More to experience, more to enjoy! Virginia Arts Festival has added more iconic musical artists from classical, jazz, roots rock and Broadway to its 2026 season, making this one of its most robust seasons ever. Featuring broad and diverse programming of music, dance and theater, with an emphasis on artistic excellence and audience engagement, Virginia Arts Festival has become a major arts destination for fans from across the U.S. and around the world.

Joining an already spectacular line-up are these just-announced performances:

Norfolk’s Diehn of Music: Celebrating F. Ludwig Diehn 
One man’s lifelong love of music fueled a composing career and endowed programs that would nurture artists for generations to come. F. Ludwig Diehn, a successful businessman with degrees in law and chemistry, fulfilled his musical dreams by composing works for orchestra and chamber ensembles that have been performed around the world. He chose Norfolk as his home, and left a legacy to Old Dominion University whose impact is vast, touching the lives of aspiring artists and audiences alike. March 11 in Chandler Recital Hall, Old Dominion University, Virginia Arts Festival celebrates Diehn’s life and music in a sparkling performance of his works featuring some of the region’s finest musicians.

Love, George & Ira: A Gershwin Celebration
Rob Fisher, music director and conductor
Famed Broadway music director and the Festival’s Goode Family Artistic Advisor for Musical Theater and the American Songbook, Rob Fisher cut his musical teeth on Gershwin. The uniquely American music that George and Ira Gershwin created fused classical, Broadway, jazz and Tin Pan Alley to form an exhilarating new kind of music for the 20th century and beyond, conquering stage and screen with enduring classics like “Embraceable You,” “Summertime,” “Love is Here to Stay,” and "Rhapsody in Blue" a favorite for audiences and orchestras.  Rob Fisher curated the Carnegie Hall Gershwin Centennial celebrations of Ira’s in 1996 and George’s in 1998. The Gershwin brothers’ timeless songs explore the joys and disappointments of love, brought vividly to life by Ross Lekites (Brigadoon, Frozen) and Patti Murin (Frozen, Wicked). In this must-hear concert, Fisher gathers Broadway singers and a swinging quartet for a trip down a memory lane of greatness, courtesy of the immortal Gershwin brothers. Saturday, March 28 at 8pm in the Robin Hixon Theater, Clay and Jay Barr Education Center, Norfolk

Victoria Melody
Trouble, Struggle, Bubble and Squeak
Edinburgh Fringe favorite Victoria Melody returns to Virginia Arts Festival after her successful wildly witty tale Major Tom.
Who really shapes history? While spending weekends with a historical re-enactment society, award-winning theatre maker and “Fringe legend” (Time Out) Victoria Melody uncovered the story of a group of 17th-century radicals called The Diggers—and began a quest to find the Diggers of today. Blending storytelling and stand-up, this wildly entertaining show celebrates the ordinary people still making history – April 10 & 11 in Robin Hixon Theater, Clay and Jay Barr Education Center.

Lee Greenwood
Making his Festival debut, international country music icon Lee Greenwood brings a celebrated career marked by chart-topping hits, industry honors, and enduring patriotism. A GRAMMY Award®-winner and recipient of multiple CMA and ACM Awards, Greenwood has released twenty-two studio albums, earned seven No. 1 hits, and charted thirty-eight singles. His signature anthem, “God Bless the USA,” reached the Top Five on the  country charts three times — an unprecedented achievement — and rose  to the Billboard Hot 100 following September 11, 2001. Honored with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s National Patriot’s Award, Greenwood has also entertained U.S. troops on more than 30 USO Tours He performs here on May 3 in the Festival’s Perry Pavilion in Norfolk.

The Lone Bellow
It’s a sound like no other: born in the South, transplanted to Brooklyn, cooked in a Kentucky farmhouse and distilled in a Muscle Shoals studio—true to its roots in country, blues, gospel and indie rock. Fans flock to share this band live, craving concerts of raw, ecstatic energy, with lush harmonies driving songs that pulse with honesty and human connection. May 8 in the Perry Pavilion, hear this ensemble hailed as a “arguably the most talented trio working in Americana music today” (Americana Highways).

Michael Mayo, vocalist
In its 4-star review of his debut album, Jazziz raved, “Michael Mayo has developed his own lush, neo-soul sound that adroitly showcases his clear tenor.” This L.A.-based artist has captivated audiences worldwide with heavenly harmonizing, hard-hitting beatboxing, and heartfelt crooning—now he brings his signature style to the Perry Pavilion May 26.

Palmyra
They met at James Madison University, and now they’re attracting critical acclaim with roots/folk songs that fans can’t get enough of: compulsive and immediate anthems to be sung or shouted out loud. “If it’s possible to fall head over heels for a band, then Palmyra is [that] band. Beautiful, full of gorgeous harmony” (Red Line Roots). Fans can plan for May 27 to hear this band in the Festival’s Perry Pavilion. Co-presented with North Shore Point Downtown.

Cowboy Junkies
In the ‘80s, Cowboy Junkies proved that there was an audience waiting for something beautiful and reflective—and that audience has followed this iconic roots band through four decades of moving, masterful music. Their “virtuosic blend of folk and rock textures” (No Depression) fills the Perry Pavilion June 7. Co-presented with North Shore Point Downtown.

For a full calendar of Festival events, visit vafest.org. Tickets are available at vafest.org, by phone at 757-282-2822, or at the Festival Ticket Office, 440 Bank St, Norfolk (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm).

About Virginia Arts Festival
The Virginia Arts Festival celebrates its 28th Anniversary in 2025.  The largest performing arts organization in southeastern Virginia, Virginia Arts Festival has transformed the region's cultural scene, presenting great performers from around the world and making this historic region a cultural destination for visitors from across the United States and around the world. In 2024 the Festival welcomed visitors from 49 states, the District of Columbia, and 8 foreign countries.  Each season, the Festival presents over 250 performances, including free community events, student matinees, and workshops, with an annual attendance of over 110,000.  Millions more are reached through international broadcasts of Festival performances on American Public Radio's Performance Today, nationally on PBS TV, and regionally on WHRO TV.  Over 34.4% of ticket sales come from outside the region, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to local museums and attractions and filling regional hotels and restaurants.  Estimated annual economic impact of the Festival exceeds $25 million. 

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.

Media Contact
Alli Pereira
apereira@vafest.org
757-282-2804