Shenandoah Conservatory Announces 2023-24 Season

Live music, theatre, and dance from students, faculty, and acclaimed guest artists

Shenandoah Conservatory announces its 2023-24 season of live music, theatre, and dance. The Conservatory Performs season features dozens of opportunities to witness and experience the arts, including a rich variety of performances by students, faculty, and internationally renowned guest artists.

The season kicks off Saturday, Sept. 9, with the Inside/Out: Arts Open House, which features an array of short music, theatre, and dance performances by faculty and students, as well as a lineup of interactive workshops and behind-the-scenes tours. Audiences can curate their own experience, wandering through a variety of indoor and outdoor venues.

Throughout the year, a wide array of guest artists will visit Winchester as part of the Performing Arts Live series. Artists include Rwandan artist and activist Odile Gakire “Kiki” Katese and the Women Drummers of Rwanda in “The Book of Life,” a powerful and touching work of theatre about unlocking life after trauma; the internationally renowned chamber ensemble, Sphinx Virtuosi; Seraph Brass; DanceWorks Chicago; and CMT’s 2022 “Next Woman of Country” Miko Marks performing the music of Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton alongside Nashville singer Kristina Train.

World-renowned pianists will be featured as part of the World of the Piano series, which includes recitals by the conservatory’s own John O’Conor; Anton Nel; Sara Davis Buechner; Van Cliburn finalist Clayton Stephenson; and William Chapman Nyaho, revered for his performances of music by composers of African descent.

Shenandoah New Music delivers a fresh crop of exciting and inventive works by living composers with performances by Hub New Music and cello/bass duo Amanda Gookin and Sam Suggs.

The 2023-24 season also features a robust lineup of performances by the conservatory’s instrumental ensembles, including the Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of its new artistic director and conductor Emanuele Andrizzi, D.M.A.; Wind Ensemble; and the conservatory’s in-house new music group EDGE Ensemble. Jazz and commercial music ensembles, such as the Studio Big Band, Little Big Band, and Jazz Combos, hit the stage on campus and around the community; and the CONTEMPO Ensemble kicks off its second year of presenting both familiar and original works spanning the genres of pop, rock, indie, rhythm and blues, soul and alternative.

The Vocal/Choral Division welcomes new Director of Choral Activities Richard W. Robbins, D.M.A., with a season of choral performances and special collaborations; and opera takes the stage with performances of “Caged Birds,” an original multi-disciplinary opera, and “Moscow, Cheryomushki,” a main stage musical comedy in three acts by Dmitri Shostokovich, Vladimir Mass and Mikhail Chervinsky.

Additionally, the conservatory’s Dance Division will present a season of new original dance works featuring a dynamic range of dance styles from traditional to contemporary.

Finally, the Theatre Division presents popular musicals “Into the Woods,” “Rent” and “Pippin,” as well as award-winning contemporary plays, including “People, Places and Things” and “She Kills Monsters,” plus Shakespeare’s “Henry V.”

As always, the conservatory’s annual ShenCoLAB: Festival of Arts, Ideas & Exploration culminates the season in May with collaborative student-generated projects.

To view an entire calendar of events, purchase tickets and learn more, visit Conservatory Performs online at conservatoryperforms.org, in person at the Shenandoah University Box Office located in the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre lobby, or call 540-665-4569. Regular box office hours are Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now, and patrons are able to save 20 to 30 percent off general admission tickets with a flexible Pick 5 or Pick 8 subscription package.