Tickets are now on sale for the Moss Arts Center’s 2022-23 performance season, featuring artists representing 13 countries and four continents in music, dance, theater, literary and visual arts. Choose from a dynamic array of jazz and global rhythms, classical music favorites, family-friendly cirque selections, transformative dance and theater works, and spectacular Broadway productions.
“How do artists bring ideas to light? This season’s performances recontextualize experiences and history, illuminate cultures and ideas through new perspectives, reimagine stories from the past in new ways, and reclaim traditional narratives and heritage. More than ever, Moss offers a place to see our world in new ways,” said Margaret Lawrence, Moss Arts Center Director of Programming.
The center’s performances and exhibitions are complemented by a collection of experiences that offer deeper connections with artists, ideas and community members, including pre- and post-performance conversations with artists and Virginia Tech faculty members on current issues. Virginia Tech students will have exclusive access to master classes and other special events on campus with renowned artists and ensembles, and area school-age students will be treated to special in-school matinees and workshops with artists.
Performances of Moss Arts Center 2022-23
This free outdoor dance concert is hosted by one of the most exciting new acts in the Latin music space. Young Cuban sensation Cimafunk — think Cuban Bruno Mars — offers a bold mix of funk, Cuban music and African rhythms.
Eileen Ivers and Universal Roots
Nine-time All-Ireland fiddle champion Eileen Ivers and her band open the season with an upbeat evening celebrating the influences of the Celtic tradition.
Redman · Mehldau · McBride · Blade
Acclaimed jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman introduced his first full-time line-up with his 1994 album, MoodSwing. The original group reunites for an unforgettable performance.
Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
Grammy winner Rhiannon Giddens collaborates with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, sharing lullabies, ballads and folk songs from their native and adopted countries of America, Italy and Ireland.
With live music and three inspired actors, this profound play from Mexico sheds light on a range of realities—land usurpation, widespread violence, community resistance—facing indigenous peoples. Audience members sit on stage for this intimate performance.
Circus meets science — umbrellas fly, fabrics float over the audience, balloons swallow people, and the entire stage turns into a snow globe. Perfect even for toddlers, “Air Play” is part comedy, part sculpture, part circus, part theater.
The New York Times calls Farruquita “the greatest flamenco dancer of this new century.” With a stellar cast of dancers, musicians and singers, his performances are true expressions of pure flamenco.
The Grammy-nominated Danish string quartet made its personal debut for Moss with a performance that included Haydn and Schubert quartets and folk music selections.
Nrityagram Dance Ensemble and Chitrasena Dance Company collaborate in a lively fusion of classical Odissi dance from India and traditional Kandyan dance from Sri Lanka.
“Hope: It’s Been a Long Time”
The three-time Grammy-winning Soweto Gospel Choir celebrates artists associated with social justice struggles, from Mahalia Jackson to Harry Belafonte.
Friends and family gather to enjoy the holiday spirit as the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra fills the hall with music and delights with its “Holiday Pops Spectacular” program for audiences of all ages.
Budapest Symphony Orchestra concert
András Keller, chief conductor
Concerto The Budapest Symphony Orchestra is one of the leading Hungarian orchestras. This performance features Hungary’s most beloved composers — Dvořák, Liszt and Bartók — and features Hungarian pianist Zoltan Fejérvári.
“An Evening with Kevin Young”
Poet Kevin Young is a revolutionary voice of his generation. A National Book Award finalist and Guggenheim Fellow, he also won the PEN Open Award, whose judge noted that Young shows “how black identity is essential to American culture.”
Seven wacky acrobats and an eccentric musician watch a monochrome exhibition. Dizzying feats, startling discoveries, poetic liberties and a serious dose of some silly good fun combine to fuel this sophisticated ode to creativity.
The Grammy-nominated PUBLIQuartet is changing the perception of string quartets, digging into entirely fresh music, from classical to jazz to improvisation—and creating its own original American style.
Co-created by Koryū Nishikawa V and Tom Lee
Saturday, February 18, 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Created by Japanese master puppeteer Koryū Nishikawa V and American puppeteer Tom Lee, this new stage work uses bunraku puppets, video projection and live music to illuminate the wild imagination of Japan’s most celebrated short story writer. Audience members sit on stage.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
Celebrate more than 60 years of incomparable artistry when the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s premiere ensemble comes to Southwest Virginia for the first time. The two evening performances offer different works, each including founder Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece, “Revelations.”
“Evening with Viet Thanh Nguyen”
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Sympathizer” globally reimagines what people thought they knew about the Vietnam War, encouraging readers to examine the legacy of that tumultuous time and its aftermath from a new perspective.
“The Book of Mountains and Seas”
Composer and librettist: Huang Ruo
Director and design: Basil Twist
Commissioned in part by Moss, this daring new piece of musical theater is a modern take on ancient Chinese creation myths, featuring the Ars Nova Copenhagen Choir alongside massive puppets and striking lamps.
Roanoke Opera and Master Chorale of Blacksburg
“War Requiem” by Benjamin Britten
Roanoke Opera, the Blacksburg Master Chorale, the Virginia Tech Choirs and the Georgia Boy Choir come together for Benjamin Britten’s monumental “War Requiem,” a timeless work that symbolizes the senselessness of war.
Three-time Grammy winner Cécile McLorin Salvant brings a historical perspective to jazz standards and her own compositions, spanning a wide repertoire with her rich, powerful voice.
Broadway returns to Southwest Virginia with the Moss Arts Center’s “Broadway in Blacksburg” series. Tickets are now available for the romantic and adventurous new musical “Anastasia” on Tuesday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m. and the heartwarming Tony Award-winning musical comedy “Hairspray” on Tuesday, February 14, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for individual performances can be purchased online; at the Moss Arts Center box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Wednesday to Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday; or by calling 540-231-5300 during box office hours.
Subscriptions are also available and offer discounted rates and priority seating. There are three subscription options: Premier Subscription includes 18 performances with a 25 percent discount on adult ticket prices, Gold Build Your Own Subscription offers 20 percent discount on adult ticket prices for 12 or more performances and Silver Build Your Own Subscription starts with just five performances with a 15 percent discount on ticket prices. Tickets for students and youth are always $10 per show, including subscriptions.
