It’s tough to catch every concert around town, especially when you start adding up all those ticket prices. Local colleges and universities have some intriguing music offerings, with no-cost or low-cost admission.
ASU has an especially robust lineup, including events featuring students, alumni, and faculty. Some happen on campus, but others take place in venues that range from high schools to museums.
ASU Gammage has everything from touring Broadway productions to guest artists (if you don’t mind splurging a bit on tickets). This season’s Broadway musicals include Anastasia, Come From Away, Mean Girls, and more.
ASU presents a few music series in the community, at venues that include the Musical Instrument Museum, Tempe Center for the Arts, and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. You’ll also find ASU music events at Mesa Arts Center, The Nash, and The Phoenix Theatre Company this season.
Here’s a guide to ASU music offerings organized by musical styles, designed to help you start sampling their diverse line-up. Mark your calendars now, so you won’t forget about your favorites.
Sometimes you just need a good choral concert.
ASU
Choral/Orchestra
A Child’s Garden of Dreams
ASU Gammage
Monday, November 4
Hear music exploring the impact the world has on children, and the ways children impact the world.
Herberger String Quartet Concert
Katzin Concert Hall
Tuesday, November 27
Hear a recital culminating the fall semester for the graduate scholarship quartet.
Barrett Pops Concert
ASU Gammage
Tuesday, February 26
Hear soloists, small groups, and the full chorus perform songs reflecting their chosen concert theme.
Contemporary
Towards a More Perfect Union ASU Gammage
Saturday, October 5Experience a theatrical concert with guest artists, which includes music, spoken word, and film.
Prisms Contemporary Music Festival Concerts
Katzin Concert Hall
Saturday and Sunday, November 9 and 10
Hear contemporary music performed during this two-day festival.
ASU Contemporary Percussion Ensemble
Katzin Concert Hall
Wednesday, December 4
Hear masterworks from the ensemble’s repertoire.
ASU Rock Band Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Wednesday, April 29
Hear the rock band perform its fall concert.
Jazz
ASU Jazz Combos
ASU Music Building Recital Hall
Tuesday, October 8; Additional dates
Emerging artists will perform various styles of jazz.
ASU Latin Jazz Night Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Wednesday, October 30; Additional dates
Hear the band perform music with Afro-Cuban roots.
ASU Jazz Repertory Band The Nash
Wednesday, December 4
Enjoy vintage selections from the history of big band music.
ASU Jazz Faculty Showcase
The Nash
Wednesday, February 5; Additional dates
Hear faculty perform jazz classics and original compositions.
ASU Big Band Night Katzin Concert Hall
Wednesday, February 26
Enjoy an evening of vintage music spanning big band history.
Throwback to a Kiss Me Kate performance.
ASU
Musical Theater/Opera
The Light in the Piazza Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Opens Thursday, October 3
See the musical set in 1953 Italy, which highlights cultural differences revealed by a sudden romance.
Buying a Home: A Requiem for Robert Ashley ASU Music Building Recital Hall
Tuesday, January 18; Additional dates
Explore the search for meaning amid chaos as characters search for real estate in Phoenix.
Street Scene Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Thursday, February 27; Additional dates
See how music, dance, and dialogue reveal the complexities of life surrounding a New York tenement.
9 to 5 The Musical Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Thursday, April 23; Additional dates
See how women wronged in the workplace find friendship — and revenge.
Music Theatre Showcase and Alumni Night
The Phoenix Theatre Company
Monday, April 27
Hear students and alumni perform classic and contemporary musical theater songs.
New Works
New Work Reading: An Evening with Carmel Dean ASU Kerr Cultural Center
Sunday, September 15
Enjoy selections from a theatrical song cycle called “Well-Behaved Women.”
ASU Composition Studio Katzin Concert Hall
Monday, November 18; Additional datesHear a concert featuring diverse works composed by music students.
New Work Reading: An Evening with Laura Kaminsky
ASU Kerr Cultural Center
Sunday, February 9
Hear “Hometown to the Wolf” and other selections from Kaminsky’s operatic canon.
Playing the sounds of the West Indies.
ASU
More Performances
Guitars-4-Vets
ASU Kerr Cultural Center
Tuesday, September 24; Additional dates
Hear music and stories reflecting the experiences of U.S. military veterans.
ASU Mariachi
Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Monday, November 25; Additional dates
ASU Mariachi performs its fall semester culmination concert.
ASU Pan Devils Steel Band Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Friday, December 6; Additional dates
Graduate and undergraduate students perform sounds of the West Indies.
Spring Trombone Day
Trombones de Costa Rica
Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Saturday, April 4
Experience a trombone twist on the sounds of Costa Rica.
Pop Fiction
ASU Gammage
Wednesday, April 15
Hear music inspired by pop culture, from Seinfeld to Saturday Night Live.
If you want to see the full 2019-20 season for ASU’s School of Music, you can visit their website or review their brochure online.
Lynn Trimble is an award-winning freelance writer and photographer specializing in arts and culture, including visual and performing arts
