Center for the Arts

Identified by The Los Angeles Times as “classy, edgy, jaw-dropping and hilarious,” The Passing Zone has been leaving its audiences speechless since its first appearance on national television’s The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1990. The Passing Zone visits the Center for the Arts at George Mason University on Sunday, April 23. Read on to get to know The Passing Zone.

The GRAMMY Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble debuted their newest program, Uplifted Voices, at the Center for the Arts on January 29, launching their multi-year participation as a Mason Artist-in-Residence. Championing women and non-binary members of the Silkroad Ensemble, alongside special guest Tuscarora/Taíno musician Pura Fé, Uplifted Voices featured a musical tapestry connecting the sounds and rhythms of indigenous North America to the World. Silkroad Ensemble’s radical cultural collaboration seeks to build bridges of understanding to combat fear and build a more hopeful and inclusive world.

Showstopping jazz pianist and organist Bobby Floyd joins audience-favorite Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra on April 8 at 8 p.m. at the Center for the Arts for a night of swinging jazz.

Enchantment Theater Company’s The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon on Sunday, March 26 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. delivers an exciting and wonder-filled performance great for children ages five and up. The 4 p.m. performance taking place at the Center for the Arts will be sensory-friendly, designed to create a welcoming and comfortable arts experience for people with autism or other disabilities and striving to help audience members engage with the performance in their own unique way.

After delivering innovative and captivating performances of three diverse operas earlier this season, Virginia Opera concludes its season at the Center for the Arts with Giuseppe Verdi’s tour de force La Traviata on March 11 at 8 p.m. and March 12 at 2 p.m.

On April 15, the Center for the Arts will come alive with the technique, grace, and physicality of the neoclassical State Ballet of Georgia’s program, Mostly B. Their debut performance at the Center for the Arts features two works by famed 20th-century Georgian American choreographer George Balanchine and a work by Ukrainian choreographer Yuri Possokhov, a former principal dancer with several major companies including the Bolshoi Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.

With the release of his newest album America, the acclaimed violinist Daniel Hope performs with the acclaimed Zurich Chamber Orchestra at the Center for the Arts on Sunday, April 2 at 2 p.m., demonstrating the distinctive beauty of American music.

Based in Québec City, Canada, FLIP Fabrique is hailed around the world for its performances that are equally as fun and accessible as they are visually stunning. Raves The New York Times, “this troupe offers acts that don’t seem humanly possible.” Get to know FLIP Fabrique’s Artistic Director Bruno Gagnon, an inspiring artist and acrobat.

Silkroad Ensemble's performance on January 29 marks the launch of a three-year residency with the Center for the Arts, during which they will engage the community through a variety of events, classes, and discussions.

The GRAMMY Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble, founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and now under the Artistic Direction of Rhiannon Giddens, debuts their newest program Uplifted Voices at the Center on January 29, as part of their multi-year participation as a Mason Artist-in-Residence.