Upcoming Events
March 26, 2025
TENWESTx TALKS: GUY RAZ (How I Built This)
7 Lessons I’ve Learned From the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs
Join Arizona Arts Live and TENWEST this spring for an unforgettable evening with the man whose voice has defined a generation of storytelling, Guy Raz. Presented live in Centennial Hall.
Guy Raz is celebrated as one of the most influential podcasters of our time, creating global sensations like How I Built This, TED Radio Hour, and the award-winning kids’ science show Wow in the World. Dubbed by The New York Times as “one of the most popular podcasters in history,” his shows captivate 19 million listeners monthly. With a career spanning over 25 years, Raz’s engaging storytelling and unparalleled interview style have earned him a reputation as “the greatest interviewer of his generation” (Forbes).
From anchoring groundbreaking news at NPR and CNN to transforming the podcasting world, Raz’s achievements have garnered numerous accolades, including the Edward R. Murrow Award and a Peabody. Over his illustrious career, he has interviewed over 20,000 people, including presidents, Nobel Prize winners, and cultural icons, bringing their stories to life with depth and insight. In 2017, Raz became the first person in the history of podcasting to have three shows in the top 20 on the Apple Podcasts charts simultaneously. His talk, 7 Lessons I’ve Learned From the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs will inspire you with the practical advice you need to make your next business breakthrough.
In addition to Guy’s keynote, TENWESTx Talks will feature a Made in Arizona segment that will highlight the founder journeys of three companies built and grown in Arizona: Manish Shah, Maya and Transit Tea; Mike Spangenberg, State Forty Eight; and Lauren Bailey, Upward Projects & Postino. This interview style segment will be led by Cristie Street, Senior Vice President & COO of Southern Arizona Leadership Council and former CEO of NextTrio.
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March 28, 2025
Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.
2025 Black Faculty Speaker Series
Join Arizona Arts Live and the Office of the Provost for a lecture exploring community building as a collective practice with Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Presented live in Centennial Hall.
Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, and journalist Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is an acclaimed cultural critic and institution builder. He is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. Among his dozens of books are recent New York Times bestsellers Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow and The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song. He has also produced and hosted an array of documentary films. The Black Church (PBS) and Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches (HBO), which he executive produced, received Emmy nominations. Finding Your Roots, Gates’s groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series is now in its tenth season on PBS.
Professor Gates has received countless awards and honors, including a George Polk Award for his social commentary in The New York Times, a MacArthur Fellowship, the Chicago Tribune Literary Award for lifetime achievement, and the prestigious Gold Medal from the National Institute of Social Sciences, among many others. His filmmaking has received Emmy, Peabody, and NAACP Image Awards and an Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Award. Recently, he received the coveted Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Professor Gates serves on the boards of many notable institutions, including the New York Public Library, the Aspen Institute, and the Brookings Institution, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Free Community Conversation
The Black Box: Writing the Race – Conversation at BLAC
Join Arizona Arts Live, the UA Office of the Provost, and Blue Lotus Artists’ Collective for a moderated discussion on The Black Box: Writing the Race–a story of Black self-definition in America through the prism of the writers who have led the way. This event will explore the themes of race, identity, and storytelling in Gates’ latest work. Light refreshments will be provided.
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2025Time: 5:30 PM – 7:00 PMVenue: Blue Lotus Artists’ Collective, 15 E Pennington St, Tucson, AZ 85701
BLAC is a non-profit gallery space dedicated to uplifting Black artists. Located in downtown Tucson’s historic Pioneer Building, our gallery provides a space for the community to engage with and celebrate Black art and creativity. Inspired by the resilience of the Blue Lotus—a water lily that flourished in even the harshest conditions of ancient Egypt—BLAC is committed to fostering artistic expression and cultural dialogue. For questions, contact Blue Lotus at (520) 400-4701 or info@bluelotusartistscollective.org.
March 28, 2025
TENWESTx LIVE: Reggie Watts
Internationally renowned Reggie Watts uses his formidable voice, looping pedals, and vast imagination to blur the lines between music and comedy. Join Arizona Arts Live and TENWEST for an evening of unparalleled talent at 191 Toole.
Using only his extraordinary voice, looping pedals, and boundless imagination, musician, comedian, writer Reggie Watts delivers entirely improvised performances that are as unpredictable as they are unforgettable. Most recently, he starred as bandleader on The Late Late Show with James Corden and as DJ for the 2021 Emmy Awards.
Watts’ Netflix special, Spatial, earned rave reviews, with The New York Times hailing him as “the most influential absurdist in comedy today” and The A.V. Club calling the performance “exhilarating, silly, exhausting, and transcendent.” A favorite on major stages and festivals worldwide, including Bonnaroo, SXSW, Just For Laughs, and Bumbershoot, his unique fusion of comedy and music continues to captivate fans across the U.S. and Europe.
April 6, 2025
Silkroad Ensemble: Uplifted Voices
Join Grammy-winning Silkroad Ensemble in an unforgettable musical journey around the world, offering a fresh perspective on the history and migration of music. Presented in Centennial Hall.
Silkroad brings together musicians globally to inspire collaboration and add more equity and justice into the world. Conceived by Yo-Yo Ma in 1988, Silkroad continues to break new ground with innovative music, cultural collaboration, and high-quality arts education under the leadership of visionary Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens. In Uplifted Voices, Silkroad showcases a synthesis of global musical traditions and contemporary innovation, with each artist contributing their unique voice to craft a shared musical experience.
From the Tuscarora Nation in North Carolina, singer-songwriter and activist Pura Fé blends traditional Native American sounds with contemporary Americana, honoring her Indigenous heritage while celebrating its enduring relevance. Japanese multi-percussionist Haruka Fujii has gained international acclaim as a prominent solo percussionist and marimbist, known for her interpretations of contemporary music and premieres of works by leading composers. Scottish harpist and composer Maeve Gilchrist intertwines jazz and folk while staying true to her Celtic roots, expanding the harp’s role into new, unexplored territories. Acclaimed cellist Karen Ouzounian centers her artistic practice on her love of the collaborative process and the development of adventurous new works. Lebanese violinist and composer Layale Chaker merges the intricate sounds of Arabic Maqam with jazz and contemporary classical elements, inviting listeners on a journey into new soundscapes. Mazz Swift, a violinist and composer, brings a deeply innovative approach, fusing classic African American music, electronica, and mindfulness, with improvisation as a central theme across genres.
April 12, 2025
Circa: Opus
Ten acrobats and a live string quartet celebrate the music of composer Dmitri Shostakovich in a stunning work of power, virtuosity, and physical poetry with Opus by Circa. Presented in Centennial Hall.
Australian company Circa returns with a bold piece of extreme physicality and nuanced detail melded into a seamless whole with Opus. Beginning with a solo performer suspended on a rope serenaded by musicians, Opus then moves powerfully through rapidly alternating scenes of dislocated stillness and violent explosions into extreme physicality to arrive at exquisitely detailed and nuanced geometries of acrobats flying, balancing, and landing.
This groundbreaking experience is brought to life by France’s Debussy String Quartet who perform three passionate quartets by 20th-century composer Dmitri Shostakovich live and from memory. The result? A red-hot fusion of extreme acrobatics, lyrical movement, and group choreography.
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April 25, 2025
Brooklyn Rider
The String Quartets of Philip Glass
Celebrate 20 years of GRAMMY-nominated Brooklyn Rider in a special commemoration honoring legendary composer and pianist Philip Glass. Presented and fully seated in Tooley’s Cafe for an up-close and intimate audience experience.
Brooklyn Rider returns for a 20th-anniversary, dual concert experience celebrating the works of Philip Glass in a first-of-its-kind program. First, enjoy a special multi-part retrospective of Philip Glass’s complete music for string quartet. Next, experience a single-concert program featuring a representative selection of Glass’s most beloved scores for the medium. A principal figure of the American minimalist movement, Glass’ works for string quartet have found inspiration from Shakespeare to Beckett. From the life of Yukio Mishima to the legend of Dracula. From Schubert to Bach. Taken as a whole, they document the unique and inimitable spirit that powerfully encapsulates our time.
With their gripping performance style and unquenchable appetite for musical adventure, Brooklyn Rider has carved a singular space in the world of string quartets over their fifteen-year history. Claiming no allegiance to either end of the historical spectrum, Brooklyn Rider most comfortably operates within the long arc of the tradition, seeking to illuminate works of the past with fresh insight while coaxing the malleable genre into the future through an inclusive programming vision, deep-rooted collaborations with a wide range of global tradition bearers, and the creation of thoughtful and relevant frames for commissioning projects.
May 2, 2025
Jon Nakamatsu
Pianist
Experience an evening of virtuosic brilliance with American pianist Jon Nakamatsu whose electrifying performances have captivated audiences worldwide for over three decades. Presented and fully seated on stage for an up-close and intimate audience experience in Centennial Hall.
Now in his third decade of touring worldwide, Jon Nakamatsu continues to draw critical and public acclaim for his intensity, elegance and electrifying solo, concerto, and chamber music performances. Catapulted to international attention in 1997 as the Gold Medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—the only American to achieve this distinction since 1981—he subsequently developed a multi-faceted career encompassing recording, education, arts administration, and public speaking.
From major symphony halls to intimate chamber performances, Jon Nakamatsu brings music to life in a way that feels both powerful and personal. Whether he’s playing Beethoven, Gershwin, or something in between, his performances are full of nuance and emotion.
March 2025
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Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
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Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
Learn More
Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
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Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
Learn More
Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
Learn More
Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
Learn More
Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
Learn More
Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
Learn More
Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
Learn More
Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
Learn More
Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
Learn More
Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
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Ladysmith Black Mambazo Embark on a 60-year musical legacy with Ladysmith Black Mambazo five-time Grammy winners spreading messages of peace and love With a deep respect for cultural and personal history they return to the Old Pueblo for...
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Indian Ink Theatre: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party
Learn More
Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party An immersive experience like no other join Indian Ink Theatre Mrs Krishnans Party with music dancing and vegetarian dhal prepared live in this heart-warming show Presented at Maya Tea WarehouseIndians...
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Learn More
Ladysmith Black Mambazo Embark on a 60-year musical legacy with Ladysmith Black Mambazo five-time Grammy winners spreading messages of peace and love With a deep respect for cultural and personal history they return to the Old Pueblo for...
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Martha Graham Dance Company
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Martha Graham Dance Company Discover the next frontier of dance in a centennial celebration with one of the most influential forces of the 20th Century the Martha Graham Dance Company Presented in Centennial HallSince 1926 Martha...
XIXA: XOLO Album Release Party
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XIXA XOLO Album Release Party Guided by their signature blend of dark psychedelia and Latin-inspired rhythms XIXA invites you on an extraordinary journey through the mystical underworld Presented at the Rialto TheatreOn their latest album...
Lisa Moore
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Lisa Moore Connect with multifaceted pianist Lisa Moore in a striking performance that combines lyricism and virtuosity with expressive and emotional power Presented and fully seated on stage for an up-close and intimate audience...
Baila El Pueblo
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Baila El Pueblo Arizona Arts Live and KXCI presents Baila el PuebloA Desert Music Festival celebrating our regional cultural diversity The festival will showcase a vibrant array of musical traditions from around the southwest Plus enjoy...
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Baila El Pueblo
Learn More
Baila El Pueblo Arizona Arts Live and KXCI presents Baila el PuebloA Desert Music Festival celebrating our regional cultural diversity The festival will showcase a vibrant array of musical traditions from around the southwest Plus enjoy...
TENWESTx TALKS: GUY RAZ (How I Built This)
Learn More
TENWESTx TALKS GUY RAZ How I Built This Join Arizona Arts Live and TENWEST this spring for an unforgettable evening with the man whose voice has defined a generation of storytelling Guy Raz Presented live in Centennial HallGuy Raz is...
Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Learn More
Dr Henry Louis Gates Jr Join Arizona Arts Live and the Office of the Provost for a lecture exploring community building as a collective practice with Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Dr Henry Louis Gates Jr Presented live in...
TENWESTx LIVE: Reggie Watts
Learn More
TENWESTx LIVE Reggie Watts Internationally renowned Reggie Watts uses his formidable voice looping pedals and vast imagination to blur the lines between music and comedy Join Arizona Arts Live and TENWEST for an evening of unparalleled...
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