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2025-2026 Season

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Boot Scootin’ with Ashley
Participatory Experience
Pay What You Wish
Ypsi Freighthouse

Get ready to stomp and scoot—join us at the Freighthouse for two hours of beginner line dancing with Ashley, set to classic country hits!

motion>>pictures Film Night with iFFY
Film Screening
Partner Event
Pay What You Wish
Talks & Discussions
Ypsi Freighthouse

In collaboration with Independent Film Festival Ypsilanti (iFFY), this program features nine short films elevating a variety of performances and time-based artworks from musicians, dancers, animators, performance artists, and more. A panel featuring both filmmakers and performers will follow the screening.

Testimony Sings with Alvin Waddles
Pay What You Wish
Performance
Ypsi Freighthouse

Enjoy a Sunday afternoon of gospel music right in your backyard! Detroit gospel legend Alvin Waddles and his band accompany the all-female vocal quintet, Testimony Sings.

Sonic Meditation with King Sophia and Sophiyah E.
Participatory Experience
Pay What You Wish
Ypsi Freighthouse
Joe Reilly & The Community Gardeners
Family Friendly
Pay What You Wish
Performance
Ypsi Freighthouse

Joe Reilly’s new album Learn to Love Again, with his band The Community Gardeners, invites us to unite through music and community amid today’s chaos and division.

For Families: Birds of a Feather with Little Miss Ann and Suzi Shelton
Family Friendly
Free
Ypsi Freighthouse

Little Miss Ann and Suzi Shelton of Birds of a Feather will uplift and inspire children as they make their ways back to the classroom. In this family-friendly program, school-related themes include bravery, cooperation, celebrating differences, favorite foods, and even ways to get to school!

Noah Jackson and Full Circle
Pay What You Wish
Performance
Ypsi Freighthouse

Noah Jackson and Full Circle
in two performances

Saturday, September 20 - Sunday, September 21, 2025

Bassist Noah Jackson and his Detroit-bred band, Full Circle, present two performances that will delight the ears of jazz novices and aficionados alike.

Open Mic at the Freighthouse
Free
Participatory Experience
Ypsi Freighthouse
Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the UMS Choral Union: Verdi’s Requiem
Performance

UMS’s 25/26 Season opens with Verdi’s monumental Requiem, performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the UMS Choral Union, and DSO music director Jader Bignamini, with a stellar international cast of soloists.

For Families: Movin’ and Groovin’ with Fun Girl Dance Company
Family Friendly
Free
Participatory Experience
Ypsi Freighthouse

Ypsi’s Fun Girl Dance Company & School presents a day of family-friendly events that are part performance, part creative movement workshop, and guaranteed 100% FUN!

Three Mirrors: Excursions in Collaboration hosted by Fred Thomas
Pay What You Wish
Performance
Ypsi Freighthouse

Join a rare night of unlikely collaborations curated by Ypsi-born indie rock musician Fred Thomas.

Nigamon / Tunai
Performance

Nigamon / Tunai
Émilie Monnet and Waira Nina

Thursday, October 2 - Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Interweaving immersive performance and audio documentary with Indigenous knowledge and voices, this mesmerizing new theatrical work invites audiences into ritualized listening, and to feel the sound vibrations emitted by the surrounding water, stones, copper, and tree trunks.

Makaya McCraven
Performance

Makaya McCraven

Friday, October 10, 2025

The prolific Chicago-based drummer, composer, and producer Makaya McCraven is a cultural synthesizer with a unique gift for blending past, present, and future into jazz-rooted 21st-century folk music.

Ballet BC
Performance
Q&A

Ballet BC

Friday, October 17 - Saturday, October 18, 2025

The company creates dance at its most essential: visceral, powerful, thought-provoking, and transformative. Their meticulous performances, unmatched for precision, innovation, and inspiring beauty, will be on display in two different programs for their UMS debut. Each performance features a company of 20 dancers in works by some of today’s leading contemporary dance-theater choreographers.

Friday Program

Pieces of Tomorrow (Medhi Walerski)
PASSING (Choreography by Johan Inger)

Saturday Program

Obsidian (Bobbi Jene Smith / Or Schraiber)
Silent Tides (Medhi Walerski)
BOLERO X (Shahar Binyamin)

School Day Performance: Ballet BC
School Day Performance

Vancouver’s Ballet BC has been a leader in the Canadian contemporary dance scene for nearly 40 years, pushing the physical and emotional boundaries of the genre.

You Can Dance! with Ballet BC
Free
Participatory Experience
Public Workshop

Join us for a 60-minute dance workshop led by company members of Ballet BC. You Can Dance! workshops are free with registration and designed for all skill levels and curious movers. No dance experience required!

Belcea Quartet
Performance

Belcea Quartet

Sunday, October 19, 2025

The Belcea Quartet performs in Ann Arbor for the first time in more than a decade, opening the 25/26 Chamber Arts Series with an evening of masterworks by Webern, Mozart, and Beethoven.

Program

Anton Webern Five Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465 (“Dissonance”)
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 16 in F Major. Op. 135

Virtual Orchestra: Pop-Up VR Experience with the Philharmonia Orchestra On Tour
Family Friendly
Free
Participatory Experience

Pop on a VR headset, and discover what it’s like to sit right in the middle of a symphony orchestra!

Philharmonia Orchestra, London with Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
Performance

London’s Philharmonia Orchestra returns to Hill Auditorium, with both the exciting young Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson making their UMS debuts.

Program

Gabriela Ortiz Si el oxígeno fuera verde (If oxygen were green)
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 (“Emperor”)
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 in d minor, Op. 47

Herbie Hancock
Performance

One of the most celebrated artists in American history, the brilliant and always innovative Herbie Hancock returns to Hill Auditorium in a limited tour that promises to bring his signature mix of freewheeling, thought-provoking, and mind-expanding jazz and funk.

Imani Winds & Andy Akiho, steel drum
Performance

The Imani Winds have led both a revolution and an evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing and adventurous programming. This collaboration features composer and percussionist Andy Akiho, a trailblazing Pulitzer Prize finalist and five-time Grammy-nominated composer whose bold works surpass preconceived boundaries of Western classical music.

School Day Performance: Imani Winds
School Day Performance

UMS is thrilled to welcome back the Imani Winds. This four-time Grammy-nominated ensemble has led both a revolution and an evolution of the wind quintet through its dynamic playing, adventurous programming, and imaginative collaborations.

An Evening with Boz Scaggs
Performance

Boz Scaggs continues to captivate audiences with his polished yet gritty voice, nearly 50 years after his hit 1976 album Silk Degrees became part of the decade’s musical fabric.

 

Gil Shaham, violin & Akira Eguchi, piano
Performance

One of the foremost violinists of our time, Gil Shaham returns to UMS for the first time in a decade,  performing an all-Beethoven program with his longtime recital partner Akira Eguchi.

Program

All-Beethoven Program
Violin Sonata No. 4 in a minor, Op. 23
Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 (“Spring”)
Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 (“Kreutzer”)

Danish String Quartet
Digital Event
Livestream
Performance
Pre-Performance Talk

One of the world’s most adventurous and versatile chamber ensembles, the Danish String Quartet returns with a unique program that includes works by Stravinsky, Beethoven, and film composer and Radiohead founding member Jonny Greenwood, plus arrangements of traditional folk tunes and original compositions that trace musical pathways across the North Sea.

Program

Igor Stravinsky Three Pieces for String Quartet
Jonny Greenwood Suite from There Will Be Blood
Danish String Quartet Traditional arrangements and compositions
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 with the Große Fuge, Op. 133

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones
Family Friendly
Performance

Start the holiday season with an unforgettable Thanksgiving weekend concert featuring GRAMMY-winning quartet Béla Fleck & the Flecktones.

Handel’s Messiah
Performance

Handel’s Messiah

Saturday, December 6 - Sunday, December 7, 2025

Handel’s timeless masterpiece has enraptured audiences for centuries with its sublime beauty and profound spirituality. Led by conductor Scott Hanoian, Messiah is brought to life each year by friends and colleagues from the community who perform with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and the UMS Choral Union.

Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Performance

Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in an all-Brahms program, joined by violinist Veronika Eberle and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Program

All-Brahms Program
Tragic Overture, Op. 81
Double Concerto in a minor, Op. 102
Symphony No. 1 in c minor, Op. 68

Dimanche
Performance

Dimanche
Chaliwaté and Focus Companies

Wednesday, January 7 - Sunday, January 11, 2026

Two award-winning Belgian companies come together for this stunning visual performance combining puppetry, video, mime, and clowning. Between dreamlike fiction and stark reality, Dimanche paints a witty and tender portrait of humanity surprised by the uncontrollable forces of nature, observing the absurdity of keeping up appearances amidst an ecological collapse.

School Day Performance: Dimanche
School Day Performance

Spinning dreamlike fiction and humor with urgent reality, this nearly wordless theatrical experience combines elements of clown, toys, puppetry, acrobatics, and nifty practical effects. Dimanche challenges us to look at what is happening to our planet, and what we are doing to the natural world and ourselves.

Martha Graham at 100 Book Signing
Free
Talks & Discussions
Martha Graham Dance Company
American Icons 250
Performance

Martha Graham Dance Company
GRAHAM100

Friday, January 16 - Sunday, January 18, 2026

Martha Graham is recognized as a primal artistic force of the 20th century. Her company celebrates its milestone 100th anniversary season with three unique programs that exemplify Graham’s timeless and uniquely American style of dance.

School Day Performance: Martha Graham Dance Company
School Day Performance

Celebrating its 100th anniversary, Martha Graham Dance Company continues to exemplify its founder’s timeless and uniquely American style of dance, one that has influenced generations of artists and continues to captivate audiences.

You Can Dance! with Martha Graham Dance Company
Free
Participatory Experience
Public Workshop

Join us for a 90-minute dance workshop led by dancers from the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería
Performance
Pre-Performance Talk

After their roaring UMS debut in 2023, México’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería and conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto return with trumpet soloist Pacho Flores.

Program

Franz Joseph Haydn Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major
Paquito D’Rivera Venezuelan Concerto
Silvestre Revueltas Sensemayá
Alberto Ginastera Dances from Estancia, Op. 8a
Arturo Márquez Danzón No. 2 (version 2012)

School Day Performance: Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería
School Day Performance

An audience favorite from UMS’s 23/24 season was the US debut of México’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, led by the dynamic conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. This first time School Day Performance will feature The Night of the Mayas by Silvestre Revueltas, Sones de Mariachi by Blas Galindo, and other compositions by Mexican and Latin American composers.

Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band
American Icons 250
Digital Event
Livestream
Performance

Led by the celebrated vocalist Julia Keefe (Nez Perce), this 16-piece ensemble of Native musicians highlights an often overlooked but rich history of Indigenous bands that existed on reservations across the country in the early 20th century, and it both deepens and challenges our understanding of the “uniquely American” art form known as jazz.

Penny Stamps Speaker Series: Julia Keefe
Free
Partner Event
Talks & Discussions

Julia Keefe and co-founder Delbert Anderson (Diné) talk original works inspired by songs and rhythms of their Native heritage, reimagined through the language and stylings of jazz.

Wynton Marsalis in Conversation
American Icons 250
Digital Event
Free
In Person or Digital
Partner Event
Talks & Discussions
School Day Performance: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
In Person or Digital
School Day Performance

Step into a world of rhythm and soul as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by the iconic trumpeter and cultural ambassador Wynton Marsalis, is back to close out our 25-26 School Day Performance series with a Big Band concert tailored for young people.

CHEAR Meister Lecture w/ Nicola Benedetti
Free
Partner Event
Talks & Discussions

Join Nicola Benedetti at the 18th annual Susan B. Meister Lecture in Child Health Policy.

Wynton Marsalis’s “The Jungle”
American Icons 250
Performance
Performance

Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will be joined by orchestral musicians from the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance, in a performance of Marsalis’s Symphony No. 4, “The Jungle.”

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Family Friendly
Performance
Performance

Step into a world of rhythm and soul as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by the iconic trumpeter and cultural ambassador Wynton Marsalis, brings their unparalleled mastery to Hill Auditorium. The venerable ensemble takes the stage for a journey through some of Duke Ellington’s most iconic compositions.

Nicola Benedetti & Friends
Performance

Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti makes her UMS debut with an ensemble featuring guitar, accordion, and cello performing arrangements of popular classical works.

Fauré Piano Quartets
Performance

Fauré Piano Quartets

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Violinist James Ehnes is joined by pianist Inon Barnatan, violist Jonathan Vinocour, and cellist Raphael Bell for a program of Gabriel Fauré’s piano quartets. Among his best-known chamber works, Fauré’s piano quartets are exquisitely crafted and ideal vehicles for these four superb artists and musical soulmates.

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Performance
Pre-Performance Talk

The esteemed Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir celebrates the transcendent contemporary classical music of composer Arvo Pärt, and the indelible mark he has left on music and choral singing over his 90 years.

Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane: Miles Davis & John Coltrane Centennial
American Icons 250
Performance

The year 1926 saw the birth of two towering figures who reshaped the landscape of modern music: Miles Davis and John Coltrane. In this limited tour, two of today’s most visionary musicians come together to honor their legacies in a concert that is more than just a centennial tribute, but a living, breathing continuation of their spirit.

UMS 101: Conduct Like Klaus
Public Workshop
Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire
Film Screening
Partner Event
Talks & Discussions

Elie Wiesel:Soul on Fire is an intimate documentary of the author, educator and humanitarian whose life’s work against global injustice was inspired by his experiences as a prisoner in Auschwitz and Buchenwald.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Performance
Pre-Performance Talk

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra returns to Hill Auditorium for the first time in more than a decade, under the leadership of their new music director, Klaus Mäkelä.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
Hector Berlioz Symphonie fantastique

Karajan-Akademie of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Performance

The Karajan-Akademie of the Berliner Philharmoniker serves as the training ground for both the next generation of musicians for the Berliner Philharmoniker, but also for orchestras around the world. This concert, part of a larger residency that will include campus engagement and learning activities, will feature several Akademie scholars alongside Philharmoniker musicians in an evening of Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Bartók.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven Septet in E-Flat Major for Winds and Strings, Op. 20
Julia Wolfe Big Reeling
Dmitri Shostakovich Prelude and Scherzo for String Octet, Op. 11
Béla Bartók Divertimento for String Orchestra, Sz. 113

Martin Hayes and the Common Ground Ensemble
Family Friendly
Performance

Legendary fiddler Martin Hayes leads a wide-ranging, family-friendly concert celebration a few days after St. Patrick’s Day, featuring an exciting variety of special guests, traditional sean-nós singing and dancing, and modern takes on Irish traditions.

Canceled Event: Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello, and Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
Performance

We regret to inform audiences that concert has been canceled. We are in the process of notifying ticket buyers with options to refund or donate their tickets.

You Can Dance! with Nic Gareiss
Free
Participatory Experience
Public Workshop
Angélique Kidjo
Performance

Angélique Kidjo

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Five-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo returns to Ann Arbor for the first time since 2020 with her powerhouse voice, electrifying stage presence, and joyous music.

GATZ
American Icons 250
Performance

GATZ
Elevator Repair Service

Friday, March 27 - Sunday, March 29, 2026

A century after the publication of The Great Gatsby, Elevator Repair Service’s GATZ comes to Ann Arbor after its sold-out run at New York’s Public Theater in November 2024. Told over a single 8-hour production (including dinner break), GATZ is not just a retelling of the Gatsby story, but an enactment of the novel in which Fitzgerald’s masterpiece is cleverly delivered word for word.

Jeremy Nedd: from rock to rock…
Performance

Brooklyn-born, Basel-based choreographer Jeremy Nedd delves into the complexities of dance ownership and cultural appropriation, taking inspiration from a rapper’s copyright infringement lawsuit against a video game company.

You Can Dance! with Jeremy Nedd
Free
Participatory Experience
Public Workshop
James McMurtry duo feat. BettySoo
Pay What You Wish
Performance
Ypsi Freighthouse

Texas-based songwriter and guitarist James McMurtry is a supremely insightful and inventive storyteller who crafts searingly honest lyrics set against a rock/Americana backdrop. His Ypsilanti Freighthouse debut draws from his 2025 album The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy.

Frames and Frequencies
Film Screening
Partner Event
Pay What You Wish
Ypsi Freighthouse

In this collaboration with iFFY, filmmakers who live or work in Washtenaw County will be invited to create a series of short silent films, all of which will be set to live, improvised music.

For Families: Threads of Rhythm: Arab Music and Dance
Family Friendly
Free
Ypsi Freighthouse

This special interactive performance for families invites you to explore music and dance from the Arab World. Led by Chloé Gray of Ypsilanti’s Fun Girl Dance Company and music educator and oud player Raphique Barakat, the event will focus on the dabke, a traditional line-and-circle folk dance featuring energetic stomping, jumping, and kicking to rhythmic music.

Thornetta Davis
Pay What You Wish
Performance
Ypsi Freighthouse

Thornetta Davis

Sunday, April 12, 2026

Known as “Detroit’s Queen of the Blues,” Thornetta Davis has captivated audiences across the United States and abroad for over 30 years, sharing stages with legendary Blues and R&B greats including Ray Charles, Etta James, and Buddy Guy.

Life Sciences Orchestra & UMS Choral Union Concert
Free
Partner Event

The spring concert of the U-M Life Sciences Orchestra will feature the 150-member UMS Choral Union, and special guest solo vocalists, performing a stirring oratorio by English composer Edward Elgar.

Open Mic at the Freighthouse
Free
Participatory Experience
Ypsi Freighthouse

Ypsilanti, it’s time to take the stage! Open Mic Night at the Freighthouse is back, and we want to hear from you.

Nidia Góngora
Pay What You Wish
Performance
Ypsi Freighthouse

Nidia Góngora

Thursday, April 16, 2026

Nidia Góngora brings the soul of Colombia’s Pacific coast to the stage, with a powerful, earthy, and luminous voice that carries centuries of Afro-Colombian tradition in this dance floor-ready event performed with marimba and percussion.

Takács Quartet
Performance

Takács Quartet

Friday, April 17, 2026

The superlative ensemble returns in a program that includes a UMS co-commission by University of Michigan alumna Clarice Assad, plus works by Franz Joseph Haydn and Claude Debussy.

Program

Franz Joseph Haydn String Quartet No. 59 in g minor, Op. 74, No. 3 (“Rider”)
Clarice Assad NEXUS (UMS co-commission)
Claude Debussy String Quartet in g minor, Op. 10 (L.91)

The Complete Philip Glass Piano Etudes
American Icons 250
Digital Event
Livestream
Performance

In a rare concert performance and evening of master piano works for the 21st century, 10 outstanding pianists will perform all 20 of Philip Glass’s études on the Hill Auditorium stage.

For Families: Joe Reilly & Friends Celebrate Earth Day
Family Friendly
Free
Ypsi Freighthouse

Joe Reilly is a singer/songwriter, social worker, and Michigan educator who writes songs from his heart. The Italian, Irish, and Native American (Cherokee) singer draws from his children’s albums of environmental and community songs in this concert for families. After the performance, families are invited to stay for a hands-on activity.

Voce Velata Youth Ensemble
Performance
Ypsi Freighthouse

At this free community event, meet the moment through music by composers Jessie Montgomery, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and more. Voce Velata — a local youth-led chamber ensemble — joins professional musicians to explore cultural idioms that are in dialogue with both our past and present.

Rhiannon Giddens
Performance

Rhiannon Giddens

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize winner Rhiannon Giddens has made a singular, iconic career out of stretching her brand of folk music into just about every field imaginable. Join us as the U-M Arts Initiative’s inaugural artist-in-residence takes the Hill Auditorium stage with her latest musical exploration.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
Performance

Short in length but limitless in imagination, all 24 of Claude Debussy’s magical Preludes for piano are performed by one of their supreme living interpreters, Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Line Dancing with Ashley
Participatory Experience
Pay What You Wish
Ypsi Freighthouse

Join us at the Freighthouse for two hours of beginner line dancing with Ashley, set to country hits.

K-12 Teacher Appreciation Party
School & K12 Educators
Ypsi Freighthouse
Ian Fink
Pay What You Wish
Performance
Ypsi Freighthouse

Ian Fink

Friday, April 24, 2026

Detroit’s Ian Fink brings a next-gen jazz combo to the intimate Ypsilanti Freighthouse.

Beyond This Point: Musician Minus Instrument
Pay What You Wish
Performance
Ypsi Freighthouse

Beyond This Point, composed of Chicago-based collaborative percussion/arts trio Adam Rosenblatt, John Corkill, and AJ Morrissey, straddles the disciplines of music, theater, and science through gesture and ingenuity.

Summer Sings 2026: Mendelssohn’s Elijah
Participatory Experience
Public Workshop
Summer Sings

The UMS Choral Union invites you to take part in the return of Summer Sings. Just come as you are to this no-audition, no-performance evening of memorable music-making!

The Cleveland Orchestra
Performance

The Cleveland Orchestra and music director Franz Welser-Möst return to Ann Arbor for the first time in 15 years, opening the 26/27 season with works by Liszt, Martinů, and Brahms.

Program

Franz Liszt Orpheus
Bohuslav Martinů Symphony No. 2, H. 295
Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73

Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers
Performance

Experience the musical legend’s brilliant piano playing and electrifying, genre-blurring sound that moves effortlessly between rock, jazz, folk, and beyond.

Shamel Pitts | TRIBE: Marks of RED
Performance

Marks of RED
Shamel Pitts | TRIBE

Saturday, October 3 - Sunday, October 4, 2026

After the jaw-dropping 2025 presentation of BLACK HOLE, Shamel Pitts | TRIBE returns with its newest work, Marks of Red, an Afrofuturistic meditation dance piece on featuring the viewpoints of six women.

Samara Joy
Performance

Samara Joy

Friday, October 9, 2026

Jazz sensation and six-time Grammy award winner Samara Joy returns to Hill Auditorium after her sold-out 2024 UMS debut.

Lupita Infante y su mariachi
Performance

Mexican American singer Lupita Infante brings a fresh, modern voice to traditional mariachi and ranchera, carrying forward the legacy of her family while redefining it for a new generation.

Sphinx Virtuosi featuring J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano
Performance

The Sphinx Virtuosi celebrate our country’s ever-evolving story through newly commissioned works and reimagined classics that give voice to our shared ideals and diverse perspectives. American mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges joins the Sphinx Virtuosi for a bold, new song cycle by Damien Geter.

School Day Performance: Lupita Infante y su mariachi
School Day Performance

Join us for the first School Day Performance of the 26-27 year with Lupita Infante for a concert blending mariachi, norteño, and ranchera styles with a modern twist!

UMS150 Dance Commission & World Premiere
Performance

UMS150 Dance Commission &
World Premiere

Friday, October 23 - Saturday, October 24, 2026

As part of the leadup to our 150th season in 28/29, UMS is commissioning a new, evening-length dance collaboration with New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns and co-choreographers and dancers Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber.

Bruce Liu, piano
Performance

Bruce Liu, piano

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

2021 International Chopin Piano Competition winner Bruce Liu makes his UMS debut with a powerful recital program that includes masterworks by Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, and more.

György Ligeti Etude No. 4: Fanfares
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 14 in c-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”)
Frédéric Chopin Nocturnes, Op. 27, Nos. 1 and 2
Maurice Ravel Alborada del Gracioso (from Miroirs)
Claude Debussy Rêverie, L. 68
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 (“Waldstein”)
Federico Mompou Glossa sobre Au clair de la lune
Isaac Albéniz “El Puerto” from Iberia
Franz Liszt Rhapsodie espagnole, S. 254, R. 90

Julian Lage with Medeski, Roeder, & Wollesen
Performance

Acclaimed guitarist Julian Lage joins forces with bassist Jorge Roeder, keyboardist John Medeski, and drummer Kenny Wollesen for a dynamic quartet that blends jazz, folk, and beyond into spontaneous, deeply collaborative music.

Escher Quartet / Jason Vieaux
Performance

Jason Vieaux joins the Escher Quartet for a program of rarely heard music written for string quartet and guitar.

Sergei Prokofiev String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 92
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Guitar Quintet, Op. 143
Jorge Morel Danza Brasilera
Jason Vieaux Tidal Pools
J.S. Bach Prelude in E-flat Major, BWV 998
Agustín Barrios Vals No. 4 in G Major
Luigi Boccherini Guitar Quintet in D Major, G. 448 (“Fandango”)

Mozart’s Requiem
Performance

Mozart’s Requiem

Friday, November 13, 2026

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, UMS Choral Union, and outstanding soloists perform Mozart’s final composition, his Requiem Mass, widely considered one of his most sublime achievements.

Andy Akiho & Sandbox Percussion
Performance

Following his UMS debut last season alongside the Imani Winds, composer and percussionist Andy Akiho returns with his steelpan and the Brooklyn-based ensemble Sandbox Percussion.

School Day Performance: Sandbox Percussion
School Day Performance

This electrifying School Day Performance with Sandbox Percussion introduces students to the exciting world of percussion using everything from drums and marimbas to unexpected everyday objects.

Jack Tucker Comedy Standup Show
No Safety Net
Performance

Equal parts parody, performance art, and masterclass in comedic tension, the Jack Tucker Comedy Standup Show is the misguided brainchild of Zach Zucker, a performer who is celebrated for blending virtuosic clowning with razor-sharp satire.

Handel’s Messiah 2026
Performance

Handel’s Messiah

Saturday, December 5 - Sunday, December 6, 2026

Led by conductor Scott Hanoian and brought to life each year by friends and colleagues throughout the community who perform with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and the UMS Choral Union, Handel’s Messiah returns to celebrate the season’s true meaning.

Yo-Yo Ma, cello, and Emanuel Ax, piano
Performance

Legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma reunites with pianist Emanuel Ax for an evening of masterful collaboration, celebrating decades of shared artistry and musical connection.

Isidore Quartet / Anthony McGill
Performance

Isidore String Quartet and clarinetist Anthony McGill return together to perform quintets by Brahms and Mozart, and a new piece by U-M alumnus James Lee III.

Johannes Brahms Clarinet Quintet in b minor, Op. 115
James Lee III Humanity’s Essential Gems
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581

School Day Performance: Marooned! A Space Comedy
School Day Performance

An astronaut crash-lands on a mysterious alien planet and, through puppetry, humor, and heartfelt storytelling, embarks on a strange and emotional journey to find her way home.

Watch Me Walk
Arts & Wellness
No Safety Net
Performance

Watch Me Walk
Anne Gridley

Thursday, January 21 - Sunday, January 24, 2027

Watch Me Walk is a hilarious dark, biting, and compassionate new play about disability, pity, injustice, family mythologies, and the absurdities of the American health care system.

C4 Trío
Performance

C4 Trío

Thursday, January 28, 2027

Three cuatros, one electric bass, and a revolutionary sound. Discover the Venezuelan quartet that has redefined traditional music for a global stage.

When I Saw the Sea
No Safety Net
Performance

When I Saw the Sea

Friday, January 29 - Saturday, January 30, 2027

Created by Ali Chahrour and inspired by true stories of survival and resistance, When I Saw the Sea is a powerful new theater work that confronts Lebanon’s kafala system — a structure that binds migrant domestic workers to their employers and enables widespread exploitation, abuse, and erasure.

School Day Performance: C4 Trío
School Day Performance

In this School Day Performance, the C4 Trío blends the bright sound of the cuatro with jazz, pop, and world music, creating energetic and accessible performances that show how one small instrument can sound incredibly big.

Brass of the Berlin Philharmonic
Performance

Members of the Berlin Philharmonic brass section join together with celebrated American organist Paul Jacobs for a special Hill Auditorium concert.

Takács Quartet / Jeremy Denk
Performance

Called “the essential quartet of our time” by The New York Times, the esteemed Takács Quartet returns with pianist Jeremy Denk in a program that journeys through classical, romantic, and modern eras.

School Day Performance: Brass of the Berlin Philharmonic
School Day Performance

Musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic brass section deliver a lively School Day Performance showcasing the power, versatility, and expressive range of brass instruments through dynamic and engaging music.

Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas
Performance

Joyce DiDonato returns with Il Pomo d’Oro and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev for a concert performance of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, also featuring tenor and U-M alumnus Nicholas Phan in the role of Aeneas. The first half of the program features Giacomo Carissimi’s Jephte, a rarely performed Baroque masterpiece for tenor, soprano, continuo orchestra, and choir.

Gregory Porter
Performance

Gregory Porter

Thursday, February 11, 2027

Gregory Porter and his unique blend of jazz, soul, and gospel return to Ann Arbor for the first time since his 2014 debut.

Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony
Performance

Conductor Scott Hanoian leads two works by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams that have not been performed on a UMS program in over 50 years. Soprano Christine Goerke and baritone Norman Garrett join for Britten’s Sea Symphony, inspired by the sea poems from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

300 Paintings
Arts & Wellness
No Safety Net
Performance

300 Paintings
Created and performed by Sam Kissajukian

Thursday, February 18 - Sunday, February 21, 2027

Australian comedian Sam Kissajukian transforms a deeply personal journey into 300 Paintings, a critically acclaimed show blending comedy and visual art to explore Bipolar disorder, creativity, and recovery.

School Day Performance: 300 Paintings
School Day Performance

In this School Day Performance, comedian Sam Kissajukian shares how a manic episode that led him to create 300 paintings became a powerful show blending humor, storytelling, and art to explore creativity and mental health.

J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion
Performance

Bach specialist Masaaki Suzuki returns to conduct one of the composer’s great masterpieces with the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir.

TREES
Film Screening
Performance

Oscar nominated filmmaker Sam Green joins forces with environmentalist Rebecca Solnit for a study of humankind’s relationship to our Earthly cohabitants, with live narration and music.

London Symphony Orchestra with Maxim Vengerov, violin
Arts & Wellness
Performance

This first of two UMS presentations with the LSO features violinist Maxim Vengerov performing Beethoven’s exquisite violin concerto 200 years after the composer’s death, followed by Shostakovich’s tragic and powerful Symphony No. 8, composed during World War II.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 8 in c minor, Op. 65

London Symphony Orchestra with Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Arts & Wellness
Performance

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein returns to the Hill Auditorium stage as soloist for Elgar’s iconic Cello Concerto. Richard Strauss’s glorious tone poem Ein Heldenleben closes the program with its sensational color and imaginative orchestration — a musical depiction of a hero constantly at battle with its critics.

Program

Elizabeth Maconchy Nocturne
Edward Elgar Cello Concerto in e minor, Op. 85
Richard Strauss Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40

Seong-Jin Cho, piano
Performance

Pianist Seong-Jin Cho returns to Ann Arbor following his remarkable all-Ravel performance in 2024. This wide-ranging program includes two works by Prokofiev, whose ten pieces from Romeo and Juliet were arranged for piano even before the full ballet premiered.

Program

Jörg Widmann Sonatina facile
Sergei Prokofiev Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 75
W.A. Mozart Fantasia in c minor, K. 396 (completed by Maximilian Stadler)
Sergei Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Major, Op. 84

The Mad Lover
Performance

Violinist and early music specialist Théotime Langlois de Swarte returns with lute player Thomas Dunford, celebrating Baroque works from their album, The Mad Lover.

New Works by Lucinda Childs / Gibney Dance Company
Performance

A founding member of the experimental 1960s collaborative Judson Dance Theater, choreographer Lucinda Childs is known for her close association with composer Philip Glass, including his monumental Einstein on the Beach. This exciting performance features a landmark new work for 10 dancers, with music that was originally composed for but never used in Einstein, and is being created in celebration of Philip Glass’s 90th birthday.

Yuja Wang, piano
Performance

Yuja Wang, piano

Thursday, April 8, 2027

Piano superstar Yuja Wang returns to UMS for the first time in nearly a decade with her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty, and captivating stage presence.

Audra McDonald
Performance

Audra McDonald

Sunday, April 18, 2027

Unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a singer and an actress, Audra McDonald returns to UMS for her ninth appearance since her debut in 2000.

Rosamunde String Quartet
Performance

An all-star quartet of top orchestral musicians—including members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic—unites to bring world-class artistry and a shared passion for chamber music to audiences.

The Ever Fonky Lowdown
Performance
Performance

Acclaimed actor Wendell Pierce narrates Wynton Marsalis’s 2019 masterpiece The Ever Fonky Lowdown, combining droll commentary with soulful, big band-backed vocals.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Performance
Performance

The 26/27 season comes to a close with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and his final as artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the end of an era.

The Butterfly Who Flew Into the Rave
Performance

“This could be the definition of leaving it all on the floor … a shatteringly powerful show of street dance choreography and techno beats.” (The Guardian)

Love great music, theater, and dance?

Love great music, theater, and dance?

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