Events

• Saturday, April 18, 2026

  Jazz at Lincoln Center: Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Regional Competition

  8:00 am

  Murray Hall

  MSU Jazz Spectacular Series

  Top high school bands from across the region gather for a full day of performance and competition, presenting works by Duke Ellington and other legends before a panel of Jazz at Lincoln Center clinicians and professional jazz artists.

  Event Details

  Free
• Saturday, April 18, 2026

  Jazz Spectacular Finale Concert with Anat Cohen

  7:30 pm

  Fairchild Theatre

  MSU Jazz Spectacular Series

  Internationally renowned clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen brings her captivating artistry to this series finale, joined by MSU Jazz Orchestra I, the Professors of Jazz, and the Outstanding High School Jazz Band of the Day for a high-energy celebration of jazz collaboration and excellence.

  Event Details

  $$$
• Monday, April 20, 2026

  Musique 21: “From Darkness to Light”

  7:30 pm

  Fairchild Theatre

  Musique 21

  Conducted by Katherine Kilburn with conductors Zongheng Zhang and Dan Jaggars, this powerful program features six contemporary works exploring transformation and tension, anchored by a poetic new song cycle by MSU’s David Biedenbender.

  Event Details

  $$$
• Wednesday, April 22, 2026

  Concert Band and Campus Band

  7:30 pm

  Wharton Center

  MSU Bands

  The program, conducted by Arris Golden, features Tuttarana by Reena Esmail, Second Suite in F by Gustav Holst, Resting in the Peace of His Hands by John Gibson, Fallingwater at Twilight by James David, and His Honor by Henry Fillmore.

  Event Details

  $$$
• Thursday, April 23, 2026

  Symphony Orchestra, “Rhythms in Motion: A Celebration of Dance”

  7:30 pm

  Wharton Center

  MSU Orchestras

  Conducted by Octavio Más-Arocas, the MSU Symphony Orchestra closes the season with an energetic program featuring Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier Suite, Contreras’s Mariachitlán, Simon’s Hellfighters’ Blues, Ravel’s Boléro, and a student-composed Sam and Mary Austin Fanfare.

  Event Details

  $$$
• Online
  Friday, April 24, 2026

  African Diaspora Percussion Ensemble

  7:30 pm

  Murray Hall

  MSU Small Ensembles

  Members of MSU’s Percussion Ensemble explore the vibrant drumming traditions of the African Diaspora, performing traditional Congolese and Cuban rhythms on culturally unique instruments. 

  Event Details

  $$$
• Sunday, April 26, 2026

  Spartan Youth Wind Symphony and Symphony Band

  3:00 pm

  Wharton Center

  MSU Bands

  An afternoon showcasing wind ensemble versatility with Bernstein’s Slava!, Profanation, and BSO Forever, plus works by Chambers, Yagisawa, Piunno, Sousa, and Newman, conducted by Dana Sedatole and David Thornton.

  Event Details

  $$$
• Sunday, May 3, 2026

  Piano Monster: America 250!

  3:00 pm

  Fairchild Theatre

  MSUFCU Showcase Series

  Piano Monster returns in a spectacular finale to the Showcase Series, featuring seven pianists on four grand pianos in a powerful, all-American program celebrating 250 years of music, patriotism, and bold, genre-spanning arrangements.

  Event Details

  $$$
• Sunday, May 10, 2026

  Keyboard Conversations

  3:00 pm

  MSU Alumni Memorial Chapel

  Artist-Faculty and Guest Recital Series

  Experience a unique duet recital as MSU’s Hae Won Jang and Deborah Moriarty perform works for piano and organ in the resonant MSU Alumni Memorial Chapel.

  Event Details

  $$$