Akeylah Simone at The Front Porch 1/10

Hampton Roads resident Akeylah Simone brings the AS IS | Black First Tour to town in a soul-stirring performance that celebrates Black identity, resilience, and artistry. Simone collapses genres, building compositions that weave together sonic elements from R&B, neo-soul, jazz, pop, rock, and funk with authentic storytelling and expert stagecraft. Her powerful presence and poetic […]

January Exhibitions

Friday 1/30/26 through Tuesday 3/20/26 Ruffin Gallery at the University of Virginia presents its annual Ruffin Distinguished Artist-in-Residence exhibition “We Dream of Life,” a collaboration reflecting friendship, shared dreams, and explorations of the natural world by New Mexico-based artist Paula Wilson and California-based artist iris yirei hu. Within a monumental installation incorporating painting, collage, and […]

Bethlehem: A Christmas Pilgrimage at Emmanuel Episcopal and Grace Episcopal churches 1/3 and 1/4

Three Notch’d Road celebrates the season with Bethlehem: A Christmas Pilgrimage, which offers two regional performances by The Virginia Baroque Ensemble. Led by violinist and Artistic Director Fiona Hughes, the concerts feature harp, lute, violin, and viola da gamba, with a double-reeded duduk providing unique sounds evoking the Middle East. Each show features Baroque carols, […]

Studio 51 at The Looking Glass at IX Art Park 12/31

Music, art, performance, and fantasy collide in a glowing, interstellar playground at Studio 51, an out-of-this-world New Year’s Eve celebration combining elements of Studio 54 and Area 51. The immersive experience with retro-stellar sensibilities, where extraterrestrial costumes are encouraged, features three different DJs spinning high-energy celestial mixes—including Fancy K (pictured), gravity-defying aerialist performances, enchanting alien […]

Ruby Lopez Harper in the HotSeat

The City of Charlottesville and the surrounding region’s robust arts community has lacked a centralized arts council since the Piedmont Council for the Arts shuttered in 2017. A new effort to establish an equitable, accessible, and focused arts organization is now in the works, facilitated by independent consultant Ruby Lopez Harper. The initiative invites artists, […]

Christmas at The Paramount 12/20

The Oratorio Society of Virginia presents Christmas at The Paramount, an annual celebration of the season that’s become a Charlottesville tradition. Music Director Michael Slon leads more than 100 of Central Virginia’s finest voices in a festive concert featuring Camille Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio with harp, organ, and string orchestra. Sparkling new arrangements of holiday classics […]

Ned Oldham and Jordan Perry at The Stage at WTJU 12/20

Ned Oldham and Jordan Perry come together to explore traditional tunes, choice covers, and engaging originals—with a focus on vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar. Oldham (The Anomoanon, Old Calf, Palace Music) and Perry (New Boss, Night Teacher) have been performing as a duo for nearly a decade, after bonding over a mutual appreciation for British […]