American University Department of Performing Arts

11/03/2025

The AU Symphonic Band is going vintage this season and pressing rewind. Explore a vibrant range of concert band works from the decades following World War II! 🎷

This semester, the ensemble breathes new life into often-overlooked gems from the 1950s to the 1980s, presenting music that deserves a fresh hearing alongside beloved pre-war classics and bold contemporary works. Thanks to a major investment in newly acquired sheet music, the AU Symphonic Band is proud to launch a series of AU premieres highlighting mid-20th-century treasures that will enrich our programming now and in the semesters ahead.

🎶: Saturday, November 8 at 3 p.m. in the Katzen Arts Center, Abramson Family Recital Hall. Tickets are $10-$15 and FREE for AU students: https://auartstix.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=1955

Saturday, November 8 at 3 p.m. in the Katzen Arts Center Recital Hall

10/08/2025

Check out the awesome posts students are making on the Audio Technology Department TikTok! You can find more videos just like this .at.american on TikTok!

10/03/2025

Curious about what a day in the life looks like as an AU Dance Major? Visit on Instagram for student takeovers today and this weekend to see what AU's dance students are up to!

10/17/2024

04/12/2024

Come hear a great program and the North American Premiere of Rachel Portman’s Earth Song (2019)

Brief rehearsal excerpt: https://www.facebook.com/reel/455020123541561.

In Nature’s Realm: Our Environment and Care for the Earth
American University Chamber Singers
Daniel Abraham, director

April 13, 7:30 p.m. and April 14, 3 p.m.
Katzen Arts Center, Abramson Family Recital Hall

Tickets: $10-$15, free for AU students
Featuring the North American Premiere Performance of Rachel Portman: Earth Songs

https://auartstix.universitytickets.com/w/?cid=168

04/11/2024

04/05/2024

Interesting concert coming up with the AU Chamber Singers. The concert will feature the North American premiere of Academy Award wining composer Rachel Portman's Earth Song. Lovely work written for the BBC singers in 2019 on a poem by Nick Drake with additional words by Greta Thunberg.

The whole program is interesting and varied, but the highlight of Portman's work is very much worth hearing and experience.

Program
In Nature’s Realm: Our Environment and Care for the Earth

Program
Abendleid - Josepf Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901)
The Peace of Wild Things - Joan Syzmko (b. 1957)
Northern Lights Ēriks - Ešenvalds (b. 1977)
Into its Embrace - Gracie Gilligan & Michael Mazey

V Přírodě [5 Songs], Op. 63 (1882) - Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904)

Good Night, Dear Heart (2009) - Dan Forrest (b. 1978)
and the swallow (2017) - Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
Requiem - Eliza Gilkyson (b. 1950), arr. Craig Hella Johnson

Earth Song (2007) - Frank Ticheli (b. 1958)
Earth Song (2019) [U.S. Premiere Performance] - Rachel Portman (b. 1960)
Easy on The Earth - Luke Wallace (b. 1993), arr. Shawn Kirchner
Unclouded Day - Rev. J.K. Alwood (1828–1909), arr. Kirchner

02/20/2024

"I'll so offend, to make offense a skill." ⚔️

"The Herstory of Henri IV, pt. 1" opens on February 28! Equal parts comedy and tragedy, "Henri IV pt. 1" is a gender-bent adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous coming-of-age story about a young woman not only trying to figure out her place in the world, but also what sort of world she wants it to be. By William Shakespeare, adapted and directed by Kate Eastwood Norris.

In the Katzen Arts Center Studio Theatre, February 28-March 2. 🎟️: $10-$15, free for American University students with ID: https://bit.ly/484wmQr

📷: Ethan Kauffman

01/29/2024

It’s a privilege to p*e. From American University Theatre/Musical Theatre Program, "Urinetown: The Musical" comes to Greenberg Theatre February 22-24! 🚽

"Urinetown" tells the story of a future fascist society, run by corporate greed, that demands that the public pay to p*e. The musical, though fun and tongue-in-cheek, is a warning to us all to not take our freedoms for granted.

In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he's had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom!

🎟️: $10-$15, free for American University students: https://bit.ly/3uBF1f2

Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollmann, Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis, Directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer, Choreographed by Robert Bowen Smith, Music Direction by Deborah Jacobson

01/25/2024

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12/07/2023

Playwright Olivia Luzquinos, an AU alum, seeks out the conversations that characters need to have but avoid, and plunges right into them.

12/04/2023