Center For The Arts At George Mason University Announces Spring 2021 Updates

The Center for the Arts at George Mason University announced spring 2021 programming updates during a pre-recorded video announcement, Thursday, January 28 at 7 p.m. Updates to the second half of the 30th Anniversary Season include a combination of free and paid digital content through Mason Arts at Home with a possibility of indoor and outdoor performances later in the spring.

In partnership with Mason's College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) and the Hylton Performing Arts Center's Hylton at Home, Mason Arts at Home features livestreamed and pre-recorded digital concerts, behind-the-scenes conversations with artists, and signature CVPA student and faculty events. Together Mason Arts at Home and Hylton at Home have produced more than 100 livestreamed and pre-recorded digital events since they launched in April 2020.

"During the last 10 months, we have learned the value of patience, the importance of flexibility, and most of all, the necessity of the arts to keep our spirits lifted in trying times," shared Director of Programming Adrienne Bryant Godwin. "Right now, we are focused primarily on digital programming that audiences can enjoy from the safety of home, but as we look to later this spring we are hopeful that we can bring back safe, in-person options to Fairfax."

She continued, "In addition to Mason Arts at Home, I'm proud of our collaborations this season with our Mason Artists-in-Residence through community-wide workshops and the development of new work, as well as how we have leaned into important and ongoing conversations that have emerged from our Artist-Activist: Centering Black Voices series. I look forward to sharing more about each of these initiatives in the coming weeks."

Paid, ticketed events are presented by both Mason Arts at Home and Hylton at Home and include pre-recorded performances of Afro-Colombian dance and drumming company Sankofa Danzafro (filmed in Medellín, Colombia), the 2020 Grammy Award-winning quintet Ranky Tanky (filmed from the Hylton Center in October 2020), and an intimate chamber orchestra performance by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (filmed in Trafalgar Square's iconic St Martin-in-the-Fields church). Additionally, the Hylton Center will stream LIVE performances straight from the Merchant Hall stage, featuring the musical theater talents of Broadway Princess Party (starring Susan Egan, Aisha Jackson, Laura Osnes, and Courtney Reed), and the virtuosic music and commentary of pianist Jeffrey Siegel.

Tickets for Sankofa Danzafro, Ranky Tanky, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and Broadway Princess Party are on sale online now at cfa.gmu.edu. In addition to the digital livestream, the concert by Jeffrey Siegel may accommodate a small, in-venue audience at the Hylton Center if conditions permit. Digital and in-person tickets for that performance will be announced at a later date.

In addition to the paid performances, Mason Arts at Home includes free programming from Mason's College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Mason's School of Theater has special productions created for the digital stage including Mason Cabaret's Sing Happy! The Music of Kander and Ebb, directed by Erin and James Gardiner with musical direction by Joe Walsh, and performances of the plays Come My Beloved, Chimichangas and Zoloft, and Are You There? The Mason School of Dance will offer two signature events including the 2021 Mason Dance Gala Concert featuring a new work by Hope Boykin and Sunlit Song by Susan Shields, plus Spring New Dances, a choreography showcase livestreamed from the Concert Hall.

The Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music will offer a diverse mix of offerings including jazz, opera, and classical programming. In addition to student performances, the school will present small chamber works performed by its world-class faculty as part of the new Dewberry Artist Series. The Dewberry School of Music has also commissioned Evelyn Simpson-Curenton and Michael Nickens for original compositions, which will be featured in the May 8 concert A Song of Freedom: Musical Reflections Featuring Black Composers.

The School of Art continues its Visual Voices Speaker Series, which invites nationally-recognized artists and designers to speak about their work and the world of art and design. Mason Arts at Home brings back Alumni Cocktails and Conversations with Rick Davis, Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The live, digital conversations showcase CVPA alumni across the world working in a wide range of artistic disciplines, discussing their lives and careers, and offering "real world" insights.

The Center for the Arts will offer limited outdoor performances on Mason Pond Lawn across from the Center for the Arts including Collision of Rhythm, the ultimate dynamic duo made up of a tap-dancing percussion virtuoso and a beatboxing, juggling comedian on April 25. Tickets and additional details for Mason Pond Lawn performances will be announced at a later date.

Following its debut in fall 2020 with two strong events, The Artist Activist: Centering Black Voices series will continue this semester, engaging the community in dialogue around creative process, activism, and racism. The spring artists and event dates will be announced soon.

For the most up-to-date programming information, visit: cfa.gmu.edu.

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