The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at University of California, Davis, presents its dynamic 2026-27 season, with live entertainment ranging from classical, jazz and global roots music to dance, film and engaging speakers, beginning Aug. 16.

“This upcoming season is designed for our community of arts lovers to explore the extraordinary and experience unforgettable performances,” said Jeremy Ganter, executive director. “From rising star debuts to Mondavi Center audience favorites, this year’s diverse lineup is grounded in outstanding artistry, cultural traditions and innovative reinterpretation.”

Jazz icon Herbie Hancock kicks off the season at Jackson Hall on Aug. 16 with his genre-transcending explorations honed over his five-decade career. That’s followed on Sept. 23 by Ghostbusters in Concert, which brings Ivan Reitman’s 1984 classic to the big screen with a live orchestra performing Elmer Bernstein’s iconic score.

On Sept. 30, National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters and Grammy winners Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves continue the celebration of John Coltrane with a new album and international tour that comes to UC Davis just a week after the jazz giant’s 100th birthday. Reeves joins the versatile Branford Marsalis Quartet for a tribute to the landmark 1963 collaboration between Coltrane and vocalist Johnny Hartman. 

The 2026-27 season’s genre-spanning performances take place between August and May 2027. Tickets go on sale to the public on May 18. The full searchable schedule and information on season tickets, ticket packages and special discounts is available at mondaviarts.org. Below are season highlights.

Special milestone farewells 

Two ensembles that have helped shape the Mondavi Center’s artistic vision during the past two decades mark milestone moments this season. Wynton Marsalis celebrates his final season as artistic and music director with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra when they take the stage on Feb 18. Akram Khan Company’s final touring production, Thikra: Night of Remembering, features an all-female cast coming together to awaken the spirit of those who came before them, combining Bharatanatyam and contemporary voices, on Oct. 17. 

Orchestra, classical favorites, debuts

Classical programming kicks off in November with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra featuring pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason making her Mondavi Center debut in a program centered around Mozart’s final piano concerto, alongside works by Handel, Haydn and Katie Jenkins.

The vibrant Arcis Saxophone Quartet presents a program of kaleidoscopic preludes and fugues, where the timeless mastery of Johann Sebastian Bach meets the creativity of musicians and composers from all centuries and styles, on Nov 8. Calidore String Quartet and Rosamunde String Quartet offer lively chamber music programs in February and April. Calidore features Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet No. 1 and Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D 810 (“Death and the Maiden”), while Rosamunde will play Walker’s “Lyric for Strings;” the worldly Debussy string quartet, and a Beethoven classic. 

Returning in January is the San Francisco Symphony, led by acclaimed conductor Marin Alsop in a night of star-powered orchestral music featuring Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Radulović. Jordi Savall will lead Le Concert des Nations in vital interpretations of two of Beethoven's most groundbreaking orchestral works, performed on period instruments on April 24, while pianist Ray Chen appears with the National Symphony Orchestra and performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto on April 27. 

Pianist Yeol Eum Son performs a program that traces variation and transformation, from Beethoven’s inventive Six Variations to Liszt’s deeply poetic “Ricordanza” in April. Pianist Inon Barnatan and cellist Alisa Weilerstein close the season May 13, 2027 with a program spanning Spanish lyricism, Russian Romantic intensity and the sweeping emotional breadth of Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G Minor.

American and global roots music

The new season also features artists and ensembles from around the world who honor their culture’s traditional music and dance while reimagining them for the modern era. On Nov. 14, Spain’s Las Migas reimagine flamenco, using passionate vocals and expressive movement to shape a contemporary sound. 

On Dec. 19, powerful songwriter and bandleader Camila Fernández will make her Mondavi Center debut with her compositions drawing on her roots in mariachi and Mexican regional music as well as holiday favorites. Four-time Grammy Award winner Kalani Pe‘a and ukulele virtuoso Taimane unite for a vibrant celebration of Hawaiian artistry in February.

Two visionary forces shaping the future of African diasporic music come together April 9. Sona Jobarteh is the first professional female kora virtuoso to emerge from a West African griot dynasty, while Saha Gnawa reimagines Morocco’s revered Gnawa tradition, uniting the founders of Innov Gnawa with leading artists from New York City’s jazz and contemporary music scenes. 

One of Latin America’s most influential singer-songwriters, Lila Downs, is back to celebrate Día de los Muertos with an evening weaving Mexican tradition with jazz, cumbia, folk and contemporary rhythms on Oct. 23. 

Jazz masters and rising stars

In addition to milestone celebrations, this season offers intimate performances with innovators and premier players over several days in the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre. New Orleans groove master Herlin Riley, widely regarded as one of the premier drummers performing today, leads his quartet in a high-spirited program of original compositions, jazz standards and blues from Nov. 12-14.

In February, guitar innovators Charlie Hunter and Ella Feingold join forces for an evening of musical conversation. Multiple Grammy-nominated composer and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire creates work that transcends genre, weaving threads of jazz, hip-hop, contemporary classical music and spoken word, March 11-13.

Collaborations

On Oct. 18 the Julian Lage Quartet plays soulful jazz inspired by folkloric traditions. Lage’s latest project, Scenes from Above, reflects the guitarist’s deepening interest in writing for a band: keyboardist John Medeski, bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Kenny Wolleson. 

The always-festive Pink Martini presents an all-new holiday show featuring the Pink Martini All Stars lineup, with Ari Shapiro, Edna Vazquez and Jimmie Herrod who deliver classic pop, big band sound and signature Hollywood glamour in early December.

Iconic theater artist Taylor Mac reunites with Obie Award-winning composer Matt Ray on Oct. 24 for an evening drawing from their original songbook Bark of Millions, in the cabaret setting of Vanderhoef Studio Theatre. Electrifying, provocative and disarming, the duo invites reflection on queer lineage and futures. 

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash is joined on Jan. 29 by her husband and longtime recording partner, John Leventhal, for an evening blending country music with Americana, folk, rock and blues. 

Grammy Award-winning contemporary classical ensemble Third Coast Percussion joins groundbreaking electronic composer and performer Jlin for a genre-defying melodic celebration of rhythm and melody on April 8.

Internationally renowned environmentalists David Suzuki and Tara Cullis share captivating stories, powerful insights and heartfelt humor in What You Won’t Do for Love, an inspiring theatre experience from Canada’s Why Not Theatre on Nov. 12-13. Their performance celebrates their love for each other and the planet and love’s capacity to inspire action. 

In early February, celebrate Mardis Gras with pianist and bandleader Jon Cleary, his powerhouse ensemble the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, and New Orleans–based Afro-Indigenous funk collective Cha Wa.

Family and film

A lineup including circuses and cinema offers acrobatic feats, live music and engaging performances the whole family can enjoy. Marvel Studios’ Black Panther (2018) — the global sensation directed by Ryan Coogler — will be shown with Ludwig Göransson’s Oscar-winning score performed live onstage by an ensemble featuring African percussion and Indigenous instruments on Jan. 30.

Cirque Mechanics' Tilt! A Circus Thrill Ride performs a high-flying homage to America’s amusement parks on Oct. 25, while Australian Circus company Gravity & Other Myths features eight acrobats and is set to a dynamic percussive score performed live onstage on April 30.

Dance

Dance companies explore ritual, cultural roots and creativity. On Feb. 12, Amalia Hernández's Ballet Folklórico de México brings together the music, dance and costume of Mexican folklore from pre-Colombian civilizations through the modern era. Dance Theatre of Harlem also returns with its bold, forward-thinking repertoire, including treasured classics, neoclassical works and innovative contemporary works on March 3. 

Making their Mondavi Center debut, the vibrant tap and live music ensemble Music from the Sole celebrates tap’s roots in the African diaspora with music drawn from jazz, funk, Afro-Brazilian rhythms, house, soul, rock and Afro-Cuban traditions on April 3. 

Speakers

Pulitzer Prize finalist and author Tommy Orange will be in conversation on Nov. 4 about his bestselling novel There There, a multigenerational portrait of urban Native American life, and his newest book, Wandering Stars, which traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.  

A talk by renowned paleontologist and National Geographic Explorer Tyler Lyson traces the fall of iconic giants such as Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex, whose 180-million-year reign ended with a catastrophic asteroid impact.