Explore BU Arts Central
Your destination for art, music, theatre, opera, workshops, and more at Boston University
BU Arts Central
Your destination for art, music, theatre, opera, workshops, and more at Boston University
Theatrical innovations, immersive exhibitions, guest artists, and operatic odysseys. You can experience the arts in every way with Boston University this year.
Scroll to find featured upcoming events, and check back as new ones are added throughout the year. Be sure to follow CFA on Instagram, Facebook, and X for the latest news and event postings!
Visit the Full Events Calendar
There’s something happening every day at BU. In addition to featured events listed below, you can check out the complete calendar of upcoming CFA events as well as opportunities for artists and art-lovers alike to experience all of what Boston University has to offer.
Upcoming Events
The Prom
Wheelock Family Theatre
May 16 – June 8, 2025
Music by Matthew Sklar • Book by Bob Martin, Chad Beguelin • Lyrics by Chad Beguelin • 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 that it’s time to put a spotlight on the issue…and themselves. 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.
Boston Young Contemporaries 2025
Stone Gallery
June 5 – July 26, 2025
Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts, in collaboration with Massachusetts College of Art and Design and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, presents this revitalized exhibition showcasing work by current and just-graduated MFA students from all three schools. The exhibition builds on a tradition launched over twenty years ago by Boston University MFA students and returns with support from the Wagner Foundation. The 2025 edition is juried by Selby Nimrod and highlights the next generation of artists working across disciplines and across the city.
Nothing Matches, Everything Shines
808 Gallery Windows
June 5 – August 8, 2025
Boston University Art Galleries presents Nothing Matches, Everything Shines. Loretta Park’s multimedia practice stitches together colorful found objects to create joyful, elaborate installations. She delights in the unexpected juxtapositions discovered from collecting materials that have outlived their original functions. Curated by Madeleine Delpha. This exhibition can only be viewed from Commonwealth Avenue. There is no entrance into the gallery.
Past Events
A Summer Place
Stone Gallery
June – August 2024
Equal parts portrait, landscape, and still life, Breehan James and Nancy Wissemann-Widrig’s paintings are a testament to their deep connection with seasonal, rustic, summer dwellings—Wissemann-Widrig’s on the coast in Maine and James’ in Northern Wisconsin. These acutely-observed rural sites come to life in carefully rendered works, which serve as both an archive of everyday things and a window to nature’s close embrace.
Quarrel
808 Gallery
June – August 2024
In his artwork on view in the 808 Gallery windows on Comm Ave, Matt Murphy played with an interchange between sculpture and painting. Sculptures are real physical objects. Viewers also recognize objects in paintings as real physical objects even though the painting is simply a flat surface covered in paint. In this way, paintings craft an illusion of reality.
BU Fall Arts Fair
GSU Plaza
September 6, 2024
BU Arts Initiative, BU arts programs, academic units, and selected Boston area arts organizations meet with students every fall on the GSU Plaza to showcase and explore all that BU and Boston have to offer in the wide world of the arts.
Silber Way Exhibition
1 Silber Way
September 10, 2024
The Silber Way Exhibition, hosted by BU Arts Initiative, is an annual exhibition presented by the BU Arts Initiative that features staff, faculty, alumni, and current student work, curated by a jury of Boston University staff.
Contemporary Perspectives Lecture: Dawoud Bey & Allison Kemmere
Howard Thurman Center
September 24, 2024
BU College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts presents a conversation between groundbreaking artist and MacArthur Fellow Dawoud Bey and the Director of the Addison Gallery of American Art, Allison Kemmerer (GRS’91). Organized by the MFA Print Media & Photography program as part of the Contemporary Perspectives Lecture Series and the Tim Hamill Visiting Artist Series.
Federico Leopoldo Quintet
Tsai Performance Center
September 25, 2024
BU School of Music welcomes you to an evening of musical exploration that transports you to the vibrant heart of South America, where the rich traditions of Argentine Tango and Colombian Andean Music intertwine. This special program, co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies, invites you to experience the cultural tapestry of these two distinct yet complementary genres, which share a deep connection through rhythm, emotion, and the celebration of life.
Next Stage Workshops
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
September 22 – 28, 2024
- Manspread by Ava Laroche (CFA’25)
- Pyrrhic Victory by Alexa Connors (CFA’26, CAS’26)
- Llorona, or the Weeping Women by Gaby Tovar (CFA’25)
The School of Theatre New Play Initiative presents a series of workshops, scenes, and plays written and directed by BU students. Curated by School of Theatre Director Kirsten Greenidge, this on-its-feet workshop play experience focuses on different areas of a project in the process of development.
Boston University Symphony Orchestra
Tsai Performance Center
September 28, 2024
A historic opening concert of the BU Symphony Orchestra celebrates the inauguration of Boston University’s new president Dr. Melissa Gilliam, the conducting debut of new Director of Orchestral Activities Sarah Ioannides, and our fine students breaking into the 2024-2025 year. The program, embracing diversity and excellence, includes Joan Tower’s powerful “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No.1”, and two symphonic poems that reflect the importance of cultural identity and the beauty of nature. The night also features recent alum Minyung Suh (CFA’22,’24), winner of the 2023 Concerto Competition.
Fringe Festival: Entry (or, you think you know me)
Studio ONE
October 4 – 6, 2024
Play by S. Thomasin Barsotti • Directed by Taylor Stark (CFA’25) • After a personal tragedy, Coye and Whit retreat to a lakeside cottage to rest and recover. There, what begins as a benign vacation morphs into a nightmare as they begin to obsess over strange entries in the cottage’s guestbook–entries that describe their emotional experiences; entries that detail their actual grief; and even entries that appear to have been written by them.
The Spongebob Musical
Wheelock Family Theatre
October 4 – 27, 2024
Based on the series by Stephen Hillenburg, book by Kyle Jarrow, Musical production conceived by Tina Landau. Directed by Nick Vargas • Music Directed by Jon Goldberg • Choreographed by Joy Clark. Plunge into this stunning all-singing, all-dancing, dynamic stage show! When the citizens of Bikini Bottom discover that a volcano will soon erupt and destroy their humble home, SpongeBob and his friends must come together to save the fate of their undersea world. With lives hanging in the balance and all hope lost, a most unexpected hero rises up. The power of optimism really can save the world
Cinematheque: An Evening with Jen Regan
640 Commonwealth Ave
October 11, 2024
Boston University College of Communication‘s Department of Film & Television presents this event hosted by BU Assistant Professor of Screenwriting Scott Thompson. BU alum Jen Regan is currently staffed on ELLE for MGM/Amazon and Hello Sunshine. Previously, Regan adapted DOMESTICATED ANIMALS, based on the novel White Elephant by Julie Langsdorf, for Showtime with Kristen Campo producing. She also spent two seasons on ATYPICAL (Netflix) and wrote on the first season of Darren Star’s Emmy-nominated hit EMILY IN PARIS (Netflix).
Group Crit: MFA Painting and Sculpture 1969 – 2024
808 Gallery
September 3 – October 19, 2024
Group Crit exhibits over 50 MFA and BFA Painting & Sculpture alumni who are visually, materially, and conceptually articulating themselves in conversation with each other. The exhibition, like a good group crit, is a cross-generational discourse on form and ideas. The work at times agrees with each other and at other times agrees to disagree. Group Crit celebrates these varied perspectives and creates a space for them to be appreciated together.
Fringe Festival: Dark Sisters
Studio ONE
October 11 – 13, 2024
Opera composed by Nico Muhly (BUTI’96,’97), libretto by Stephen Karam, arranged by Nate Thatcher • Gordon Cheung, Conductor • Allison Voth, Music Director • Rose Freeman, Stage Director • Dark Sisters follows one woman’s dangerous attempt to escape her life as a member of the FLDS Church. The male founders of the Mormon faith (Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, chief among them) loom large in American history; Dark Sisters puts the women front and center.
Fringe Festival: Siren Song
Studio ONE
October 19 – 20, 2024
Opera in 1 Act composed by Jonathan Dove, Libretto by Gordon Honeycombe and Nick Dear • William Lumpkin, Conductor • Claire Choquette, Stage Director • Siren Song is the bizarre true story of young sailor on HMS Ark Royal exchanging letters with a beautiful and successful model. Over time a romantic and passionate relationship develops, but a meeting proves increasingly difficult to arrange.
Artist Adrienne Elise Tarver Discusses Public Art Fund Project She Who Sits
WBUR CitySpace
October 22, 2024
A conversation with interdisciplinary artist Adrienne Elise Tarver (CFA’07), whose art on hundreds of bus shelters and newsstands in New York City, Chicago, and Boston, features a series of paintings foregrounding multifaceted Black female identities. Tarver’s Public Art Fund exhibition explores the visibility and invisibility of Black women and the seats they can—or cannot—take within public and social spaces. Tarver spoke with Public Art Fund Assistant Curator Jenée-Daria Strand and CFA Dean Harvey Young.
Design Week & Design Incubation 11:1
808 Commonwealth Ave.
October 21 – 25, 2024
The BU Graphic Design department partnered with Design Incubation for DI’s tenth-anniversary colloquium as part of BUGD Design Week. The 2024 Colloquium showcased design research in lively, interactive sessions featuring practitioners, creators, educators, and students in a live, in-person event exploring creative research, practice, and the adjacent fields that influence their work.
Music Faculty Spotlight Performance
CFA Concert Hall
October 25, 2024
The Boston University College of Fine Arts Faculty Spotlight Concert series features a delightful and eclectic mix of solo and chamber music performances by our esteemed applied faculty in Boston University School of Music.
Intercollegiate Choral Festival
The Fenway Center, Northeastern University
October 26, 2024
The Boston University Singers performed alongside the choral programs from Boston Conservatory, Northeastern University, and Bridgewater State University in a collaborative, intercollegiate choral festival.
Boston University Symphony Orchestra
Tsai Performance Center
October 28, 2024
This program weaves together themes of fate, nature, and cultural identity. Repertoire includes Verdi, Takemitsu, Kelly-Marie Murphy, Respighi, and Ginastera. Featuring BU Concerto Competition winner trombonist Kevin A. Virgilio (CFA’24). Each piece, in its way, reflects on the forces—whether destiny, nature, or culture—that shape our world from different perspectives.
2024 Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture: The Half-Life of Freedom, Race, and Justice in America Today
CDS Conference Center
October 29, 2024
Jelani Cobb is a staff writer at The New Yorker, writing on race, history, justice, politics, and democracy, as well as Columbia University’s Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism and Dean of Columbia Journalism School. He recently co-edited, “The Matter of Black Lives,” a collection of The New Yorker’s most ground-breaking writing on Black history and culture in America. The Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture was established in 2008 as an energizing memorial to the progressive political values Professor Howard Zinn embodied as a writer, teacher, and mentor.
Kaleidescope • Boston University Choruses and Chamber Orchestra
All Saints Parish, Brookline
October 30, 2024
Join the BU Choruses and Chamber Orchestra for Kaleidoscope, a concert exploring the vibrant spectrum of sound and color in music. Featuring works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Caroline Shaw, Imant Raminsh, John Corigliano, and Felix Mendelssohn, this program showcases a diverse array of musical textures, reflecting an ever-changing interplay of musical color and styles.
Hidden in the Layers
A + A Gallery • Venice, Italy
On view through November 3, 2024
This exhibition showcases new work from a selection of celebrated Boston-based artists working in printmaking, photography, and new media. Hidden in the Layers features two artists, Charles Suggs (CFA’20) and CFA Lecturer Josh Brennan. Other artists featured in the exhibition are Toni Pepe, Deborah Cornell and Lynne Allen, accomplished artists within their field who have mentored both Suggs and Brennan. Pictured: Untitled, 2024, courtesy of Josh Brennan.
Atlantic Exchange
A + A Gallery • Venice, Italy
On view through November 3, 2024
This exhibition is a selection of work from students of BU Study Abroad Venice and the Boston University College of Fine Arts. Atlantic Exchange presents the skill and talent of young artists emerging onto the art scene.
Atlantic Exchange runs concurrently with Hidden in the Layers.
El Caminante • Boston University Symphony Orchestra
Tsai Performance Center
November 13, 2024
This Boston University Symphony Orchestra performed the forgotten Cuban opera El Caminante, presented in concert style for the first time since 1921. This performance featured conductor and Artistic Director of BU’s Opera Institute William Lumpkin, Assistant Professor David Guzman in the title role, along with Boston University Opera Institute alum and soprano Michelle Johnson (CFA’07).
Julius Caesar
Studio ONE
November 15 – 17, 2024
William Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy set in ancient Rome, revolving around the conspiracy and assassination of the titular character, delves into themes of power, betrayal, ambition, and the consequences of political intrigue. The play, directed by Grant Sorenson (CFA’25) is renowned for its compelling characters, intricate plot, and profound exploration of human nature and the complexities of leadership.
How to NOT Save the World with Mr. Bezos
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre • Snodgrass Stage
November 7 – 22, 2024
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre presents How to NOT Save the World with Mr. Bezos, by Maggie Kearnan (GRS’25) and directed by Taylor Stark (CFA’25). A throne of red Solo cups, a pile of teeth, the ghost of Pete Seeger, and a little something for dinner. It’s 2030, and it’s illegal to be a billionaire. Jeffrey Bezos has agreed to give an interview in exchange for information on the federal case against him. But there’s something off about journalist Cherry Beaumont, a crowd is forming outside, and the onstage Fact Checker has a few important clarifications to make. In this near-future fairy tale, the fall of capitalism is about to get very messy.
Soft Star
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre • Snodgrass Stage
November 14 – 22, 2024
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre presents Soft Star, by Tina Esper (GRS’25) and directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary (CFA’08). Jane and Belle are best friends. Their husbands are best friends. Someday, their children will be best friends. And of course, they don’t have any secrets from each other. What could possibly go wrong? It’s a play about what happens when the only plan you’ve ever made starts to unravel.
Moments in Photography
808 Gallery
On view through December 3, 2024
Celebrating storytelling through the lens of a camera. Artists Janice Checchio (CFA’07), Jacqueline Ricciardi, and Cydney Scott, all BU photographers, exhibit photographs taken over the course of their careers working as photojournalists. While capturing highlights and conflicts, each artist showcases her own experience preserving a moment.
1998 • Works by Laurie Simmons
Stone Gallery
On view through December 7, 2024
1998 is a selection of photographs by artist Laurie Simmons. The title, playfully inspired by Taylor Swift’s 1989 album, references work produced by Simmons in the year 1998 for an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called Metro Pictures. These photographs revisit the miniature elements Simmons introduced in her seminal work of the late 1970s. She is part of The Pictures Generation, a name given to a group of artists who came to prominence in the 1970s, including Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, and Louise Lawler.
The Rink
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
November 22 – December 8, 2024
Rediscover the magic of Broadway’s original roller skating musical, directed by Gregg Wiggans (CFA’25). For the first time in 40 years, this rarely produced musical will feature newly restored book and orchestrations. Written by Terrence McNally, music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the innovative story is set on the ragged fringe of New York’s Coney Island. As Anna Antonelli’s roller rink is about to be demolished, it becomes the arena in which mother and daughter examine their past, present, and future. THE RINK is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals.
Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo
808 Gallery, Howard Thurman Center
December 6 – 8, 2024
The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) is a festival focusing on independent, small press and self-published comics and cartoons. Hundreds of independent comics artists and small press publishers gather alongside thousands of attendees eager to check out new comics, join in on hands-on workshops, and attend inclusive panel discussions. MICE, hosted by Boston University School of Visual Arts, is a free-to-attend event for comics readers of all ages.
Aurora Borealis: A Festival of Light and Dance
BU Dance Theatre
December 9, 2024
Presented in collaboration with the BU Department of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, and devised by artistic Co-Directors: Yo-EL Cassell and Micki Taylor-Pinney, the 23rd annual Aurora Borealis: A Festival of Light and Dance is a vibrant exploration of the relationship between light and form with a focus on collaboration and experimentation, featuring multiple dance and movement pieces. All tickets are free, general admission at the door
Boston University Chamber Orchestra
Tsai Performance Center
December 10, 2024
Concluding the Fall 2024 semester’s series of orchestral concerts, Boston University Chamber Orchestra conducted by Sarah Ioannides presents a program of comedy, romantic landscapes, and the pioneering American spirit. Repertoire features Rossini, Carreno, Copland, Stravinsky, Shostakovich. This concert is free and open to the public.
A Year with Frog and Toad
Wheelock Family Theatre
November 30 – December 15, 2024
Based on the books by Arnold Lobel • Book and Lyrics by Willie Reale • Music by Robert Reale • Waking from hibernation in the Spring, Frog and Toad plant gardens, swim, rake leaves, go sledding and learn life lessons along the way. The two best friends celebrate and rejoice in the differences that make them unique and special. Part vaudeville, part make believe… all charm, A Year with Frog and Toad tells the story of a friendship that endures throughout the seasons.
School of Music Faculty Spotlight Concert
CFA Concert Hall
February 13, 2025
The Boston University College of Fine Arts Faculty Spotlight Concert features a delightful and eclectic mix of solo and chamber music performances by CFA School of Music’s esteemed applied faculty. This concert is free and open to the public.
A New Figuration: Philip Guston at Boston University
Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground
February 25, 2025
BU School of Visual Arts presents an engaging lecture with art historian Dr. Ben Street, exploring the artist and former Boston University faculty member Philip Guston’s shift from abstraction to figuration, his 1974 BU exhibition, and ties to the Boston Expressionists and connection to Italian frescoes. Associate Professor Dana Clancy will join for an open conversation into Guston’s time at BU, his influence on the Boston art scene, and the broader context of his artistic legacy.
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah Artist Residency
WBUR CitySpace • EPIC • Diversity & Inclusion Office
February 27 – March 1, 2025
The BU Arts Initiative welcomes Grammy-nominated musician Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah for a residency, which will include a conversation on Afro-Indigeneity, a presentation (Decolonizing Music through Sonic Architecture), and a concert at WBUR’s CitySpace. He is a sonic architect, trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and designer of innovative technologies and musical instruments.
Florencia en el Amazonas
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
February 27 – March 2, 2025
Boston University Opera Institute and School of Theatre present this opera by Daniel Catán, conducted by William Lumpkin, with stage direction by Amy Hutchison. Steeped in the beautiful style of magical realism, the story follows the journey of the legendary diva Florencia Grimaldi and her fellow passengers on a boat ride down the Amazon.
Tuesday Night Lecture Series: Yng-Ru Chen
Stone Gallery
March 4, 2025
BU College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts and the BU Art Galleries present a lecture with artist Yng-Ru Chen, the Founder and CEO of the Boston-area-based Praise Shadows Art Gallery, and a co-founder of the new Arrival Art Fair. She sits on the Board of Trustees of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. She previously worked at MoMA P.S.1, Sotheby’s, Asia Society, and Tattly.
Constituent Parts: Cathy Della Lucia and Nicholas Anthony Mancini in Dialogue
808 Gallery
January 21 – March 7, 2025
This exhibition highlights a decade-long conversation between Della Lucia (CFA’17) and Mancini (CFA’17), who met as MFA students at Boston University in 2015. Together, their works invite us to rethink how we make sense of the world around us.
Trasluz / Translucent: Works by Juan José Barboza-Gubo and Michael Zachary
Stone Gallery
January 23 – March 7, 2025
Trasluz / Translucent brings together the work of Michael Zachary and Juan José Barboza-Gubo, exploring the evolving concept of landscape. Both artists create immersive environments that blend physical terrain with metaphysical space.
Flora & Ulysses
Wheelock Family Theatre
February 15 – March 9, 2025
Written by John Glore • Based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo • Can a little squirrel change the human heart? After getting sucked up by a vacuum cleaner, a (now hairless) squirrel is rescued by Flora Belle Buckman, a 10-year-old self-proclaimed cynic. She names him Ulysses and discovers he has been reborn a superhero. Indeed, this once average squirrel can suddenly understand Flora, fly, and even write poetry. Together they embark on an adventure full of quirky characters and bursting with heart.
The Fig Tree, and the Phoenix, and the Desire to be Reborn
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre • Snodgrass Stage
February 20 – March 9, 2025
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre presents The Fig Tree, and the Phoenix, and the Desire to be Reborn by Isabelle Fereshteh Sanatdar Stevens (GRS’25), directed by Nikta Sabouri. Figs fall from the Tree. Whispers of a Revolution crowd the shadows. Southwest of Mashhad, ten-year-olds Mandana and Javeed hurtle towards each other for the very first time – except somehow it doesn’t feel like the first time. There’s no explaining it, and not much time to think about it, as the world begins to crumble around them. A play about old worlds, this world, and how we make new worlds.
The Recursion of a Moth
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre • Snodgrass Stage
February 22 – March 9, 2025
Time is a rubber band – you can only stretch it so far before it snaps. Boston Playwrights’ Theatre presents The Recursion of a Moth, by Brandon Zang (GRS’25) and directed by Katie Brook. Icarus and Mikey time travel. Icarus and Mikey fall out of love. Icarus and Mikey meet each other for the first time in a college bar. Somewhere else, sometime else, Chrys buys a yellow house. The rules are: you can travel to any timeline as long as you don’t change anything. But of course, there’s always someone who thinks the rules don’t apply to them.
Multiple Fairs Art Book Fair
808 Gallery
March 20 – 22, 2025
Multiple Formats and BU School of Visual Arts is teaming up with the Boston Center for the Arts’ Boston Art Book Fair for a co-produced Multiple Fairs Art Book Fair, an inclusive forum for artist book publishing, fostering creative networks and community, and bringing together artists, designers, publishers, and art book enthusiasts to celebrate the dynamic intersection of art and publishing.
Boston University Spotlight at Carnegie Hall
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York City
March 25, 2025
Winners of Boston University School of Music’s annual Carnegie Hall competition showcase their expressive and technical gifts through the infinite variety of short works for soloist and piano accompaniment by the world’s great composers.
Cinematheque: An Evening With John Harvey
Kenmore Classroom Building Room 101
March 28, 2025
Boston University College of Communication‘s Department of Film & Television presents a screening and Q&A hosted by Professor Aaron Kopp with John Harvey, a writer, director, and producer across film and theatre and Creative Director of Brown Cabs. Harvey’s acclaimed films include Still We Rise (AIDC & ADG Awards), Off Country (ADG Award), Katele (Mudskipper) (MIFF, FlickerFest Awards), Water, and Out of Range. A 2023 Sidney Myer Creative Fellow, he serves on the Bangarra Dance Theatre board. Featuring a screening of Still We Rise.
Boston University School of Music at Symphony Hall
Symphony Hall, Boston
March 31, 2025
This special evening at Boston’s historic Symphony Hall features not just one, but three of Boston University’s ensembles the Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Symphonic Chorus. With conductors Sarah Ioannides, Daniel Parsley, and Kenneth Amis (CFA’91, BUTI’86,’87). Repertoire includes Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms featuring countertenor Sergio Savala (CFA’26), Arnold Rosner’s Symphony No.8, Op. 84, Trinity, Richard Strauss’ Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59, and Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2.
The Redstone Film Festival
Tsai Performance Center
April 4, 2025
For over 30 years, BU’s Department of Film and Television has showcased the work of student filmmakers, providing a front-row seat to the next generation of storytellers. Sponsored by the Sumner Redstone Foundation and featuring awards from Canon, the festival has launched the careers of many filmmakers who have gone on to achieve global success, including Academy Award nominations. From gripping narratives to innovative documentaries, this is your chance to see tomorrow’s stars today.
Corpus Christi
Studio ONE
April 10 – 13, 2025
Written by Terrence McNally and directed by Gregg Wiggans (CFA’25), this story parallels the New Testament’s. This student thesis production continues a year-long exploration of McNally’s work, controversies, significance, and legacy. Written by three-time Tony Award winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient Terrence McNally, Corpus Christi follows a man named Joshua, born and raised in Corpus Christi in the early 1950s in isolation and torment– an object of scorn due to his sexuality. When he flees Corpus Christi in search of a more accepting environment, he gathers a group of like-minded followers who are bound to him by his message of love and tolerance. But Joshua’s teachings of radical acceptance will not deliver him from his fate. His plea—that we look upon all souls as equal in the sight of God—goes unanswered.
Centering the Human in an Orchestra of Ideas • Chad Smith, President and CEO of Boston Symphony Orchestra
Howard Thurman Center
April 15, 2025
Hosted by BU’s Metropolitan College Arts Administration Program, the fourth annual Daniel Ranalli Lecture Series presents: Centering the Human in an Orchestra of Ideas, a lecture by Chad Smith, Eunice and Julian Cohen President and CEO of Boston Symphony Orchestra. Tuesday, April 15th at 5pm in BU’s Howard Thurman Center. A reception at 808 Gallery will follow the lecture. Tickets are free, registration recommended
MFA Graphic Design, Print Media & Photography, Sculpture & Visual Narrative Thesis Exhibitions
808 Gallery • Stone Gallery
April 8 – 19, 2025
Boston University School of Visual Arts showcases the work of graduating students in the Graphic Design, Sculpture, Print Media & Photography, and Visual Narrative graduate programs. Exhibitions typically are held on campus in the galleries at the College of Fine Arts, including the Stone Gallery, 808 Gallery, and Commonwealth Gallery, with satellite shows throughout the School of Visual Arts facilities and beyond.
DESDEMONA a play about a handkerchief
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
April 16 – 19, 2025
DESDEMONA a play about a handkerchief, written by Paula Vogel and directed by Grant Sorenson (CFA’25), follows the wrongly accused and suffering wife of Shakespeare’s tragic Moor, Othello. Paula Vogel demonstrates in her comic deconstruction of Shakespeare’s play—aligning tongue-in-cheek humor while raising serious questions as to the role of women through the ages—Desdemona was far from the quivering naïf we’ve all come to know. Runs in repertory with Emilia at Booth Theatre.
Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi
Tsai Performance Center
April 24 – 27, 2025
Puccini’s Suor Angelica tells the story of a woman who bears a child out of wedlock and is sent to a convent for penance. After seven years, she receives tragic news of her son, which sets in motion a series of dire actions that ultimately result in tragedy, forgiveness, and peace. Gianni Schicchi, considered a comic masterpiece, is a dark satire based on a real story mentioned in Dante’s Inferno and includes the famous aria “O mio babbino caro.”
MFA Graphic Design, Print Media & Photography, Sculpture & Visual Narrative Thesis Exhibitions
808 Gallery • Stone Gallery
April 8 – 19, 2025
Boston University School of Visual Arts showcases the work of graduating students in the Graphic Design, Sculpture, Print Media & Photography, and Visual Narrative graduate programs. Exhibitions typically are held on campus in the galleries at the College of Fine Arts, including the Stone Gallery, 808 Gallery, and Commonwealth Gallery, with satellite shows throughout the School of Visual Arts facilities and beyond.
Emilia
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
April 25 – 27, 2025
Written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and directed by Taylor Stark (CFA’25), Emilia is a riotous, witty reclaiming of the life of an exceptional woman. Four hundred years ago, Emilia Bassano wanted her voice to be heard. It wasn’t. Could she have been the ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets? What of her own poetry? Why was her story erased from history? In Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s electrifying play, Emilia and her sisters reach out across the centuries with passion, fury, laughter and song. Runs in repertory with DESDEMONA a play about a handkerchief at Booth Theatre.
Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi
Tsai Performance Center
April 24 – 27, 2025
Puccini’s Suor Angelica tells the story of a woman who bears a child out of wedlock and is sent to a convent for penance. After seven years, she receives tragic news of her son, which sets in motion a series of dire actions that ultimately result in tragedy, forgiveness, and peace. Gianni Schicchi, considered a comic masterpiece, is a dark satire based on a real story mentioned in Dante’s Inferno and includes the famous aria “O mio babbino caro.”
BFA & BA Thesis Exhibitions
808 Gallery • Stone Gallery • Commonwealth Gallery
April 29 – May 10, 2025
BU School of Visual Arts 2025 BFA Thesis Exhibition celebrates the culmination of four years of artistic development and rigorous studio practice. The exhibitions are on view from April 29 through May 10 across the 808 Gallery, 808 Corridor Gallery, and Commonwealth Gallery, with a public reception on Friday, May 2. Showcasing the work of 60 students in the BFA programs in Painting, Sculpture, and Graphic Design, along with the BA in Art cohort, these exhibitions highlight the dynamic range of voices, ideas, and media that define the next generation of visual artists and designers.
MFA Painting Thesis Exhibition
Stone Gallery
April 29 – May 18, 2025
Boston University School of Visual Arts showcases the work of graduating students in the Painting graduate program, ranked #6 by U.S. News & World Report. The exhibition is in the Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery at 855 Commonwealth Ave. A reception will be held on Friday, May 2.
Featured Works
Miss an event or just want to relive the magic? Visit our collection of Featured Works, where you’ll find an in-depth look at recent exhibitions, theatrical productions, operas, concerts, and more.
Series Deep Dive
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