VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2025 SEASON 

Highlights include the U.S. Premiere of  

Black Sabbath – The Ballet by Britain’s famed Birmingham Royal Ballet,  

and  

Performances by acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming,  

iconic cellist Yo-Yo Ma,  

Jazz Star Samara Joy,  

Banjo Virtuoso Béla Fleck,  

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis,  

Beethoven Chamber Music Celebration and more 

The Virginia Arts Festival’s 28th season will bring acclaimed, award-winning artists in virtually every performance genre to a spectacular spring. Collectively, these world-renowned artists have received scores of awards and accolades, including two Pulitzer Prizes for Music, three Kennedy Center Honors, three National Medal of the Arts, 66 Grammy Awards (with 153 nominations).   

Virginia Arts Festival Perry Artistic Director Robert W. Cross notes, “The virtuosity of these artists is stunning, from the seasoned artists who are household names to newcomers of extraordinary promise. We look forward to sharing these great performances with our communities in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Newport News, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg.” 

Here’s a look at the spring 2025 Virginia Arts Festival: 

DANCE 

Whether you’re a lifelong dance fan or you’ve never seen a dance performance before, the Festival has got you covered this season, bringing blazingly innovative, spectacularly entertaining new works from legendary companies. 

In a coup for the Festival, and the region, Britain’s famed Birmingham Royal Ballet will perform the U.S. Premiere of its headline-making new ballet, a spectacular tribute to some of Birmingham’s most famous exports — Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. Combining the raw energy of rock with the strength and grace of ballet, Black Sabbath - The Ballet is spectacular entertainment, with eight classic Black Sabbath hits arranged for orchestra, provided by Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and rock band, a live guitarist onstage with the dancers, and a pulsing light show frames the action. Three performances at Norfolk’s Chrysler Hall, May 30-31. 

With its signature mix of eye-popping acrobatics, gymnastics, dance, film, innovative stage effects and more, MOMIX has wowed audiences for more than 50 years. In this return Festival engagement (April 2 at Chrysler Hall, April 4 at Newport News’ Ferguson Center), MOMIX sends audiences flying down the rabbit hole in company founder and choreographer Moses Pendleton’s newest creation, ALICE, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Filled with visual splendor and startling creative movement, ALICE reveals that nothing in MOMIX’s world is as it seems. 

CLASSICAL MUSIC 

Always a hub for great classical music, the Virginia Arts Festival brings unforgettable performances by iconic artists this season.  

Renée Fleming is one of the most beloved and celebrated singers of our time; her sumptuous voice captivates audiences whether reaching devotees from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera or making new fans at the Super Bowl. To the 2025 Virginia Arts Festival, Fleming brings a performance inspired by her GRAMMY® Award-winning album, Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene—a breathtaking exploration of humankind’s evolving relationship with nature featuring music by Handel, Björk, Fauré, Puccini, and Jerome Kern, with a beautiful projected film created for the program by National Geographic. June 1 at Norfolk’s Harrison Opera House.   

Beyond his phenomenal career as a musician, cellist Yo-Yo Ma has used his artistry to bring people together around themes of kindness and tolerance. In An Afternoon with Yo-Yo-Ma: Reflections in Words and Music, the 19-time Grammy winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom pairs repertoire from the center of his musical firmament with reflections on how it has shaped his thinking about art, human nature, and our search for meaning. June 8 at Chrysler Hall. 

Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is one of the most beloved works in the classical repertoire, a profoundly emotional experience that Virginia Symphony Orchestra Music Director Eric Jacobsen calls “one of the greatest accomplishments of humanity.” The Virginia Arts Festival co-presents this masterwork with the VSO in performances in Newport News’ Ferguson Center and Virginia Beach’s Sandler Center, May 9 and 10. 

Other highlights in the Festival’s abundant classical music offerings include Britain’s a cappella masters The Tallis Scholars, dubbed “the rock stars of Renaissance vocal music” by The New York Times, coming April 29; and acclaimed organist Alcée Chriss III, who will reveal the beauty of Norfolk’s Christ & St. Luke’s Episcopal Church organ May 11. 

Alongside these established stars, the Festival will showcase the work of an astonishing young talent. Nineteen-year-old Alma Deutscher is an established composer and conductor who has already sold-out Carnegie Hall—twice. Here, Deutscher will lead a performance of her opera Cinderella, written when she was 12 years old; her version of the story has the Prince seeking the mysterious beauty from the ball not with a glass slipper but with the beginnings of a melody—which only Cinderella can complete. The performance will feature student performers from The Governor’s School for the Arts’ Vocal & Instrumental Music Departments, and special student prices are available for $10; at the Sandler Center March 15. 

CHAMBER MUSIC 

The Virginia Arts Festival’s Chamber Music Series, always a standout in the classical music season, has taken on new energy and thematic direction thanks to the star-powered leadership of the Festival’s Connie and Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music Olga Kern and Composer- in- Residence Jessie Montgomery, a Grammy-winning star who was named Musical America’s Composer of the Year in 2023.  

Olga Kern, the first woman in over 30 years to win the coveted Van Cliburn Gold Medal in 2001, is a mesmerizing pianist whose knowledge of music is as deep as it is fascinating; her contributions to the Festival’s Rachmaninoff 150 Celebration were among the highlight of the 2023 season. This season, Kern celebrates Beethoven, curating a chamber music festival-within-the-Festival that offers enticing new ways to savor Beethoven classics, including his great chamber works but also transcriptions of his overtures and more. Kern will join acclaimed chamber artists including violinist Lana Trotovšek, cellist Nina Kotova, pianist János Balázs, and the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players in both evening performances and the Festival’s beloved morning Coffee Concerts.  

In other chamber music highlights, Kern will join the heralded Zemlinsky Quartet, making their Virginia Arts Festival debut May 21 at the Concert Hall at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg and May 22 in the Festival’s Robin Hixon Theater. In her second year as the Festival’s Composer in Residence, Jessie Montgomery will curate a concert in which she will perform with the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players. Montgomery’s rise to fame has been dramatic, with her works becoming a major part of the contemporary orchestral and chamber repertoire. As one critic put it, “she never fails to enthrall with her rhythmically complex, richly orchestrated, highly original pieces” (WTTW, Chicago PBS). Montgomery performs April 15 in the Robin Hixon Theater. 

JAZZ 

Led by nine-time GRAMMY® winner and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Medal of the Arts Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is the emblem of jazz for the United States and the world — and a swingin’ great time for audiences. In a unique collaboration, Jazz at Lincoln Center has joined with Virginia Arts Festival in nurturing the next generation of jazz musicians with a three-day residency that features jazz ensembles from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The student winners of the adjudicated residency performances will open this concert, followed by their mentors from the greatest big band in the universe—the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. It all happens on April 11 at Chrysler Hall. 

Hailed as the reincarnation of Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald in one spectacularly gifted voice, Samara Joy has seized the imagination of audiences, from seasoned jazz afficionados to enthusiastic young converts. At just 25, she already has three Grammy Awards including the 2023 Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album and the 2024 Best Jazz Performance. One performance only, June 7 in Chrysler Hall. 

Virginia Arts Festival’s Attucks Jazz Club has long been a mecca for players and fans alike; this season, once the Attucks Jazz Club wraps up, local jazz favorite, bassist Jimmy Masters curates the Towne Bank Jazz Series in the Sandler Center’s Miller Studio Theatre. Among the artists who will perform are the scatting mezzo-soprano Lena Seikaly May 15, and crooner Sachal Vasandani June 19. 

MUSIC FOR EVERY TASTE 

The Virginia Arts Festival’s Perry Pavilion has brightened the concert scene in downtown Norfolk; just steps from Chrysler Hall and some of the city’s most vibrant restaurants, this outdoor venue has hosted major artists. This season, the Perry Pavilion will welcome tabla master (“the drum with a thousand voices”) Zakir Hussain and the Masters of Percussion, April 17; soulful roots/y’alternative singer-songwriter John Moreland May 4; and 18-time Grammy winner and banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck brings his newest genre-jumping adventure May 14, performing in trio with Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda and celebrated drummer Antonio Sánchez, winner of five Grammys.  

Virtuosity is key in the Festival’s lineup, with the fabled Los Angeles Guitar Quartet lighting up the Norfolk Academy April 16; with a repertoire that ranges from Bach to bluegrass, this dazzlingly gifted ensemble plays to sold-out houses around the world, bringing “unrivaled joy, technical élan, and a questing spirit” (Los Angeles Times) to every performance. 

The only bassist ever to be awarded the vaunted Avery Fisher Prize, Edgar Meyer is as versatile as he is talented; in his newest project, he joins classical violinist and Kentucky fiddler Tessa Lark and cellist/composer Joshua Roman in the Concert Hall at the College of William & Mary, May 7. 

MOVIE MADNESS 

From the sublime (see classical music above) to the ridiculous (all thoroughly enjoyable), the 2025 Virginia Arts Festival has it all, including the giddily entertaining Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music Sing-A-Long, which invites the audience to see the Oscar-winning 1965 movie musical in glorious, full-screen technicolor and sing along to their favorite songs, including “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” “Do-Re-Mi” and more. The on-screen lyrics help you get the words right; carrying the tune is up to you. Costumes encouraged but not required; but there is a pre-show costume contest if you have a spare pair of lederhosen lying around. April 6 at Chrysler Hall. 

VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL TATTOO 

On the occasion of the 250th birthday of the United States Army, Navy and Marine Corps, the 2025 Virginia International Tattoo will throw a spectacular party showcasing an international cast of more than 800 civilian and military performers from nations around the world. With stirring music, heartfelt tributes to those who have served, and appearances by some very special guests, this Tattoo honors the service and sacrifice that make freedom possible. April 24-27 in Norfolk’s Scope Arena; see the Festival website for a complete listing of pre-performance events along with the Norfolk NATO Festival happenings including the annual parade and more.  

Tickets for these 2025 Virginia Arts Festival performances are on sale now, available online at vafest.org, by phone at 757-281-2812, or at the Festival Ticket Office, 440 Bank St, Norfolk (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm). 

Virginia Arts Festival Spring 2025 Season At A Glance 

Cinderella  

Alma Deutscher, composer/conductor 

featuring student performers from the Governor’s School for the Arts Vocal & Instrumental music departments 

Saturday, March 15, 7:00 pm 

Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach 

 

Momix 

ALICE 

Inspired by Alice in Wonderland 

Connie and Marc Jacobson Opening Night Celebration  

Wednesday, April 2, 7:30 pm 

Chrysler Hall, Norfolk 

Friday, April 4, 7:30 pm 

Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News 

 

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s  

The Sound of Music Sing-a-Long 

Sunday, April 6, pre-show costume contest 2 pm, film 3 pm 

Chrysler Hall, Norfolk 

 

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis 

with Top Ensembles from the Jazz at Lincoln Center and Virginia Arts Festival HBCU Jazz Residency 

Friday, April 11, 7:30 pm  

Chrysler Hall, Norfolk 

 

Jessie Montgomery, violin & composer 

Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players 

Tuesday, April 15, 7:30 pm 

Robin Hixon Theater, Clay & Jay Barr Education Center, Norfolk 

 

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet 

Wednesday, April 16, 7:30 pm 

Norfolk Academy, Norfolk 

 

Zakir Hussain And Masters Of Percussion 

Zakir Hussain, tabla; Melissa hié, djembe; Anantha Krishnan, mridangam & vibraphone; Shikhar Naad Qureshi, multi-instrument percussionist; Sriram Ramesh, khanjira 

Featuring Tabla Choir 

Thursday, April 17, 7:30 pm 

Perry Pavilion, Norfolk 

 

Virginia International Tattoo 

Thursday, April 24, 7:30 pm 

Friday, April 25, 7:30 pm 

Saturday, April 26, 7:30 pm 

Sunday, April 27, 2:30 pm 

Scope Arena, Norfolk 

 

The Tallis Scholars 

Tuesday, April 29, 7:30 pm 

Christ & St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Norfolk 

 

John Moreland, singer-songwriter 

Sunday, May 4, 7:30 pm  

Perry Pavilion, Norfolk 

 

Edgar Meyer, double bass Tessa Lark, violin Joshua Roman, cello 

Wednesday, May 7, 7:30 pm 

Concert Hall at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg 

 

Mahler Symphony No. 9 

Virginia Symphony Orchestra  

Eric Jacobsen, conductor 

Friday, May 9, 7:30 pm 

Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News  

Saturday, May 10, 2:30 pm 

Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach  

 

Alcée Chriss III, organ 

Christ & St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Norfolk 

Sunday, May 11, 4:00 pm 

 

Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sánchez Trio 

Wednesday, May 14, 7:30 pm 

Perry Pavilion, Norfolk 

 

Towne Bank Jazz Series with Jimmy Masters 

Lena Seikaly, vocalist 

Thursday, May 15, 7:30 pm 

Miller Studio Theatre, Sandler Center for the Performing Ats, Virginia Beach 

 

Zemlinsky Quartet 

Olga Kern, piano 

Wednesday, May 21, 7:30 pm 

Concert Hall at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg 

Thursday, May 22, 7:30 pm 

Robin Hixon Theater, Clay & Jay Barr Education Center, Norfolk 

 

Coffee Concert I: Zemlinksy Quartet; Olga Kern, piano Friday, May 23, 10:30 am 
Miller Studio Theatre, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach 

 

Birmingham Royal Ballet 

Black Sabbath — The Ballet 

with Virginia Symphony Orchestra 

Friday, May 30, 7:30 pm 

Saturday, May 31, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm 

Chrysler Hall, Norfolk 

 

Renée Fleming, soprano 

Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene 

Sunday, June 1, 3:00 pm 

Harrison Opera House, Norfolk   

 

Coffee Concert II: Lana Trotovšek, violin 

Nina Kotova, cello János Balázs, piano 

Olga Kern, piano Wednesday, June 4, 10:30 am 
Miller Studio Theatre, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach 
 

Coffee Concert III: Lana Trotovšek, violin Nina Kotova, cello Olga Kern, piano Thursday, June 5, 10:30 am 
Concert Hall at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg 
 

An Afternoon with Yo-Yo Ma 

Reflections in Words and Music 

Sunday, June 8, 3:00 pm 

Chrysler Hall, Norfolk   

 

Lana Trotovšek, violin  

Nina Kotova, cello  

János Balázs, piano 

Olga Kern, piano 

Friday, June 6, 7:30 Pm 

Robin Hixon Theater, Clay & Jay Barr Education Center, Norfolk 

 

Samara Joy 

Saturday, June 7, 7:30 pm 

Chrysler Hall, Norfolk 

 

Olga Kern, piano  

Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players 

Wednesday, June 11, 7:30 pm 

Robin Hixon Theater, Clay & Jay Barr Education Center, Norfolk 

 

Coffee Concert IV: Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players Thursday, June 12, 10:30 am 
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Portsmouth 
 

Coffee Concert V: Olga Kern, piano Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players Friday, June 13, 10:30 am 
Towne University, Suffolk 

 

Towne Bank Jazz Series with Jimmy Masters 

Sachal Vasandani, vocalist 

Thursday, June 19, 7:30 pm 

Miller Studio Theatre, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach 

 

 

About Virginia Arts Festival 

Since 1997, under the direction of Perry Artistic Director Robert W. Cross, the Virginia Arts Festival has presented great performers from across the globe. Renowned artists who have performed at the festival include Itzhak Perlman, Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Olga Kern, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Miami String Quartet, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Stewart Copeland, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, Patti LuPone, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre and Mark Morris Dance Group. The festival has presented numerous world premieres and new productions of classical music, dance, and theatre from some of today’s most influential composers, choreographers and playwrights. Van Cliburn gold medalist Olga Kern serves as the Festival’s Connie and Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music and award-winning Broadway music director Rob Fisher serves as the Festival’s Goode Family Artistic Advisor for Musical Theater and American Songbook. Each season, performances from the Virginia Arts Festival are broadcast nationwide on American Public Radio’s Performance Today. The festival’s arts education programs reach tens of thousands of schoolchildren each year through student matinees, in-school performances, artist residencies, master classes and demonstrations.  

 

VAF Media Contact: 
Alli Pereira 

Apereira@vafest.org 
757-282-2804