TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona Arts Live at the University of Arizona announces a transformative 2026-27 year of live performances featuring artists from six continents on Southern Arizona’s best stages.
Stages where dancers hold the memory of entire cultures in their bodies with Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández; eight Australian acrobats push the limits of the human body in a striking display of physical skill with Gravity & Other Myths: Ten Thousand Hours; and New Zealand's Black Grace carries you through Samoan and Māori movement with raw finesse and singular beauty.
Where a box truck unfolds into a mobile concert hall in Tucson neighborhoods, streets, and parks with The Concert Truck; a young girl orphaned by war learns witchcraft in a shadow-puppet adaptation of Macbeth with Manual Cinema's The 4th Witch; and an ensemble of African-rhythm masters bring T'Challa's story to life in Marvel
Studios’ Black Panther Live in Concert: The North
Black Grace, MAR 3 | Centennial Hall
American Tour. Where one of the world's most celebrated illusionists returns to lead you through wonder and memory in Scott Silven: The Lost Things. And where four artists race against the clock in Burnout Paradise, sprinting through escalating, absurd tasks on treadmills.
"There's something about live performance we've almost forgotten. It happens once, and then it's gone," says Chad Herzog, executive and artistic director of Arizona Arts Live. "A dancer's leap, a pianist's last note, a puppeteer's shadow. You can't pause it, and you can't replay it. You have to be in the room, alongside other people, and I think that matters more now than it used to."
Sunday Film Nights with Film Fest Tucson
Arizona Arts Live continues its partnership with Film Fest Tucson, Southern Arizona's foremost community for filmmakers and passionate film fans. Screening Arizona premieres one Sunday a month, this collaboration features some of the best stories told on screen alongside post-screening discussions with actors, producers, and directors.
Community Collaborations
Now entering its sixth year, Arizona Arts Live deepens its partnerships with local venues, including a cinema documentary featuring live music by Sō Percussion and narration from Oscar-nominated Sam Green in Trees at The Rialto Theatre together with TENWEST; a carefully curated collection of intimate jazz performances by some of the world's most accomplished musicians at The Century Room, including Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz artist Irving Flores, and bassist and vocalist Devon Gates; and Houses of Zodiac: Poems for Cello, a boundary-breaking film meets live music experience under the hallowed arches at midtown's newest music hall, La Rosa.
Tickets on sale now with more experiences added throughout the year.
DIGITAL MEDIA KIT | Visit ArizonaArtsLive.com for updates.
FALL
- SEP 30-OCT 4 | The Concert Truck
- OCT 2 | Irving Flores
- OCT 7-10 | Burnout Paradise
- OCT 8 | Luke Schneider
- OCT 16 | Piano Series: Vitaly Starikov
- OCT 18 | We Are Made of Star Stuff
- OCT 22 | Devon Gates
- OCT 30 | Mauricio Morales
- OCT 31 | Manual Cinema: The 4th Witch
- NOV 15 | Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies
- NOV 17-21 | Scott Silven: The Lost Things
- NOV 22 | Houses of Zodiac: Poems for Cello
SPRING
- FEB 6-7 | Tucson Flamenco Festival
- FEB 11 | Marvel Studios’ Black Panther in Concert: The North American Tour
- FEB 18 | Ballet Folklorico de Mexico
- FEB 19 | Piano Series: Robin Spielberg
- MAR 3 | Black Grace
- MAR 31 | Sam Green: Trees
- APR 13 | Aga Khan Master Musicians
- MAY 4 | Gravity and Other Myths: Ten Thousand Hours
EXPERIENCES
The Concert Truck
SEP 30-OCT 4, 2026 | Four Tucson Locations
A fully functioning concert hall on wheels rolls into Southern Arizona, parked on your street, at your park, outside your school. Five days across Tucson. Follow it around.
Irving Flores Afro-Cuban Jazz Trio
OCT 2, 2026 | The Century Room
This virtuoso pianist presents vibrant, original compositions rooted in the sophisticated heat of Latin jazz. With renowned bassist René Camacho anchoring the sound, Irving Flores transforms the piano into a conversation between cultures.
Pony Cam Collective: Burnout Paradise
OCT 7-10, 2026 | Centennial Hall Stage
Watch four performers hilariously race against the clock on treadmills, tackling an absurd and escalating to-do list in a show about our desperate attempt to keep up with life.
Devon Gates
OCT 22, 2026 | The Century Room
Presented together with The Century Room
Devon Gates plays jazz as intimate storytelling. Performing alongside pianist Eden Mastriani-Levi, the space between two musicians becomes something magical and profound.
Luke Schneider
OCT 8, 2026 | The Century Room
Presented together with The Century Room
Luke Schneider plays pedal steel guitar to create shimmering, meditative soundscapes. His music sits somewhere between New Age and Americana. Two new albums arrive this year. Come hear something new.
LEARN MORE | ARTIST’S WEBSITE
Mauricio Morales’ Día de Muertos Trio
OCT 30, 2026 | The Century Room
Presented together with The Century Room
Based in Los Angeles, Morales is known for blending upright bass, songwriting, and influences that range from Pat Metheny to Peter Gabriel. Expect a night of jazz that feels both grounded and full of possibility.
LEARN MORE | ARTIST’S WEBSITE
Piano Series: Vitaly Starikov
OCT 16, 2026 | Centennial Hall Stage
The whole audience sits on stage for this one, close enough to watch the hands and hear the pedals. Vitaly Starikov opens the series, and nowhere else in Tucson will you sit this close.
Film Fest Tucson: We Are Made of Star Stuff
OCT 18, 2026 | Marroney Theatre
Presented together Film Fest Tucson
Discover Carl Sagan, the astronomer whose voice made the cosmos feel real and alive. This National Geographic documentary shows his personal archive and tells the story of a man who fell in love with the universe and wanted to protect our planet. An Arizona Premiere.
Manual Cinema: The 4th Witch
OCT 31, 2026 | Centennial Hall
Manual Cinema's “The 4th Witch” reimagines Shakespeare's Macbeth through shadow puppetry, silhouette performance and live music, telling an entirely new story without a word of dialogue. This visually stunning production is among Manual Cinema's most ambitious works.
Film Fest Tucson:
Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies
NOV 15, 2026 | Marroney Theatre
Presented together with Film Fest Tucson
A family stuck between wanting to stay and wanting to leave. Jim and Tina are middle-aged parents. Their adult children won't move out. Shot in black and white, this film captures what happens when restlessness threatens to break everything apart.
Scott Silven: The Lost Things
NOV 17-21, 2026 | Marroney Theatre
Scottish illusionist Scott Silven invites audiences into the mysterious side of being human with The Lost Things, a journey through wonder, memory and the strange beauty found in what we lose. The show weaves awe-inspiring illusions with a deeply personal narrative, creating something that feels less like a magic show and more like a profound shared experience. Arizona Arts Live is a proud co-commissioner of this acclaimed production, making Tucson part of its story.
Houses of Zodiac: Poems for Cello
NOV 22, 2026 | La Rosa
Presented together with La Rosa
One cellist, one screen, nothing else on stage. Jeffrey Zeigler plays Paola Prestini's music live beneath her films, creating a cinematic dreamscape.
Flamenco Festival
FEB 6-7, 2027 | La Rosa
Presented together with La Rosa
Flamenco has deep roots in Tucson, and for two nights at La Rosa our own dancers and guitarists share the floor with artists from around the world. Expect the room to shout back.
Marvel Studios’ Black Panther in Concert: The North American Tour
FEB 11, 2027 | Centennial Hall
On screen: a superhero movie. On stage: a full orchestra, vocalists, and African percussionists playing Ludwig Göransson's Oscar-winning score live. Bring everyone. Wakanda, at full volume.
Ballet Folklórico de México
FEB 18, 2027 | Centennial Hall
Seventy-five years of Ballet Folklórico de México and an anniversary program to match. The company that defined this art form, dancing the traditions of a whole country.
Piano Series: Robin Spielberg
FEB 19, 2027 | Centennial Hall Stage
Sit on stage next to pianist Robin Spielberg as she performs her own music. With 24 recordings and performances worldwide, her gift is writing melodies that speak straight to your heart.
Black Grace
MAR 3, 2027 | Centennial Hall
New Zealand's leading dance company, drawing on Samoan and Māori movement. No scenery, nothing to hide behind, just dancers hitting the floor in unison hard enough to feel in your chest.
Trees: By Sam Green
MAR 31, 2027 | The Rialto Theatre
Together with The Rialto Theatre and TENWEST
Documentary filmmaker Sam Green returns to narrate his own film live while Sō Percussion plays Caroline Shaw's score. This is a moving study of what we owe the living things we walk past every day.
Aga Khan Master Musicians
APR 13, 2027 | La Rosa
Together with La Rosa
Seven of the finest musicians, each carrying traditions centuries old, playing as one ensemble. In this gathering of exceptional artistry, boundaries dissolve, and a musical journey is born.
Gravity & Other Myths: Ten Thousand Hours
MAY 4, 2027 | Centennial Hall
Marvel at the limits of the human body as eight acrobats from Australia investigate physical skill and reveal, in stunning fashion, what ten thousand hours actually looks like.
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