April is Music Month at American University!
AU Chamber Singers, fall 2025. Photo: Ethan Kauffman.
In April, the Katzen Arts Center is filled with the sound of music! Groove to jazz in the sculpture garden, hear the AU Pep and Symphonic Bands join in playing the AU Fight Song, experience a moving choral reflection on forced migration and displacement, and much more.
Check out all the details below and reserve your tickets.
Tickets are free for AU students with ID, $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children, and senior citizens (55 and older), $15 general admission.
American University Chamber Singers
THE DISPLACED
including the North American Premiere of Mikael Carlsson’s Requiem
Saturday, April 11, 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 12, 3 p.m.
Daniel Abraham, director
Katzen Arts Center, Abramson Family Recital Hall
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016
Displaced tickets
Through contemporary choral works, this program invites audiences to reflect on the human realities of forced migration and displacement. This thought-provoking concert emphasizes and highlights composers’ artistic responses to displacement caused by war, political violence, and humanitarian crises around the world. The works explore themes of loss and survival, the search for safety and belonging, and the moral questions surrounding forced migration and displacement.
The program includes the North American premiere of Requiem by Mikael Carlsson, composed in response to the mass movement of refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere and seeking safety in Europe. Additional works include excerpts from To the Hands by Caroline Shaw, The New Colossus by Saunder Choi, and music by Kim Sherman, Carlos Cordero, Sydney Guillaume, and Karen Marrolli, each offering a distinct perspective on displacement, migration, and welcome.
As a program of social action and activism, the AU Department of Performing Arts is partnering with HIAS and Ayuda to help increase awareness and understanding of the work underway to support displaced populations locally, nationally, and internationally.
American University Chorus
Between Stone and Sky
Saturday, April 18, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 19, 2 p.m.
Casey Cook, conductor
Barbara Wilkinson, pianist
Katzen Arts Center, Abramson Family Recital Hall
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016
Chorus tickets
Experience a profound musical journey that bridges centuries and landscapes. AU Chorus presents Franz Schubert's luminous Mass in G, a masterwork of classical elegance and spiritual devotion, paired with Ola Gjeilo's breathtaking contemporary choral cycle, The Road. Together, these works explore timeless themes of journey, transformation, and the human spirit's search for grace.
American University Symphonic Band and Pep Band
Spring Concert
Sunday, April 19, 6 p.m.
Matthew Brown, Aidan Dixon, and Ella Cantor, conductors
Katzen Arts Center, Abramson Family Recital Hall
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016
The American University Symphonic Band explores a variety of notable band repertoire from classics to contemporary composers. The AU Pep Band will present some of their greatest hits, and both ensembles will play the AU Fight Song and other selections.
American University Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Combos
Some Spring Swing
Friday, April 24, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Joshua Bayer, director
Katzen Arts Center, AU Museum Sculpture Garden
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016
Join the AU Jazz Orchestra and AU Jazz Combos for a lively evening of big band classics, swing, funk, Latin, bossa nova, and straight-ahead jazz! From the timeless grooves of Ellington and Basie to the bold sounds of Mingus and Goodwin, AU Jazz brings the rich traditions of jazz to life.
American University Symphony Orchestra
Beethoven’s Fifth
Saturday, April 25, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 26, 3 p.m.
Matthew Brown, conductor
Katzen Arts Center, Abramson Family Recital Hall
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016
Orchestra tickets
The AU Symphony Orchestra takes on the crown jewel of the classical canon, The Symphony of all symphonies, Beethoven's incomparable Fifth. The program also will include the student winner of the annual Concerto and Aria Competition, Ava Filocamo, as featured soloist performing her chosen repertoire.