Upcoming Events

Reserve Tickets

All Music at Colby series events will be held in the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts (GCCPA) unless otherwise noted.

Seats will be available to reserve one month in advance.

Spring 2026

Three women in black outfits pose against a stone wall, one holding a cello, all smiling and looking towards the camera.

MUSIC IN THE MUSEUM
Resinosa Ensemble
Touch the Hand of Love
Friday, February 27, Noon

Touch the Hand of Love will feature the world premiere of “Three Paintings” by Maine composer Philip Carlsen, who selected poems by his wife, Franco-American poet Jeri Theriault, that were inspired by paintings of Marc Chagall, Andrew Wyeth, and Annette Lemieux. This program features a diverse collection of exquisite songs and instrumentals, exploring the depths of human love in its various forms. The Resinosa Ensemble’s commitment to showcasing diverse musical styles and composers, particularly those historically excluded, is exemplified in this captivating lineup. This event will take place in the Colby College Museum of Art.

Graphic design for Splice Festival VII featuring event name, date, and stylized elements on a pink background.

SPLICE Festival
Thursday, March 5 – Saturday, March 7
(Funded in part by the Robert J. Strider Concert Fund)

The SPLICE Festival presents concerts that blend engaging live performances with new technologies to foster community and create bonds between the performers and composers who submit their work. Festival participants gather for a weekend of concerts and presentations covering topics such as aesthetics, technology, and issues of performance practice with the goal of inspiring, educating, and sharing information. This event is made possible through a collaboration between Colby Arts and Colby’s Department of Performance, Theater, and Dance.

A musician in formal attire plays a bassoon with fellow orchestra members in the background, focused on their performance.

Colby Symphony Orchestra
Orchestral Masterworks
Director, Jinwook Park
Saturday, March 14, 7:30 p.m.

Our third concert of the season is packed with orchestral favorites. Bright, bubbling operatic melodies dance through The Roman Carnival Overture by renowned orchestrator Hector Berlioz. Colby’s Benjamin Noyes will perform Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, written for and premiered by the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Johannes Brahms’s lyrical Symphony No. 2 in D Major, sometimes called his Pastoral Symphony, rounds out the program with four intricate, bright movements.

Musicians playing trumpets on stage, wearing black outfits, performing in a modern setting with wooden acoustic panels.

Colby Jazz Band
Jazz Meets Dance
Director, Brendon Wilkins
Saturday, April 4, 7:30 p.m.

Movement and dance have been intertwined with jazz for over a century. This concert will feature the Colby Jazz Band in collaboration with the Colby Dance Company, featuring jazz compositions throughout history in a wide range of musical styles. Recent Colby alumnus Karl Lackner ’22 premieres his new arrangement for big band titled “Chance Again.”

Young musician playing percussion in a concert setting, focused on his performance with music sheets in front of him.

Colby Wind Ensemble
Across the United States
Director, Brendon Wilkins
Tuesday, April 7, 7:30 p.m.

The Colby Wind Ensemble’s spring concert guides the listener on a journey through the United States. Frank Duarte incorporates 19th-century folk songs in his composition “From Atlanta to the Sea” to create this military-style march. “New York from a Distance,” by Daniel Dade, takes the audience on a sonic tour through New York City.

A group of singers in formal attire holding music sheets, performing on stage with wooden backdrop and focused expressions.

Colby Collegium
The Four Seasons
Director, Sydney Mukasa
Saturday, April 11, 7:30 p.m.

Join the Colby Collegium on a journey through the turning of the seasons, exploring nature’s cycles of growth, rest, and renewal. Across cultures and centuries, the seasons have offered composers a rich palette for exploring not only the beauty of the natural world but also themes of change, transformation, and migration. The colorful program will feature works by Paul Hindemith, Caroline Shaw, Rosephanye Powell, and Jonathan Dove.

Two musicians in matching purple shirts, one holding a lute and the other a cello, stand against a brick wall.

MUSIC IN THE MUSEUM
Scheckmate
Born in Iberia: Music for Guitar and Cello
Tuesday, April 21, Noon

The music of the Iberian Peninsula reflects the influence of Moorish, Jewish, and Christian cultures, among others. The ethnic musical traditions of the New World also played a part as they were carried back to Spain and Portugal, including genres like the sarabande and chaconne. This concert will feature the works of Enrique Granados, Manuel de Falla, Astor Piazzolla, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and others. This event will take place in the Colby College Museum of Art.

A diverse group of musicians and choir members perform together on stage, reading from sheet music in a concert setting.

Colby Symphony Orchestra
Director, Jinwook Park
Choirs at Colby
Choral Masterworks
Saturday, May 2, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 3, 3 p.m.

Our final concerts begin with the Overture from Mikhail Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila, based on the poem of the same name by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. We will also welcome the Music Department Concerto Competition winner, George Huberty ’28, who will be performing the first movement of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Piano Concerto No. 1. We end our season in collaboration with invited soloists and Choirs at Colby for a performance of Giuseppi Verdi’s operatic, epic Requiem.

Fall 2025

A woman singing passionately outdoors, surrounded by people in straw hats and trees, capturing a moment of celebration.

Bulla en el Barrio
Bullerengue from Colombia! A Compendium of Original and Traditional Songs
Friday, September 26, 7:30 p.m.
(Funded by the Freda M. Charles Music Fund)

Bulla en el Barrio invites you to an immersive evening of bullerengue, the vibrant traditional music of Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Founded and led by Carolina Oliveros and Camilo Rodriguez, the group brings the participatory spirit of the traditional rueda de bullerengue to life—an inclusive event where everyone is welcome to clap, sing, dance, and socialize, while learning from this ancestral music practice.

A split image featuring a woman at a piano and a man in a suit with a floral shirt, set against a blue background.

Florence Price: The Life and Music of a Trailblazing American
Michael Clark, Piano Lecture Recital
Friday, October 3, 7:30 p.m.
(Funded by the Ermanno Comparetti Concert Fund)

In this lecture recital, Michael Clark covers Florence Price’s remarkable life story, from her roots in the Jim Crow South through her tenacious pursuit of a compositional career to her leading role in the Black Chicago Renaissance. Interweaving lecture with piano pieces highlighting Price’s mastery of multiple styles, the program will feature numerous short works, some published for the first time in 2025, and conclude with her monumental Piano Sonata in E Minor, a powerful fusion of African-American vernacular styles and the Romantic tradition. Michael Clark is a pianist, teacher, and scholar acclaimed for his “natural, clear, and nuanced” performances (Piano Magazine). A leading advocate for Florence Price’s music, he has performed her works worldwide, released world-premiere recordings with Navona Records, and is preparing new recordings and editions of her rediscovered piano music.

Smiling musician with curly hair sitting outdoors next to a cello, leaning on a music stand, with a house in the background.

MUSIC IN THE MUSEUM
Ben Noyes, Cello
A Musical Journey Through the Life of J.S. Bach
Friday, October 10, Noon
(Funded by the Hazel Hoyt Witherell Concert Fund)

Through the timeless movements of Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello, Noyes crafts a musical journey that traces the arc of Bach’s life. Each suite becomes a chapter, with melodies that echo his youthful passions, trials, and ultimate wisdom. A portrait in sound, alive with history and human emotion.

Young musicians performing with cellos in an orchestra setting, focused expressions and instruments in hand.

Colby Symphony Orchestra
Masters of Expression
Director, Jinwook Park
Saturday, October 18, 7:30 p.m.

Join us for our inaugural concert, featuring three canonical orchestral works. Hear a statue come to life in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s overture to the genre-bending Don Giovanni, marvel at the mysterious four drum beats that open Ludwig van Beethoven’s spacious Violin Concerto, featuring soloist Minju Kim, and get carried away by the emotional turbulence of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Pathetique.

A ghostly scene of musicians in black and white, depicting a pianist and a cellist with figures in white on the stairs.

Specter: A Musical Séance
Friday, October 24, 7 p.m.*
Greene Block + Studios

“Specter: A Musical Séance” is an exploration of the ghost story in its many forms, from the tragic to the mystical to the macabre. This program is an interdisciplinary reimagining of the classical music recital, combining art song and piano solo repertoire with original composition, haunting visuals, and audio recordings of Mainers recounting their personal ghost stories. Audiences will experience works from a diverse range of composers, from the spooky art song of Schubert, Bolcom, and Bonds to the eerie soundscapes of Crumb, Cowell, and Liebermann, and explore their own relationship with Maine culture, the paranormal, and the afterlife. Featuring Maine musicians Jazmin DeRice, Robin Lane, and Morgan Lee of the Porchlight Ensemble.

* Please note the change in start time and venue for this performance

A female singer performs with a saxophonist while a musician plays in the background, all on stage in a vibrant setting.

Colby Jazz Band
From the Rhythm Section
Director, Brendon Wilkins
Saturday, November 1, 7:30 p.m.

This concert will feature compositions from famous members of the jazz rhythm section throughout time. The unique compositional perspective of the rhythm section brings a unique energy to the music. Pianist Horace Silver’s composition “Nutville” alternates between a driving mambo and an uptempo swing feel. “Brother Mister,” by upright bassist Christian McBride, has a straight-ahead groove and a catchy melody.

Musicians performing in an ensemble, playing woodwind and brass instruments during a concert in a well-lit venue.

Colby Wind Ensemble
Present and Past
Director, Brendon Wilkins
Tuesday, November 11, 7:30 p.m.

The Colby Wind Ensemble’s fall concert will feature exciting works from the past and present. “Kalos Eidos,” composed by Carol Brittin Chambers, portrays the colors and patterns of a kaleidoscope. William Grant Still’s “Folk Suite for Band” weaves together some of the most widely enjoyed spirituals into this inspiring work for wind band.

A diverse choir performing with music sheets, showcasing expressions of focus and emotion during a music piece.

Choirs at Colby
Sing Noël
Director, Sydney Mukasa
Saturday, November 15, 7:30 p.m.

Celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Maine with the Choirs at Colby in a festive program celebrating French and Canadian choral traditions. Featuring works by Francis Poulenc, Nathaniel Dett, Eleanor Daley, and others, the evening traces cultural connections that have shaped Maine’s history. The performance will culminate in Camille Saint-Saëns’s Christmas Oratorio, a warm and festive masterpiece that looks ahead to the holiday season.

Musicians perform in an orchestra, focusing on their instruments, with one prominently playing the violin in the foreground.

Colby Symphony Orchestra
Stories in Sound
Director, Jinwook Park
Saturday, December 6, 7:30 p.m.

Our second symphonic concert will be a wonderful experience for adults and children alike. Maurice Ravel’s orchestral suite Le Tombeau de Couperin will fill the concert hall with neoclassical orchestral color, and animals will spring to life in Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Colby’s own John Ervin. Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia offers a powerful expression of unity and resilience, written during a time of censorship and long celebrated as a symbol of hope and national pride.