Featured Events
Below are examples of the variety of arts programs being offered across campus during the fall 2025 semester. Please visit the departments' respective event pages for a full list of arts opportunities.
Reclaim, Repurpose, Reimagine | September 4-October 18 | University Art Gallery
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 4 | 4-6 p.m.
Reclaim, Repurpose, Reimagine (RRR) will explore the act of transforming discarded objects into art, highlighting the vital role individuals play in addressing social and environmental challenges, including waste and consumption. With reclaimed materials that would otherwise have been discarded or lost, artists make visible the process of self-discovery, personal growth, identity, environmentalism, and sustainability. RRR is co-curated by SSU faculty members Eileen Parent and Stefan Kiesbye, and showcases the work of five Bay Area artists and will feature selected works from The Recology Artstart Student Hub (TRASH) summer art residency program.
Themes: transformation, Anthropocene, sustainability, conservation, forever plastics, ancestral memory, matriarchy, colonialism, immigration, undocumented communities, resistance, healing, art practice, cultural equity, psychology, archeology, anthropology, environmental studies, globalism, modern languages, history, philosophy, ethics, and culture
Mariachi Herencia de Mexico | La Nueva Generación Tour | Friday, October 3 |Green Music Center
With a new generation, Latin Grammy-nominee Mariachi Herencia de México pushes the boundaries of traditional mariachi music. Simultaneously honoring the past, celebrating the present, and creating the future of mariachi music, Mariachi Herencia de México presents an electrifying and unforgettable night of Mexican music and culture.
Music Department Concerts & Events | Various Dates | Green Music Center
Performances throughout the semester by students, faculty, and guest artists, including SSU's Jazz Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Concert Choir and SonoVoce, Brass Ensemble, Concert Jazz Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, Jewish Music Series, and more.
Kronos Quartet | October 18 | Green Music Center
Join the legendary Kronos Quartet as they celebrate the 40th anniversary of Nonesuch records in a concert that is both a fresh take on their past and a bold step into the future. Kronos exists to create, perform, and promote music from a global perspective that responds to the world we share and expands the understanding of music’s role as a powerful force in society. With new members, Kronos continues to push boundaries and redefine what a string quartet can be.
Themes: new music, art that responds to issues of our time, cultural equity
Humans 2.0 by Circa | Saturday, October 25 | Green Music Center
A symphony of acrobatics, sound and light, this is next level circus by Circa. Ten bodies move in harmony for a fleeting moment and then descend into a sinuous trance. Towers grow and decay, bodies leap and are caught, as physical limits are pushed to their extreme. Can we ever find a perfect balance or is adapting to constant change the only way forward? Humans 2.0 is intimate, primal, and deeply engaged with the challenge of being human.
Themes: circus, contemporary dance and theater, global roots and classical music, exploring the challenge of being human
Las Cafeteras present Hasta La Muerte | Thursday, October 30 | Green Music Center
From the imagination of the great band Las Cafeteras, Hasta La Muerte is an enthralling celebration in the spirit of the Indigenous/Mexican practice known as Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). The multi-dimensional performance combines mesmerizing choreography, costumes, and poetry with a score of original and traditional songs. Hasta La Muerte is not only a work that reflects the stories of Latine communities, but a testament to the Universal power of storytelling as a form of processing grief and sharing love with those in the beyond.
Themes: Mexican folklore, new stories, old archetypes, challenging patriarchy, re-examining our imagination about “death” and the “after-life.”
Kurbasy | Saturday, November 1 | Green Music Center
A fascinating music project from Lviv, Ukraine, Kurbasy’s folk-based multimedia performances vibrate in tight vocal harmonies, resonant lyrics, distinctive instrumentation, and dreamlike visual imagery. These cultural diplomats explore Ukraine’s rich trove of folk songs, lullabies, and legends to channel contemporary connections to an archaic past with their time-bending Songs of the Ukrainian Forest.
Themes: Ukrainian folk traditions, historic and contemporary connections, avant-garde theatre, cultural diplomacy, affirmations in a time of violence and resistance