Center for the Arts

Founded in 1957, the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (FSO) has been hailed by the Washington Post as “a crown jewel of the cultural landscape” and has continued to promote its mission to inspire and engage a large, diverse audience in the Northern Virginia region and beyond. Under the direction of award-winning Christopher Zimmerman, the FSO brings its incredible group of musicians and featured soloists to Fairfax this summer and into the 2024-25 Great Performances at Mason season.

The 2023/2024 season at the Center for the Arts had something for everyone whether it was classical music that left audience members swooning or shadow puppetry that transported viewers to an ancient land. Looking back on the season, audiences share their favorite moments and memories.

Whether it’s wagging your tail or exploring the great outdoors, it’s not too late to experience the Center’s Family Series with Mutts Gone Nuts or The Okee Dokee Brothers this April.

One of Germany’s premier orchestras, Bamberg Symphony, and virtuoso pianist Hélène Grimaud join forces to perform a program inspired by The New Yorker music critic and Pulitzer Prize finalist Alex Ross’s book Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music on April 27. The program explores and emerges music from Wagner with his German contemporizes, Schumann and Brahms, to create an evening of unforgettable classical music.

On April 13, the oldest modern dance ensemble in the country, Martha Graham Dance Company, returns to the Center with a program that celebrates the company’s 100th anniversary through iconic classics and new work. The spectacular program features pieces by choreographers Agnes de Mille, Jamar Roberts, and of course, Martha Graham, including a special performance by Mason School of Dance students.  

Right before Earth Day, Small Island Big Song presents a "jaw-dropping" (Billboard) concert experience at the Center for the Arts on April 20, combining music, spoken word, and stunning projections to showcase unique oceanic grooves and soulful island ballads, while shining a light on the devastating effects of climate crisis on our world’s oceans. As a Mason Artist-in-Residence, Small Island Big Song will also deeply engage with the community through a series of education and engagement programs.

Dedicated to performing every note ever composed by Frédéric Chopin, the internationally celebrated pianist Brian Ganz continues his quest in "Romantic Revolutionary" at the Center for the Arts on May 4. Maryland Theatre Guide notes that when attending a concert by Brian Ganz, audience members are sure to be enraptured by “one of the foremost pianists of his generation.”

Join the Friends of the Center for the Arts for just $100 by Wednesday, April 24 to receive an exclusive invitation to the 2024-2025 Season Announcement event on Wednesday, May 1. This complimentary Friends-only event offers a first look at the upcoming season at the Center, a fantastic opportunity to purchase tickets before the general public and enjoy delicious hors d’oeuvres.

In a pledge to nurture the next generation of new opera experiences, Virginia Opera is thrilled to continue its 2023/2024 season with the “lyrical and historically vibrant” (NPR) contemporary opera Sanctuary Road by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell, both of whom are Pulitzer Prize winners, on February 3 and 4. Based on the life and writings of William Still, an African American leader on the Underground Railroad who helped more than 800 enslaved people escape to freedom, this production brings to life the many interviews of men and women Still helped find passage north.

Culminating its second of three years in residence at the Center for the Arts at George Mason University, Silkroad Ensemble engaged with George Mason University’s campus, as well as the local Fairfax community, as Mason Artist-in-Residence in conjunction with its November 5 performance of the world-premiere program American Railroad.