Two Gents, 2026. Photo by Ethan Kauffman.

This fall, AU students can see every Department of Performing Arts music, theatre, and dance performance for free—and tickets are available starting today! 

The fall season offers plenty of reasons to reserve tickets: watch the Class of 2030 take the stage for the first time, see a jury of twelve women decide whether a condemned woman lives or dies, help determine how a love story unfolds, or spend part of Halloween weekend with the AU Symphony Orchestra. Students can also hear jazz, gospel, a cappella, and contemporary and classical works performed by AU ensembles throughout the semester. 

Spring performances sold out quickly, so students are encouraged to reserve their free tickets in advance. They are free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, children, faculty, and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for general admission.  

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Theatre/Musical Theatre 

Oklahoma, 2026. Photo by Ethan Kauffman

Overture 2026
Scenes, Songs, and Original Work Performed by the Class of 2030  

October 9, 8 p.m. and October 10, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.  
Katzen Arts Center, Studio Theatre 

Directed by Nancy Bannon 
Kristin Stowell, Music Director and Piano  

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public

Class of 2030 takes the stage! AU’s newest actors take the stage together for the first time in Overture, an original performance exploring what it means to begin a new chapter at AU. Through dialogue, music, and movement, members of the Class of 2030 explore the passions, fears, challenges, and triumphs of this moment in their lives. Conceived and directed by faculty member Nancy Bannon, the work is shaped by the students themselves as they form a new creative ensemble. 
Overture tickets

The Welkin 

by Lucy Kirkwood 
October 22-23 and 29–30, 8 p.m., October 24 and 31, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and October 25 and November 1, 2 p.m.  
Greenberg Theatre  

Directed by Dylan Arredondo  

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public 
 
A woman has been sentenced to hang. Twelve women must decide whether she lives or dies. Set in rural England in 1759, The Welkin follows Sally Poppy, who can escape the gallows only if a jury of local women determines she is pregnant. As Halley’s Comet streaks across the sky, the jurors confront questions of ethics, class, and gender in a legal system that gives them little power but asks them to make an impossible decision. 

Directed by Helen Hayes Award–winning director and actor Dylan Arredondo, The Welkin is a suspenseful, darkly witty drama that connects women across time through questions of justice, power, and truth. 
 
Content Advisory: This production includes strong language, scenes of violence, sexual content, simulated nudity, and references to pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, murder, and assisted death.
The Welkin tickets

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder  

November 5-6, 8 p.m. and November 7, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.  
Katzen Arts Center, Studio Theatre 

Directed by Karl Kippola  
Music Directed by Deborah Jacobson  

Book and Lyrics by Steven Lutwak  
Music and Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman  
Based on A Novel by Roy Horniman  

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public 

In this Tony award-winning musical comedy, the low-born Monty Navarro discovers he’s eighth in line to become Earl of Highhurst. Chances of outliving his predecessors are slim, so he takes a far more ghoulish path. Can he knock off his unsuspecting relatives without being caught? And what of love? Because murder isn’t the only thing on Monty’s mind… 

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com 
A Gentleman’s Guide tickets

For Better or Worse 

December 3-4, 8 p.m. and December 5, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.  
Katzen Arts Center, Studio Theatre 

Directed by Carl Menninger  
Written by Carl Menninger, Created by Deann Bayless, Rick Bayless, Carl Menninger and Amy Rubenstein 

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public 

What if you could shuffle the story of a relationship and watch its meaning change before your eyes? For Better or For Worse is a bold new theatrical experience where the audience chooses the order of the scenes, turning a single love story into hundreds of thousands of possible versions. Across 16 interconnected scenes, one couple navigates love, betrayal, addiction, grief, and the small moments in-between, but the sequence you experience is unlike any other performance. In Act One, you decide what happens next. In Act Two, chance takes over. Same scenes, same characters, infinite stories. 
For Better or Worse tickets

Music   

AU Symphony Orchestra, 2026. Photo by Zeyna Mbengue 

AU Symphony Orchestra 

Matthew Brown, conductor 

October 30, 7 p.m. and October 31, 5 p.m.  
Abramson Family Recital Hall 

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public 

AU Symphony Orchestra performs a variety of well-known works, including some spooky and movie related pieces for this Halloween weekend concert. Audience members are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes! 
AU Symphony Tickets

AU Chamber Singers

International Tour Preview Concert - Portugal 

Daniel Abraham, director 

November 7, 7:30 p.m. and November 8, 3 p.m.  
Abramson Family Recital Hall 

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public 

In preparation for a May 2027 tour to Portugal, please join the AU Chamber Singers for an exciting array of choral works and a cappella traditions. The program will include contemporary masterpieces for a cappella ensemble from the Latin diaspora, Europe, and North America to the traditions of gospel, American folk, and spirituals. 
AU Chamber Singers Tickets

AU Symphonic Band 

Matthew Brown and Aidan Dixon, conductors 

November 15, 3 p.m.  
Abramson Family Recital Hall 

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public 

AU Symphonic Band performs a variety of classic and contemporary works from the concert band repertoire, including pieces by Norman Dello Joio, John Mackey, Robert Russell Bennett and others. AU Pep Band Director Aidan Dixon leads the ensemble along with director Matthew Brown.  
AU Symphonic Band tickets  

AU Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Combos:  
Fall for Jazz 

Joshua Bayer, director  

December 4, 7:30 p.m.  
Abramson Family Recital Hall 

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public 

The American University Jazz Orchestra plays music for all eras and styles of Jazz. Experience Swing, Bebop, Latin, Funk, and Rock. AUJO concerts are a menu from the history of Jazz! 
Fall for Jazz tickets

AU Chorus: 
Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing: A Celebration of Our Freedom  

December 5, 7:30 p.m. and December 6, 3 p.m.  
Katzen Recital Hall   

Patrick Vaughn, director 
Barbara Wilkinson, collaborative pianist 

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public 
 
As our country celebrates 250 years of independence, please join the AU Chorus for a program featuring works by American composers across several different genres, including Randall Thompson's brilliant Testament of Freedom, focused on the writings of Thomas Jefferson. Other works include settings of My Country 'Tis of Thee (arr. Forrest), America, the Beautiful (arr. Gaspard), Hymn for America (Paulus), Homeland (Stroope), the Battle Hymn of the Republic (arr. Wilhowsky), and more. Come celebrate our freedom, breadth, and depth as a nation. 
AU Chorus tickets

Dance

Danceworks, 2025. Photo by David Dowling 

Fall Dance Concert 2026 

Erin Foreman-Murray, artistic director 

November 20, 7:30 p.m. and November 21, 2 p.m.  
Greenberg Theatre 

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public 
Dance Concert Tickets

Senior Dance Capstone 2026 

Erin Foreman-Murray, artistic director 

December 4-5, 7:30 p.m.  
Greenberg Theatre 

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID; $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older); $15 for the general public 
Dance Capstone Tickets