Center for the Arts

Headlined by award-winning singer and actress Lea Salonga, the annual benefit event raises funds for student scholarships at the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA). Since its launch in 2006, ARTS by George! has raised more than $4.1 million for Mason Arts.

Right before Earth Day, Small Island Big Song (SIBS) presented an "impassioned" (Roots World) concert experience at the Center for the Arts on April 20, combining music, spoken word, and stunning projections of indigenous artists from Pacific and Indian Ocean island nations while shining a light on the devastating effects of the climate crisis on our world’s oceans. As a Mason Artist-in-Residence, Small Island Big Song also deeply engaged with the community through a series of education and engagement programs.

A group of George Mason University mechanical engineering students are building a motorized Vitruvian man for a Center for the Arts (CFA) performance of "Flying to the Stars," a choral concert dedicated to the beginnings of flight from the time of Leonardo da Vinci to the exploration of space. 

Mason Artist-in-Residence Indigenous Enterprise Leads Events Across Campus and Community

Professors from Mason's Dewberry School of Music and Mason's School of Dance collaborated to create a performance that brought together dancers and musicians live onstage.

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.

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.

GRAMMY Award-winning composer, conductor, and Mason Artist-in-Residence Maria Schneider conducts Northern Virginia’s own Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra for a jazz performance including some of her own original music on Saturday, April 16 at 8 p.m. at the Center for the Arts at George Mason University.

On Saturday, November 20 at 8 p.m., George Mason University’s Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music is proud to present the Jazz4Justice™ 20th Anniversary Concert, a one-of-a-kind event celebrating Northern Virginia’s love of music while raising funds to support legal services for low-income Northern Virginians and the George Mason University Jazz Studies program.