College Office
Arts & Humanities Building
Room 279
530-898-5351
hfa@csuchico.edu
Office Hours (ARTS 279)
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Monday – Friday
Dr. Tracy Butts - Dean
tbutts@csuchico.edu
530-898-5351
Joseph Alexander- Associate Dean
jalexander@csuchico.edu
530-898-5351
HFA & School of the Arts Events
Duo Seraphim
Sundays at Two
Sunday, August 27 | 2 p.m. | Recital Hall (ARTS 150)
Free and open to the public
Bay Area mezzo-soprano Shauna Fallihee joins soprano Dara Scholz and pianist Sandra Wright for an afternoon of solo and chamber music. The centerpiece of the recital will be Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater,” a compelling work that chronicles the story of Christ’s crucifixion from the emotional viewpoint of his mother, Mary.
Head Over Heels
Theatre Production
Songs by The Go-Go's
Based on The Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney
Conceived and Original Book by Jeff Whitty
Adapted by James Magruder
Thursday–Saturday, October 12–14 | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday, October 14–15 | 2 p.m.
Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144) | General Admission
$20 Adults | $18 Seniors | $8 Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office, 530-898-6333.
Head Over Heels is the bold new musical comedy from the visionaries that rocked Broadway with Hedwigand theAngry Inch, Avenue Q and Spring Awakening. This laugh-out-loud love story is set to the music of the iconic 1980’s all-female rock band The Go-Go’s, including the hit songs “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Mad About You.”
Big Band Boogie Bash
Jazz Festival
Saturday, October 21 | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Chico State
Free and open to public
The Big Band Boogie Bash is a full-day celebration of jazz music created in the North State. Hosted by the Chico State Band Staff organization, this all-day jazz festival features high school and college bands from the North State and the Chico State Jazz Combo playing across multiple outdoor stages on the Chico State campus. The purpose of this event is to bring people together, share music being made in the North State and provide a platform for networking, creativity and jazz education.
Big Band Boogie Bash II
Jazz X-Press Concert
Saturday, October 21 | 7:30 p.m. | Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144)
$18 Adults | $16 Seniors | $6 Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
The Chico State Jazz X-Press looks to continue this past year's fall concert event celebrating jazz in our schools with the second Big Band Boogie Bash. This past year included a NorCal All-Star High School Band opening up for the culminating event with the Chico Jazz X-Press's Fall Concert, and this year follows that tradition! More information on participating BBBB II 2023 lineups and special guests TBA.
Autumn Harmonies
Choral Concert
Saturday, October 28 | 7:30 p.m. | Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144)
$18 Adults | $16 Seniors | $6 Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
Leaves are changing into their fall colors and the night air is becoming cooler! Come and celebrate the change of seasons with Chico State’s Acappella Choir and Chamber Singers in a potpourri of song.
Around the World and Back
Wind Ensemble Concert
Saturday, November 4 | 7:30 p.m. | Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144)
$18 Adults | $16 Seniors | $6 Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
Come join the Chico State Wind Ensemble on an evening of culture, adventure and music! Celebrating music from all over the world, this performance features compositions that accentuate various cultures and the regions they were written. This concert welcomes audience members of all ages and will be sure to leave you feeling musically inspired!
A Musical Buffet
Concert Band & Jazz Too Concert
Tuesday, November 7 | 7:30 p.m. | Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144)
Free and open to the public
The Chico State Concert Band and Jazz Too Ensemble offer an evening of diverse musical performances. Presenting compositions both in the classical and jazz genres this concert will encompass a variety of musical styles, perfect for anyone looking for a spontaneous evening. Featuring student conductors and performers—both music majors and non-music majors—this concert is a perfect mix of serious and fun styles of music!
Blithe Spirit
Theatre Production
By Noel Coward
Wednesday–Saturday, November 8–11 | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday, November 11–12 | 2 p.m.
Larry Wismer Theatre (PAC 135) | General Admission
$20 Adults | $18 Seniors | $8 Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
A smash comedy hit in London and New York, this much-revived classic from the playwright of Private Lives concerns fussy, cantankerous novelist Charles Condomine, who has remarried but finds himself haunted (literally) by the ghost of his late first wife, Elvira. Clever, insistent and well aware of Charles' shortcomings, Elvira is called up by a visiting “happy medium,” the eccentric and flighty Madame Arcati. As everyone's personalities clash, Charles’ current wife, Ruth, is accidentally killed. She “passes over” and joins Elvira, allowing the two “blithe spirits” to haunt the hapless Charles into perpetuity.
An Elegant Sound
Brass Choir Concert
Tuesday, November 14 | 7:30 p.m. | Recital Hall (ARTS 150)
Free and open to the public
Celebrate a musical collaboration and performance by the Chico State Brass Choir, community musicians and the Chico State instrumental faculty. This performance will showcase music from the classical and jazz genres, encompassing a variety of musical styles, ideal for anyone looking to hear something diverse, exciting and tasteful.
Glorious Sounds of the Season
Music and Theatre Scholarship Fundraiser
Saturday, December 2 | 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 3 | 2 p.m.
Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144) | Reserved Seating | $20
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
Join us for this Chico holiday tradition, a festive event featuring music for the season. Faculty and students perform familiar holiday favorites, with special treats galore! Performers include the Chico State Choral Ensembles, the Wind Ensemble, Jazz X-Press, chamber ensembles, and soloists. Proceeds benefit student scholarships in the Chico State Department of Music, Theatre and Dance. Get your tickets early!
Unity in Motion
Fall Faculty Dance Concert
Friday–Saturday, December 8–9 | 7:30 p.m.
Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144) | General Admission
$15 Adults | $8 Seniors, Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
Enjoy an evening of dance, celebrating a diverse range of styles and genres. New and original works by faculty, guest artists, and students, this production features our dance program as well as students across campus. Something for everyone, come support this talented community of collaborative artists!
Chico State Musical Theatre Senior Showcase
Saturday, February 10 | 7:30 p.m. | Ruth Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall (PAC 134)
Free and open to the public
Join us for a live presentation of the senior showcase audition material that this year’s graduating class will be bringing to New York City.
New Music by Student Composers
New Music Symposium
Thursday, February 15 | 7:30 p.m. | Ruth Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall (PAC 134)
Free and open to the public
This annual symposium gives composition students and musicians a chance to present original musical creations and premiere performances. They also get the chance to work with cutting-edge artists in the field of contemporary music composition.
Suzanne Ciani, Synthesizer Pioneer
New Music Symposium
Friday, February 16 | 7:30 p.m. | Ruth Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall (PAC 134)
Free and open to the public
Five-time Grammy award-nominated composer, recording artist and trailblazer in the field of electronic music and sound design Suzanne Cianipresents an immersive quadraphonic performance with her Buchla 200e modular synthesizer that will be sure to be as mysterious as it is enthralling.
Chico
Daniel Hiestand Memorial Concert
Saturday, February 24 | 7:30 p.m. | Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144)
Free and open to the public
Chico State’s Department of Music and Theatre presents The Daniel Hiestand Memorial Concert: Chico. The first half of the concert includes a combined performance with the Chico State Ensemble and the Butte College Wind Band. The second half of the concert is performed by members of the Alumni Band along with students from Butte College and Chico State.
Music performed will feature Wind Ensemble literature as well as traditional music historically significant to the Chico area. This concert is held annually in support of the Hiestand Music Education Scholarship.
Stop Kiss
By Diana Son
Theatre Production
Wednesday–Saturday, February 28–March 2 | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday, March 2–3 | 2 p.m.
Larry Wismer Theatre (PAC 135) | General Admission
$20 Adults | $18 Seniors | $8 Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
Variety says, “Stop Kiss is a poignant and funny play about the ways, both sudden and slow, that lives can change irrevocably.” After Callie meets Sara, the two unexpectedly fall in love. Their first kiss provokes a violent attack that transforms their lives in a way they could never anticipate.
Content Disclosure: This play contains sexuality and hate-motivated violence. It is not suitable for all audiences.
Hard Boiled Music
Sundays at Two
Sunday, March 10 | 2 p.m. | Recital Hall (ARTS 150)
Free and open to the public
Joined by a crack team of instrumentalists, composer and guitarist David Dvorin presents a program of original compositions influenced by hard-boiled detective fiction of the 1920s–30s. In Dvorin’s music, the whimsical and the profound collide, manifested in blues and jazz-inspired grooves combined with unusual and surprising harmonic and melodic twists sure to delight the active listener.
Crossover
Sundays at Two
Sunday, March 31 | 2 p.m. | Recital Hall (ARTS 150)
Free and open to the public
The program, featuring Ayako Nakamura on trumpet, will include several movements of Toot Suite by Claude Bolling, a French jazz pianist/composer, and other French classical-jazz crossover pieces.
Everything Brass!
Brass Choir
Tuesday, April 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Recital Hall (ARTS 150)
Free and open to the public
Join the Chico State Brass Choir for an evening of variety, elegant and fun music. This concert performed by students, faculty and community members invites audience members of all ages to join! Featuring music composed during the Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary eras, this concert will be sure to provide an evening of diverse musical taste.
Clean and Ready for Spring!
Jazz X-Press Concert
Saturday, April 13 | 7:30 p.m.
Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144) | General Admission
$18 Adults | $16 Seniors | $6 Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
As said many times by jazz legends, the cats are here, clean and ready to swing! The Chico State Jazz X-Press looks forward to hosting another swinging night of jazz with music ranging from traditional big bands to newer compositions, some by our own students and faculty. Be on the lookout for us to continue our 20-year tradition of hosting some amazing guest artists as well!
Spring Sonorities
Choral Concert
Saturday, April 20 | 7:30 p.m.
Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144) | General Admission
$18 Adults | $16 Seniors | $6 Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
The voices of Chico State’s Acappella Choir and Chamber Singers raise their voices in song! Come and help them celebrate the renewal of spring in this concert full of glorious choral music!
Divergent
Concert Band & Jazz Too Concert
Tuesday, April 23 | 7:30 p.m. | Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144)
Free and open to the public
Come and celebrate a musical collaboration and performance by the Chico State Concert Band and Jazz Too Ensemble. Featuring student musicians, both these ensembles consist of non-music and music majors focusing on the development of music fundamentals throughout the semester. Presenting music from the classical and jazz genres, this concert will encompass a variety of musical styles, ideal for anyone looking to hear something diverse.
The Music of John Williams
Wind Ensemble Concert
Saturday, April 27 | 7:30 p.m.
Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144) | General Admission
$18 Adults | $16 Seniors | $6 Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
Join the Chico State Wind Ensemble on an evening of nostalgia, adventure, and iconic American music! Celebrating the music of John Williams, this performance will feature compositions throughout his career including compositions such as “Harry Potter,”“Star Wars,”“Indiana Jones and many more. This concert welcomes audience members of all ages and will be sure to leave you feeling musically inspired!
The Prom
Theatre Production
Book and Lyrics by Chad Beguelin
Book by Bob Martin
Music by Matthew Sklar
Thursday - Saturday, May 2-4 | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday- Sunday, May 4-5 | 2 p.m.
Laxson Auditorium | Reserved Seating
$20 Adults | $18 Seniors | $8 Youth & Chico State Student
Purchase tickets through the University Box Office,
Four eccentric Broadway stars are in desperate need of a new stage. So, when they hear that trouble is brewing around a small-town prom, they know it’s time to put a spotlight on the issue…and themselves. Parents want to keep the high school dance on the straight and narrow—but when one student just wants to bring her girlfriend to prom, the entire town has a date with destiny. On a mission to transform lives, Broadway’s brassiest join forces with a courageous girl and the town’s citizens and the result is love that brings them all together. Winner of the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical, The Prom expertly captures all the humor and heart of a classic musical comedy with a message that resonates with audiences now more than ever.