The MSU Symphony collaborates with the New Jersey Youth Symphony for performances of Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, Corigliano’s Phantasmagoria, and Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.

MSU Singers, under the direction of Dr. Heather J. Buchanan, will perform choral favorites and works from the contemporary choral repertoire. The MSU Wind Symphony, under the direction of Dr. Thomas McCauley, will present David Maslanka’s moving Symphony No. 7.

South Carolina, 1918: in the wake of World War I, amidst a raging influenza epidemic, two starcrossed lovers (Julia, a black seamstress, and Herman, a white baker) seek to marry in the Jim Crow South. In this “love/hate story in black and white,” no one seems to escape the influence of systemic racism.

South Carolina, 1918: in the wake of World War I, amidst a raging influenza epidemic, two starcrossed lovers (Julia, a black seamstress, and Herman, a white baker) seek to marry in the Jim Crow South. In this “love/hate story in black and white,” no one seems to escape the influence of systemic racism.

South Carolina, 1918: in the wake of World War I, amidst a raging influenza epidemic, two starcrossed lovers (Julia, a black seamstress, and Herman, a white baker) seek to marry in the Jim Crow South. In this “love/hate story in black and white,” no one seems to escape the influence of systemic racism.

South Carolina, 1918: in the wake of World War I, amidst a raging influenza epidemic, two starcrossed lovers (Julia, a black seamstress, and Herman, a white baker) seek to marry in the Jim Crow South. In this “love/hate story in black and white,” no one seems to escape the influence of systemic racism.

South Carolina, 1918: in the wake of World War I, amidst a raging influenza epidemic, two starcrossed lovers (Julia, a black seamstress, and Herman, a white baker) seek to marry in the Jim Crow South. In this “love/hate story in black and white,” no one seems to escape the influence of systemic racism.

Is it a rock concert? Modern dance? A plea for environmental action and the rights of Indigenous peoples? Cut the Sky by Marrugeku, Australia’s preeminent dance theater ensemble of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, is all three. As soul singer Ngaire belts out tunes ranging from Nick Cave to Buffalo Springfield Australian "post-soul" music, Marrugeku’s “incredibly expressive and visceral” dancers (The Guardian) form a band of climate change refugees struggling to survive another extreme weather event. Moving backward and forward in…

Is it a rock concert? Modern dance? A plea for environmental action and the rights of Indigenous peoples? Cut the Sky by Marrugeku, Australia’s preeminent dance theater ensemble of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, is all three. As soul singer Ngaire belts out tunes ranging from Nick Cave to Buffalo Springfield Australian "post-soul" music, Marrugeku’s “incredibly expressive and visceral” dancers (The Guardian) form a band of climate change refugees struggling to survive another extreme weather event. Moving backward and forward in…

Is it a rock concert? Modern dance? A plea for environmental action and the rights of Indigenous peoples? Cut the Sky by Marrugeku, Australia’s preeminent dance theater ensemble of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, is all three. As soul singer Ngaire belts out tunes ranging from Nick Cave to Buffalo Springfield Australian "post-soul" music, Marrugeku’s “incredibly expressive and visceral” dancers (The Guardian) form a band of climate change refugees struggling to survive another extreme weather event. Moving backward and forward in…

Is it a rock concert? Modern dance? A plea for environmental action and the rights of Indigenous peoples? Cut the Sky by Marrugeku, Australia’s preeminent dance theater ensemble of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, is all three. As soul singer Ngaire belts out tunes ranging from Nick Cave to Buffalo Springfield Australian "post-soul" music, Marrugeku’s “incredibly expressive and visceral” dancers (The Guardian) form a band of climate change refugees struggling to survive another extreme weather event. Moving backward and forward in…

Join the MSU Symphonic Band, directed by Shelley Axelson, and the MSU Campus Band, directed by Theodora Sotiropoulos, for an exciting and eclectic evening of music making.

The MSU Symphony Orchestra performs Ting Ho’s composition Phoenix Rising in honor of his retirement as composition professor at the Cali School; Derek Bermel’s Soul Garden for Viola and String Orchestra, with Kathryn Lockwood; and Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 78 (Organ).

The MSU Jazz Ensemble presents the music of composer and arranger Bob Florence, an artist
who had few peers in the genre. Well-known in Hollywood as a composer for television, Florence
eventually emerged as one of the leading voices in contemporary jazz ensemble writing, and
earned fifteen Grammy nominations with his band Limited Edition, finally garnering the coveted
award for his 2000 release, Serendipity 18.

Can suicide really restore a man’s honor? In an evening of excerpts from one of G.F. Handel’s most captivating dramas, MSU Opera Workshop examines the concept of honor and its connections to power, sexuality, and family relations. Semi-staged with piano accompaniment.

Heather J. Buchanan, Conductor | Steven W. Ryan, Accompanist Join the MSU Singers onstage for the Hallelujah Chorus and revel in the exuberance and lavish praise of John Rutter’s Gloria. Featuring excerpts from Handel’s Messiah, Rutter’s Gloria, and others. With organist Andrew Van Varick, percussionist Taylor Goodson, and the MSU Brass Ensemble. Other brass ensembles will perform works of the season.

Thomas McCauley, Conductor The 2018 Beatrice Crawford Memorial Concert will feature the MSU Wind Symphony and very special guest, the Monarch Brass, a nationally recognized ensemble whose members are outstanding female brass players from America’s top symphony orchestras and universities. This concert is a free public performance supported by a generous grant from the Keating Crawford Foundation. It is presented at Montclair State University in memory of Beatrice Crawford, a Montclair musician who was the director of two choral groups:…

What do you get when you toss together nine jugglers, 80 apples, and four crockery sets? “Smashed,” a tea party you’ll never forget, created by Gandini Juggling, the thinking person’s jugglers. Nine well-dressed, perfectly respectable young people take the stage and, under the guise of a quaint afternoon tea, engage in the dark art of juggling. Inspired by the work of Pina Bausch, the Gandinis display a virtuosic blend of skills, precision, and theatricality that leaves the audience breathless, while…

What do you get when you toss together nine jugglers, 80 apples, and four crockery sets? “Smashed,” a tea party you’ll never forget, created by Gandini Juggling, the thinking person’s jugglers. Nine well-dressed, perfectly respectable young people take the stage and, under the guise of a quaint afternoon tea, engage in the dark art of juggling. Inspired by the work of Pina Bausch, the Gandinis display a virtuosic blend of skills, precision, and theatricality that leaves the audience breathless, while…

What do you get when you toss together nine jugglers, 80 apples, and four crockery sets? “Smashed,” a tea party you’ll never forget, created by Gandini Juggling, the thinking person’s jugglers. Nine well-dressed, perfectly respectable young people take the stage and, under the guise of a quaint afternoon tea, engage in the dark art of juggling. Inspired by the work of Pina Bausch, the Gandinis display a virtuosic blend of skills, precision, and theatricality that leaves the audience breathless, while…

What do you get when you toss together nine jugglers, 80 apples, and four crockery sets? “Smashed,” a tea party you’ll never forget, created by Gandini Juggling, the thinking person’s jugglers. Nine well-dressed, perfectly respectable young people take the stage and, under the guise of a quaint afternoon tea, engage in the dark art of juggling. Inspired by the work of Pina Bausch, the Gandinis display a virtuosic blend of skills, precision, and theatricality that leaves the audience breathless, while…

Raphaëlle Boitel began her career as a young girl when she and her family ran away to join the circus. A mesmerizing contortionist and aerialist, Ben Brantley of The New York Times called her “truly ravishing.” Peak Performances introduced American audiences to Boitel’s boundless talents in 2016 with her luminous directorial debut “The Forgotten.” In her new work, “When Angels Fall,” her agile, athletic performers create a rugged, ethereal dreamscape at the crossroads of circus, dance, theater, and cinema. Everything…

Imagine a world in which classical ballet, modern dance icon Martha Graham, and questions of cultural appropriation collide with clowns, basketball players, and hula dance, and you may begin to grasp the creative force, intelligence, and wit of choreographer Ann Carlson. In “Elizabeth, the Dance,” she pays homage to “the visionaries and teachers” of modern dance history. With movement both formal and physically awkward, deliciously surprising and joyfully restrained, Carlson has created an astonishing tribute to modern dance and to…

Imagine a world in which classical ballet, modern dance icon Martha Graham, and questions of cultural appropriation collide with clowns, basketball players, and hula dance, and you may begin to grasp the creative force, intelligence, and wit of choreographer Ann Carlson. In “Elizabeth, the Dance,” she pays homage to “the visionaries and teachers” of modern dance history. With movement both formal and physically awkward, deliciously surprising and joyfully restrained, Carlson has created an astonishing tribute to modern dance and to…

Imagine a world in which classical ballet, modern dance icon Martha Graham, and questions of cultural appropriation collide with clowns, basketball players, and hula dance, and you may begin to grasp the creative force, intelligence, and wit of choreographer Ann Carlson. In “Elizabeth, the Dance,” she pays homage to “the visionaries and teachers” of modern dance history. With movement both formal and physically awkward, deliciously surprising and joyfully restrained, Carlson has created an astonishing tribute to modern dance and to…

Imagine a world in which classical ballet, modern dance icon Martha Graham, and questions of cultural appropriation collide with clowns, basketball players, and hula dance, and you may begin to grasp the creative force, intelligence, and wit of choreographer Ann Carlson. In “Elizabeth, the Dance,” she pays homage to “the visionaries and teachers” of modern dance history. With movement both formal and physically awkward, deliciously surprising and joyfully restrained, Carlson has created an astonishing tribute to modern dance and to…

Since his gold medal win at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, 27-year-old Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang has captivated audiences with his deep musical sensitivity, fearless imagination, and spectacular virtuosity. In 2017, he received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, and in 2018, he made his Carnegie Hall solo recital debut. Zhang joins the Shanghai Quartet for Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Bright Sheng’s Dance Capriccio and the Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34. Don’t miss this “fiery…

Choreographer Faye Driscoll returns to Peak Performances to stage the world premiere of the final part of her “Thank You for Coming” trilogy. She conceives “Space” as a joyful requiem for the myth of human progress. Performers reanimate historical and contemporary images, from scratches on a cave wall to snapshots in an Instagram feed, forcing us to consider how we are creating ourselves and our worlds when we make an image. The audience is invited to ponder the possibility that…

Choreographer Faye Driscoll returns to Peak Performances to stage the world premiere of the final part of her “Thank You for Coming” trilogy. She conceives “Space” as a joyful requiem for the myth of human progress. Performers reanimate historical and contemporary images, from scratches on a cave wall to snapshots in an Instagram feed, forcing us to consider how we are creating ourselves and our worlds when we make an image. The audience is invited to ponder the possibility that…

Choreographer Faye Driscoll returns to Peak Performances to stage the world premiere of the final part of her “Thank You for Coming” trilogy. She conceives “Space” as a joyful requiem for the myth of human progress. Performers reanimate historical and contemporary images, from scratches on a cave wall to snapshots in an Instagram feed, forcing us to consider how we are creating ourselves and our worlds when we make an image. The audience is invited to ponder the possibility that…

Choreographer Faye Driscoll returns to Peak Performances to stage the world premiere of the final part of her “Thank You for Coming” trilogy. She conceives “Space” as a joyful requiem for the myth of human progress. Performers reanimate historical and contemporary images, from scratches on a cave wall to snapshots in an Instagram feed, forcing us to consider how we are creating ourselves and our worlds when we make an image. The audience is invited to ponder the possibility that…

Romeo Castellucci is one of Europe’s best-known directors, a firebrand known for productions that are as thought-provoking as they are visually stunning. He returns to Peak Performances with the American premiere of “Democracy in America,” freely inspired by the work of Alexis de Tocqueville. Castellucci conjures majorettes who stir the crowd’s enthusiasm for democracy in America, colonial settlers who confound the native Americans, and a puritan couple who struggle to farm a barren land. He asks us to consider the…

Romeo Castellucci is one of Europe’s best-known directors, a firebrand known for productions that are as thought-provoking as they are visually stunning. He returns to Peak Performances with the American premiere of “Democracy in America,” freely inspired by the work of Alexis de Tocqueville. Castellucci conjures majorettes who stir the crowd’s enthusiasm for democracy in America, colonial settlers who confound the native Americans, and a puritan couple who struggle to farm a barren land. He asks us to consider the…

Romeo Castellucci is one of Europe’s best-known directors, a firebrand known for productions that are as thought-provoking as they are visually stunning. He returns to Peak Performances with the American premiere of “Democracy in America,” freely inspired by the work of Alexis de Tocqueville. Castellucci conjures majorettes who stir the crowd’s enthusiasm for democracy in America, colonial settlers who confound the native Americans, and a puritan couple who struggle to farm a barren land. He asks us to consider the…