At Mason, We Bring Greatness to You.
Every semester, artists at the top of their field are on our stages, in our classrooms, and with our students.
You will learn from some of the world’s most successful artists in master classes, lectures, workshops, and artist conversations. We bring over 50 world-renowned performing artists to stages on the Mason campuses every year and provide free tickets to students. Many of these same artists come into our classrooms to share their expertise. You'll take in exhibitions by leading visual artists and then hear how they transform their vision into inspiring pieces in our studios.
Guest Filmmaker in Action
Above: Burp was written and directed by visiting filmmaker Colette Burson who worked with Film at Mason students on pre-production and on set for the shooting of the film.
At Mason, you'll attend master classes with artists at the top of their field. Learn from the instruction and expertise of these nationally and internationally recognized artists. Master classes regularly happen in the Dance, Music, Film, and Theater programs. Recent master classes include sessions with:
Video: Artist Wendy Red Star describes her work to School of Art students in the Visual Voices series.
Learn From the Masters
Mason students can hear guest speakers talk about what it takes to succeed in their fields, personal stories, even the nitty-gritty of their art form. Each semester brings many opportunities to hear from rising stars, renowned masters, and industry leaders in music, filmmaking, visual art, dance, game design, theater, arts management, and graphic design in lectures, conversations, and workshops.
Prominent artists frequently come to Mason for a few days, a week, or a semester to teach and mentor students in their craft. These residencies offer more extended and intensive opportunities to work with master artists.
Part of your arts education should be spent watching and listening to the experts doing what they do best. At Mason, we give students free tickets for more than 100 performances each year at the Center for the Arts and the Hylton Performing Arts Center. We believe arts students should be exposed to the best performing arts from around the world, and we prove it: There are 500 free tickets for students for each Great Performances at Mason event. Full-time Mason students are eligible to get free tickets for music, dance, opera, theater, and more.
Recent performers and performances include:
- Virginia Opera
- Machine de Cirque
- Silkroad Ensemble
- Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
- Ballet Folklórico de México
- Chanticleer
- LADAMA
- Vienna Boys Choir
- Hot Sardines
- Cirque Mei
- Taj Express
- The Four Italian Tenors
- The Manhattan Transfer
- Mark Morris Dance Group
- The Mason Originals!
- The Vienna Boys Choir
- Dublin Irish Dance
- Swan Lake
- The King's Singers
- Moscow Festival Ballet