberry School of Music students and faculty in this musical month of April as we present concerts, recitals, masterclasses, and numerous musical events on our George Mason University campus and in our community! 



Warmest regards,

Dr. Linda A. Monson, Director

Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

Retirement Ceremony & Reception for Dr. Glenn Smith, composer

Thursday, May 4 at 5:30 p.m.

Center for the Arts Concert Hall and Lobby

Join us as we celebrate Dr. Glenn Smith who has dedicated 45+ years of teaching, artistry, and service at George Mason University.

On Wednesday, May 17 we will be Celebrating the Life of our beloved Professor John Aler here at Mason. The memorial service will held at 3:00 p.m. in Harris Theatre on George Mason University's Fairfax Campus. Join together with us to honor his memory, his gift for music, and his compassionate and joyous heart.

Mason University Chorale Broadway Showcase

Saturday, April 15 at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m.

Hylton Performing Arts Center

Manassas, VA

The Mason University Chorale presents its annual Broadway Showcase: Broadway Lights on Saturday, April 15 at 2 and 8 pm. University Chorale will perform at the stunning Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas directed by Dr. Lisa Billingham.

Chorale will present inspiring music from Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Motown the Musical and will feature small group and solo moments with music from Damn Yankees, Young Frankenstein, Next to Normal, Newsies, and many more! Join us for an uplifting Broadway experience with students from across Mason's campus.

Tickets: $20 Adult, $15 Senior, $5 Students

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY TUBA-EUPHONIUM ENSEMBLE

Sunday, April 16 at 1:30 p.m.

Fairlington United Methodist Church

Free and Open to the Public

The George Mason University Tuba and Euphonium Ensemble has been in existence for over 15 years. It draws from a diversified student population of music majors, music minors, and non-majors. They have performed at five regional conferences, and six international conferences as well as appearances on and off the local Mason campus. They were recently recognized by composer Kevin Day on his piece “Ignition” as his group of choice for their exhilarating video of the music. The group remains as a front runner of the low brass department for recruiting students to enjoy and play chamber music and is co-directed by Mason Adjunct Tuba Professors Dr. David Porter and Dr. Mark Jenkins. 

Join us for a Classical Guitar Masterclass with the great Martha Masters on Monday, April 17 at 6 PM in the Choral Room, deLaski Performing Arts Building A323. Free Admission.

MASON JAZZ WORKSHOP 

Monday, April 17, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. 

Harris Theatre 

The Jazz Workshop, directed by John Kocur, explores the intersection of improvisation and composition in the traditions of the great dance and studio jazz bands. The concert will feature compositions by jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Bobby Watson, Freddie Hubbard, and Michael Phillip Mossman.



Free and Open to the Public 

On April 18 at 3 pm in the Center for the Arts, Concert Hall, The Innocents will be performing their work "The Intersection of Social Justice and Music, a 21st Century Masterpiece." Free Admission.



The Innocents is social justice advocacy through performance art. The work is an effort to delve deeply into the most current issues surrounding the core subject of wrongful imprisonment and exoneration, as well as a commitment to connecting with the communities in which it is performed. We have embraced our role as advocates through the realization that our work cuts to the emotional core of the human experience surrounding these issues.

Mason Symphonic Band Concert

Tuesday, April 18 at 8:00 p.m.

Center for the Arts Concert Hall

The Mason Symphonic Bands presents “Landscapes,” a musical adventure through the terrain of earth, sky, and score! This concert presents musical works that programmatically invoke images of the world around us. Selections will be chosen from the unique compositional voices of Johannes Hanssen, Ryan George, Steven Bryant, Clayton Stroup, Aurelio Bonelli, and Frank Ticheli, the audience will be transported from stars to an erupting volcano in this thrilling concert soundscape.  

Tickets: $12 General Public, $8 Seniors, $5 Students

DARDEN PURCELL & THE MASON JAZZ VOCAL ENSEMBLE at BLUES ALLEY

Wednesday, April 19

7 pm & 9 pm shows 

BLUES ALLEY 

The Mason Jazz Vocal Jazz Ensemble, directed by Darden Purcell, performs for the first time at America's oldest, continuing Jazz supper club, Blues Alley! Blues Alley has showcased internationally renowned artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Kenny Garrett, Maynard Ferguson, the Yellowjackets and more. Located in the heart of historic Georgetown in an 18th century red brick carriage house, Blues Alley offers its patrons a unique ambiance, reminiscent of the jazz clubs of the 1920's and 30's.

Mason welcomes George Li, pianist to our Fairfax campus on Thursday, April 20 and Friday, April 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for Piano Masterclasses in the CFA Concert Hall. George Li will be featured piano soloist at the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra Concert on Saturday, April 22 at 8 p.m. in the CFA Concert Hall performing Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2.

MASON JAZZ VOCAL NIGHT 

April 24, 2023, 8 pm 

Center for the Arts 

Join Dr. 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. Special guest choir is Forest Park High School Platinum Vocal Jazz Ensemble, directed by Lara Brittain!  

Mason Wind Symphony and United States Army Band Shared Concert

Tuesday, April 25 at 8:00 p.m.

Center for the Arts Concert Hall

Free Admission

The Mason Wind Symphony and the United States Army Band collaborate on this special concert of epic proportions to close the Spring 2023 semester. Featuring the works of Steven Bryant, the Mason Wind Symphony presents “In this Broad Earth” and “Ecstatic Waters,” a musical fusion of computer electronics and live acoustic music. Bryant colloquially describes this work as W.B. Yeats meeting Ray Kurzweil in The Matrix.

Additionally, the Mason Bands welcome our military band neighbors, the United States Army Band "Pershing's Own," to the Center for the Arts Concert Hall as a featured guest! The United States Army Band "Pershing's Own" provides musical support for the leadership of the United States, to include all branches of government, and to a wide spectrum of national and international events in order to connect the Army to the American people.

This concert will conclude with both ensembles filling the Center for the Arts Concert Hall with the combined sounds of both ensembles side-by-side performing Leonard Bernstein's "Make Our Garden Grow" from Candide and John Philip Sousa's "The Thunderer."

JAZZ COMBOS 

April 26, 2023, 8:00 p.m. 

deLaski Performing Arts Building Room 3001

The Mason Jazz Combos, directed by Wade Beach, perform their spring 2023 concert! 

Free and Open to the Public

New Sound Collective Spring Student Composer Concert

Friday, April 28 at 8 pm

deLaski 3001

Join New Sound Collective on April 28 for our Spring Student Composer Concert! This concert features eleven premieres by Mason student composers.

Free and Open to the Public

Mason Opera presents Johann Strauss II's "Die Fledermaus" in our beautifully renovated Harris Theatre on Mason's Fairfax Campus on April 29 at 8 p.m. and April 30 at 3 p.m.

Since its 1874 premiere at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria, this tale of comical antics and mistaken identities has delighted audiences all over the world, remaining a constant favorite across the decades. This semi-staged presentation will see the interior of Mason’s own Harris Theatre transformed to evoke the glorious style of Theater an der Wien, with the Mason Symphony Orchestra performing live with the talented young artists of Mason Opera with a special appearance by Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, Rick Davis, serving as the production’s Narrator. Professor Gene Galvin, Mason Opera Stage Director, leads the dramatic action with a spirited cast of talented vocalists, conducted by Dr. Soo Han, Director of Orchestral Studies. Set and Lighting Design is by Sean Cox, Set Production by Carrie Cox and Costume Design by Laurel Dunayer. Join us and experience this limited run of this production for an enchanting and exciting evening to remember!

Tickets: $20 adult; $15 senior; $5 youth (through Grade 12)

Join us for the Guitar Ensemble Concert on Saturday, April 29 at 7 pm in deLaski 3001.

INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY 

Sunday, April 30 at 7:00 p.m. 

Center for the Arts Concert Hall 

Share the vibrancy and vitality of jazz music with Mason Jazz students and faculty on April 30! 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. School of Music ensembles performing will be the Mason Jazz Ensemble (director, Jim Carroll), Latin American Ensemble (director, Juan Megna), Mason Steel Pan Ensemble (director, Victor Provost), Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble (director, Darden Purcell) and very special guests, "Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra" (directors, Khandeya Sheppard, Domenic Lewis and Ronald Lee Jr.)! 

Tickets: $12 General Public, $8 Seniors, $5 Students

University Chamber Singers Concert

Featuring Gabriel Fauré's Choral Requiem

Tuesday, May 2 at 8:00 p.m.

Center for the Arts Concert Hall

The University Chamber Singers will present choral works from French composer Gabriel Fauré. The works presented will include his Requiem, Pavane and the popular Cantique de Jean Racine. Fauré’s music is known for its luscious treatment of melody and skillful use of modulations and chromaticism in his harmonic style. Student soloists Juliana Cardine, Sammy Flamenco and Daniel Olenick will be featured in the Requiem. Join us for an elegant evening of choral music, Tuesday, May 2 at 8 p.m. in the Center for the Performing Arts.



Tickets: $12 General Public, $8 Seniors, and $5 Students

Save the Dates:

Sunday, May 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Mason Symphony Orchestra and Concerto Soloists

Center for the Arts Concert Hall

Tickets: $20 General Admission, $15 Seniors, $5 Students

Saturday, May 13 at 7:00 p.m.

Dewberry School of Music Honors Recital

Harris Theatre

Free Admission

Friday, April 14 at 5 PM

Emma Stewart, Percussion

Junior Recital

Harris Theatre

Friday, April 14 at 7 PM

Martha Molinaro, Flute

Junior Recital

Harris Theatre

Saturday, April 15 at 12 PM

Calvin Evans, Jr., Composition

Doctoral Recital

Harris Theatre

Saturday, April 15 at 1 PM

Olivia Sudweeks, Flute

Junior Recital

deLaski 3001

Saturday, April 15 at 6 PM

Hunter Swanson, Euphonium

Senior Recital

Harris Theatre

Sunday, April 16 at 1 PM

Jacquelyn Prestoy, Vocal Jazz

Non-Degree Recital

deLaski 3001

Sunday, April 16 at 2 PM

Isabella Lowe, Jazz Trumpet

Junior Recital

Harris Theatre

Sunday, April 16 at 3 PM

Christian Marple, Trombone

Junior Recital

deLaski 3001

Sunday, April 16 at 7 PM

Hunter Wirt, Percussion

Senior Recital

Harris Theatre

Sunday, April 23 at 5 PM

Khoa "Dennis" Nguyen, Violin

Senior Recital

Hylton Recital Hall

Sunday, April 23 at 7 PM

Yechan "Enoch" Lim, Piano

Master's Recital

Hylton Recital Hall

All student recitals are both live in-person performances and live-streamed.

MUSI 300 Credit given for attendance

Mason Jazz Mondays

Monday, April 17 at 12:30 PM Braddock Road Brass Band in Jazz Room

Monday, April 24 at 12:30 PM Jazz Combos in Jazz Room

All departmental recitals and Mason Jazz Mondays

are free, open to the public, and will occur in-person.

MUSI 300 Credit given for attendance

Congratulations to Prof. Victor Provost who was awarded a highly competitive, university-wide Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award by the Peter Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning. Faculty are nominated and must put together an extensive portfolio including the following: growth and development as an educator, student and learner engagement, assessment of student learning and achievement and finally, teaching effectiveness and impact. Prof. Provost will attend a celebration and reception in April in honor of all the awardees and will be presented a plaque and stipend by the university.

Congratulations to Doc Nix and Mason's Green Machine who had the honor to perform at the White House on Monday for the Easter Egg Roll in Washington, D.C. Our Mason students were grateful to celebrate together in this long-standing tradition for our nation.