ASU School of Music Offers Eclectic Low-Cost Options — From Jazz to Mariachi

It’s tough to catch every concert around town, especially when you start adding up all those ticket prices. Local colleges and universities have some intriguing music offerings, with no-cost or low-cost admission.

ASU has an especially robust lineup, including events featuring students, alumni, and faculty. Some happen on campus, but others take place in venues that range from high schools to museums.

ASU Gammage has everything from touring Broadway productions to guest artists (if you don’t mind splurging a bit on tickets). This season’s Broadway musicals include Anastasia, Come From Away, Mean Girls, and more.

ASU presents a few music series in the community, at venues that include the Musical Instrument Museum, Tempe Center for the Arts, and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. You’ll also find ASU music events at Mesa Arts Center, The Nash, and The Phoenix Theatre Company this season.

Here’s a guide to ASU music offerings organized by musical styles, designed to help you start sampling their diverse line-up. Mark your calendars now, so you won’t forget about your favorites.

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Sometimes you just need a good choral concert.

ASU

Choral/Orchestra

Hear music exploring the impact the world has on children, and the ways children impact the world.

Hear a recital culminating the fall semester for the graduate scholarship quartet.

Hear soloists, small groups, and the full chorus perform songs reflecting their chosen concert theme.

Contemporary

Saturday, October 5Experience a theatrical concert with guest artists, which includes music, spoken word, and film.

Hear contemporary music performed during this two-day festival.

Hear masterworks from the ensemble's repertoire.

Wednesday, April 29
Hear the rock band perform its fall concert.

Jazz

Emerging artists will perform various styles of jazz.

Wednesday, October 30; Additional dates
Hear the band perform music with Afro-Cuban roots.

Wednesday, December 4
Enjoy vintage selections from the history of big band music.

Hear faculty perform jazz classics and original compositions.

Wednesday, February 26
Enjoy an evening of vintage music spanning big band history.

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Throwback to a Kiss Me Kate performance.

ASU

Musical Theater/Opera

Opens Thursday, October 3

See the musical set in 1953 Italy, which highlights cultural differences revealed by a sudden romance.

Tuesday, January 18; Additional dates
Explore the search for meaning amid chaos as characters search for real estate in Phoenix.

See how music, dance, and dialogue reveal the complexities of life surrounding a New York tenement.

See how women wronged in the workplace find friendship — and revenge.

Hear students and alumni perform classic and contemporary musical theater songs.

New Works

Sunday, September 15
Enjoy selections from a theatrical song cycle called "Well-Behaved Women."

Monday, November 18; Additional datesHear a concert featuring diverse works composed by music students.

Hear "Hometown to the Wolf" and other selections from Kaminsky's operatic canon.

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Playing the sounds of the West Indies.

ASU

More Performances

Hear music and stories reflecting the experiences of U.S. military veterans.

ASU Mariachi performs its fall semester culmination concert.

Friday, December 6; Additional dates
Graduate and undergraduate students perform sounds of the West Indies.

Experience a trombone twist on the sounds of Costa Rica.

Hear music inspired by pop culture, from Seinfeld to Saturday Night Live.

If you want to see the full 2019-20 season for ASU’s School of Music, you can visit their website or review their brochure online.

• Things to Do
• Concerts
• Jazz