The Department of Music Presents:

Swelling sounds, impressive voices, passionate playing, and euphoric experiences in a stimulating musical season. Attend their next concert!

STUDENT ENSEMBLE SERIES

ORFF: Carmina Burana

Tony Rivera, conductor; University Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Combined Choirs; winners of the Concerto/Aria competition

Student Ensemble
February 27, 2026
Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Mission Santa Clara

A large choir and orchestra performing on stage in a decorated concert hall with ornate architecture and paintings on the walls.

The SCU Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Choirs join together to perform Carl Orff's epic Carmina Burana. In addition, the student winners of the Concerto/Aria competition will perform with our Wind Ensemble and Orchestra.

  • This event is general admission. Learn more about the venue: Mission Santa Clara.

    TICKET PRICES:

    Adult: $22

    Faculty/Staff, Senior, 18 & under: $18

    SCU Students FREE.

    Get more information about the SCU Student Free Ticket Program.

  • The performance schedule is subject to change at the discretion of SCU•Presents and the Department of Music. If there is a change in the schedule, you will be notified via the email that is associated with your ticket account.

    Read detailed COVID Safety requirements here.

BUY TICKETS

Winter Jazz Band & Combos Festival

Student Ensemble
March 4 - 5, 2026
Wednesday and Thursday, 7:00 p.m.
Music Recital Hall

A young man in a dark suit plays a trombone, with a colorful splash background. Text: Jazz Band & Combos Festival.

Passion and precision blend in an unforgettable celebration of live jazz. Join SCU’s talented Jazz Band as they breathe new life into time-honored hits from jazz greats, create innovative improvisations, and explore brand new compositions. Whether you’re a jazz lover or a newcomer, join us for captivating concerts that are sure to have you bopping to the beat.

  • This event is reserved seating. Learn more about the venue: Music Recital Hall.

    TICKET PRICES:

    Adult: $22

    Faculty/Staff, Senior, 18 & under: $18

    SCU Students FREE.

    Get more information about the SCU Student Free Ticket Program.

  • The performance schedule is subject to change at the discretion of SCU•Presents and the Department of Music. If there is a change in the schedule, you will be notified via the email that is associated with your ticket account.

    Read detailed COVID Safety requirements here.

BUY TICKETS

Spring Jazz Band & Combos Festival

Student Ensemble
May 20 - 21, 2026
Wednesday and Thursday, 7:00 p.m.
Music Recital Hall

A man in a suit playing a saxophone, with a colorful splash background. Text: Jazz Band & Combos Festival.

Passion and precision blend in an unforgettable celebration of live jazz. Join SCU’s talented Jazz Band as they breathe new life into time-honored hits from jazz greats, create innovative improvisations, and explore brand new compositions. Whether you’re a jazz lover or a newcomer, join us for captivating concerts that are sure to have you bopping to the beat.

  • This event is reserved seating. Learn more about the venue: Music Recital Hall.

    TICKET PRICES:

    Adult: $22

    Faculty/Staff, Senior, 18 & under: $18

    SCU Students FREE.

    Get more information about the SCU Student Free Ticket Program.

  • The performance schedule is subject to change at the discretion of SCU•Presents and the Department of Music. If there is a change in the schedule, you will be notified via the email that is associated with your ticket account.

    Read detailed COVID Safety requirements here.

BUY TICKETS

Spring Orchestra &
Wind Ensemble

Student Ensemble
May 29, 2026
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Mission Santa Clara

An orchestra performing on stage, with a conductor leading the musicians. The orchestra includes string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Text: Orchestra & Wind Ensemble.

SCU's Orchestra & Wind Ensemble join together in a performance of classic and contemporary pieces, filling Mission Santa Clara with exhilarating sounds.

  • This event is general admission. Learn more about the venue: Mission Santa Clara.

    TICKET PRICES:

    Adult: $22

    Faculty/Staff, Senior, 18 & under: $18

    SCU Students FREE.

    Get more information about the SCU Student Free Ticket Program.

  • The performance schedule is subject to change at the discretion of SCU•Presents and the Department of Music. If there is a change in the schedule, you will be notified via the email that is associated with your ticket account.

    Read detailed COVID Safety requirements here.

BUY TICKETS

Fusion

Directed by: Scot Hanna-Weir and Jason Gallardo

Student Ensemble
June 4, 2026
Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Mission Santa Clara

A choir of young men and women singing in a church with festive lighting and a Christmas tree. Text: FUSION in colorful letters.

Delight in a genre-crossing evening of vocal music as it resonates through the Mission Santa Clara. Prepare to be awe-inspired as these exceptional musicians take center stage in a performance that will leave you breathless.

The SCU Chamber Singers and Concert Choir explore the place we occupy in our world. Through a variety of genre-crossing repertoire, the center-piece of the program is the presentation of Alex Berko's SACRED PLACE which sets the text of Wendell Berry, John Muir, William Stafford, and Rabindranath Tagore inside the structure of the Jewish Sacred Service.

  • This event is general admission. Learn more about the venue: Mission Santa Clara.

    TICKET PRICES:

    Adult: $22

    Faculty/Staff, Senior, 18 & under: $18

    SCU Students FREE.

    Get more information about the SCU Student Free Ticket Program.

  • The performance schedule is subject to change at the discretion of SCU•Presents and the Department of Music. If there is a change in the schedule, you will be notified via the email that is associated with your ticket account.

    Read detailed COVID Safety requirements here.

BUY TICKETS

FACULTY RECITAL SERIES

Anthony Rivera, conductor/arranger

Faculty Recital
January 9, 2026
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Music Recital Hall

Man in tuxedo with glasses and beard smiling at a microphone in a concert hall, with an orchestra and audience visible in the background.

Featuring: Anthony Rivera, conductor/arranger; Rachel Zephir, guest conductor; and guest artists

Enjoy an evening of Music arranged by Dr. Anthony Rivera. Presenting Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Borodin's Symphony No. 3 reimagined for Chamber Winds.

  • This event is general admission. Learn more about the venue: Music Recital Hall.


    TICKET PRICES:

    Adult: $22.00

    Faculty/Staff, Senior, 18 & under: $18.00


    SCU Students FREE.

    Get more information about the SCU Student Free Ticket Program.

  • The performance schedule is subject to change at the discretion of SCU•Presents and the Department of Music. If there is a change in the schedule, you will be notified via the email that is associated with your ticket account.

    Read detailed COVID Safety requirements here.

BUY TICKETS

Carl Schultz, saxophone

Faculty Recital
January 23, 2026
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Music Recital Hall

A man with glasses playing a saxophone in black and white.

A program of original arrangements and compositions featuring Jazz musicians from around the Bay Area and throughout the US.

  • This event is general admission. Learn more about the venue: Music Recital Hall.


    TICKET PRICES:

    Adult: $22.00

    Faculty/Staff, Senior, 18 & under: $18.00


    SCU Students FREE.

    Get more information about the SCU Student Free Ticket Program.

  • The performance schedule is subject to change at the discretion of SCU•Presents and the Department of Music. If there is a change in the schedule, you will be notified via the email that is associated with your ticket account.

    Read detailed COVID Safety requirements here.

BUY TICKETS

Nancy Wait-Kromm, soprano

Faculty Recital
April 24, 2026
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Music Recital Hall

A smiling elderly woman with long hair, wearing earrings and a necklace, dressed in a black top with small sparkles, standing against a plain wall.

Nancy Wait-Kromm, soprano, and friends

A festive evening of solo and ensemble singing, including selections from the Brahms Liebeslieder Wálzer, Mendelssohn Two Part Songs, PDQ Bach's Liebeslieder Polkas and others. Wait-Kromm will be joined by SCU faculty, alumni, and friends from the community in this melodious concert of classical vocal repertoire.

  • This event is general admission. Learn more about the venue: Music Recital Hall.


    TICKET PRICES:

    Adult: $22.00

    Faculty/Staff, Senior, 18 & under: $18.00


    SCU Students FREE.

    Get more information about the SCU Student Free Ticket Program.

  • The performance schedule is subject to change at the discretion of SCU•Presents and the Department of Music. If there is a change in the schedule, you will be notified via the email that is associated with your ticket account.

    Read detailed COVID Safety requirements here.

BUY TICKETS

SINATRA SERIES

Red banner with black background and white text.

Established in 1980 and housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts inspires and energizes the arts at SCU through the innovative, creative work of performing arts faculty and professional artists.

Teresa McCollough, professional pianist, professor of music at Santa Clara University, and the 2024-26 Sinatra Chair, brings to campus a celebration of new music created in collaboration with her former students—award-winning alumni artists and composers, Brian Thorsett ‘00, Sam Pluta ‘01, and Nicolás Lell Benavides ‘10.

These events are free to all.

FEATURED CONCERTS

Music Recital Hall | Free to all

  • Featuring Brian Thorsett ‘00 & Teresa McCollough

    Thu. Oct. 9, 2025 | 7:30 p.m.

    Tenor Brian Thorsett ’00 is joined by Teresa McCollough, professor of music and 2024-26 Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts, for a special Grand Reunion alumni recital featuring art songs by Benjamin Britten, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Eric Choate.

    Co-sponsored by Grand Reunion Weekend

  • With Sam Pluta ‘01 & Teresa McCollough

    Fri. Nov. 21, 2025 | 7:30 p.m.

    Drawing on tradition, 2019 Guggenheim Fellow Sam Pluta ’01 joins SCU Professor of Music and 2024–26 Sinatra Chair, Teresa McCollough, for the premiere of Set the Sun, a work for laptop and piano inspired by Bach’s 25th Goldberg Variation, The Black Pearl. The program also features music by George Crumb and Frederic Rzewski, whose works reimagine history through sound.

  • A Chamber Opera by Nicolás Lell Benavides ‘10 featuring Jessica Jacoby ‘27, soprano, & Nathan Tu ‘27, baritone

    Fri. Mar. 13, 2026 | 7:30 p.m.

    Guggenheim Fellow Nicolás Lell Benavides ’10 begins his residency at SCU with a full performance of his chamber opera, Tres Minutos. In collaboration with 2024–26 Frank Sinatra Chair Teresa McCollough, and featuring vocalists Jessica Jacoby ’27 and Nathan Tu ’27, the work—inspired by a real program briefly reuniting immigrant families at the U.S.–Mexico border—explores the profound emotional consequences of separation.

  • Faculty Recital

    Sun. Apr. 19, 3:00 p.m.

    Teresa McCollough, professor of music and 2024-26 Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts, plays music of American composers including Aaron Copland and guest composer Nicolas Lell Benavides ’10.

  • World Premiere for Bowed Piano with SCU New Music Ensemble

    Fri. Jun. 5, 2026 | 7:30 p.m.

    Experience the premiere of a newly commissioned work by Guggenheim Fellow Nicolás Lell Benavides ’10, written for bowed piano ensemble. The piece is performed on the original 9-foot Baldwin bowed piano, gifted to Santa Clara University by the family of renowned composer Stephen Scott (1944–2021), whose pioneering work with his own ensemble transformed the possibilities of the instrument. Now under the care of 2024–26 Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts Teresa McCollough, the instrument finds new life in this collaboration. Benavides joins McCollough and the SCU New Music Ensemble as both composer and performer, honoring Scott’s legacy while carrying the bowed piano into a new era of performance.

SINATRA + MUSIC@NOON

Brian Thorsett, ‘00

A black and white photo of a man with dark hair and glasses, wearing a suit and tie, looking to the side.

Wednesdays, 12 p.m. | Music Recital Hall | FREE

  • In Conversation about the Art of the Song with Brian Thorsett ‘00

    Enjoy a preview of “Songs of Love and Loss” performed by tenor Brian Thorsett ’00 and Sinatra Chair Teresa McCollough.

  • Featuring Sameer Gupta ‘98

    Classical Indian music takes the spotlight during a special Raga Music@Noon featuring Sameer Gupta ’98 with Sruti Sarathy on violin and Akshay Naresh on Bansuri Flute.

  • In Conversation for Electronics and Other Instruments with Sam Pluta ‘01

    Award-winning composer Sam Pluta ’01 shares excerpts from his new work, Set the Sun, and joins Sinatra Chair Teresa McCollough for a conversation about composing for instruments and electronics.

  • A Conversation about Tres Minutos

    Join Nicolás Lell Benavides ’10 and Sinatra Chair Teresa McCollough for a conversation about Benavides’s timely and emotional opera Tres Minutos. The event will feature live excerpts performed with vocalists Jessica Jacoby ’27 and Nathan Tu ’27.

  • Music for mezzo-soprano & string quartet

    Melinda Martinez Becker ’04, M.A. ’06 and the Friction Quartet perform selections composed by Nicolás Lell Benavides ’10.

  • In Conversation with Nicolás Lell Benavides ‘10

    Enjoy a preview of a newly commissioned work by Nicolás Lell Benavides ’10, inspired by composer Stephen Scott (1944–2021) and performed on his original 9-foot bowed piano by Sinatra Chair Teresa McCollough, Benavides, and SCU’s New Music Ensemble.

A woman playing a grand piano on a dark stage, throwing a sheet of music into the air with dramatic lighting focused on her.
A man wearing glasses and a suit with a striped tie, speaking or singing with a dramatic facial expression.

Sam Pluta, ‘01

Smiling man with dark hair and a beard, wearing a black shirt with colorful floral embroidery, standing outdoors.

Nicolás Lell Benavides, ‘10

A woman sitting barefoot on a black piano bench next to a grand piano in a room with wood-paneled walls, smiling at the camera.

Teresa McCollough, Sinatra Chair

Logo with an orange sunburst and swoosh design, text: Music@Noon.
A promotional poster for a free 50-minute music session at the music recital hall, with a colorful starburst graphic that reads 'Music @ Noon' in the top left corner.

FABULOUS & FREE SERIES

Music@Noon - Winter 2026 Series

Free Concerts

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Wednesdays at 12 p.m.

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Free Concerts 〰️ Wednesdays at 12 p.m. 〰️

50 Minute in-class performances
January 14 - March 11, 2026
Wednesdays, 12:00 p.m.
Music Recital Hall

Wildly diverse and enriching concerts are presented as a part of the Music @ Noon class. Take a lunch break to enjoy this fresh free series! Explore the groups that will be performing through Music @ Noon below. Use the “+” to expand the section and learn more.

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  • Composing Opera with a Message

    Nicolas Lell Benavides ‘10 in conversation with Teresa McCollough

    *Sinatra Event

Rush Hour

Free Concert

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Skip the Rush Hour Traffic!

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Free Concert 〰️ Skip the Rush Hour Traffic! 〰️

50 Minute Free Performances
2025 - 2026 Season
Thursday, 5:30 p.m.
Music Recital Hall

Skip the rush hour traffic and enjoy a 50-minute free concert at the end of a long day!

  • Dan Robbins, bass; Mads Tolling, violin; Bruce Forman, guitar

    Thursday, January 29 at 5:30 p.m.

    Skip the rush hour traffic and enjoy an entertaining concert at the end of a long day! This free 50-min concert will feature the music of Dan Robins.

  • More information coming soon.