Highlights include Attucks Jazz Series, Soweto Gospel Choir and Step Afrika!

The Virginia Arts Festival enlivens autumn with soul-stirring performances of music and dance. The Festival’s beloved Attucks Jazz Series resumes in September, with performances running through March; and this fall audiences can savor the rich harmonies of the world-renowned Soweto Gospel Choir and the electrifying dance of Step Afrika!

“We want Virginia Arts Festival to be your home for great performances year-round,” said the Festival’s Perry Artistic Director Robert W. Cross. “We are thrilled to share these artists with our communities throughout Hampton Roads.”

ATTUCKS JAZZ

Virginia Arts Festival’s Attucks Jazz series brings great jazz artists to Norfolk’s historic Attucks Theatre. In an intimate club-like atmosphere, where every seat provides an up-close experience, jazz fans can enjoy the gifts of acclaimed artists who regularly play top New York clubs and jazz festivals across the U.S. and abroad.

The 2025-2026 Attucks Jazz lineup includes saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, a DownBeat Critics Poll winner whose “brawny and full-bodied” sound (The New York Times) can be heard in top clubs and in award-winning recordings. Shaw performs at the Attucks Jazz Club on September 20, 2025.

October 18, critically acclaimed vibraphonist Joel Ross brings a sound DownBeat hails as “lush, high-powered and full of luminous energy.” A Blue Note Artist, Ross has changed the conversation around vibes, incorporating the instrument’s unique sound in new ways.

Clarinetist Ken Peplowski returns to the Attucks November 15. “Brilliantly entertaining” (DownBeat), Peplowski has been hailed by the BBC as “arguably the greatest living jazz clarinetist.” Hearing this legendary artist in the intimate, 120-seat Attucks Jazz Club will be a phenomenal treat for area fans.

Saxophonist Joel Frahm performs January 17, 2026. In demand as a sideman, Frahm has performed with the greats, including Maynard Ferguson, Betty Carter, Diane Schuur, Brad Mehldau and many more.

GRAMMY Award-nominated vocalist René Marie returns to the Attucks Jazz Club February 7, enchanting fans with her unique style that incorporates folk, R&B, country and classical elements. Warrenton, Virginia-born, Marie’s music is deeply personal and artistically superb.

Rounding out the Attucks Jazz season is vocalist Anaïs Reno, a New York City-based singer who has performed in such iconic spots as Birdland, Dizzy’s and Carnegie Hall. Her “sultry and richly textured” voice (AllAboutJazz) beguiles audiences and critics, hear Anaïs Reno at the Attucks Jazz Club on March 14, 2026.

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR

This multi-GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning ensemble raises the roof with rich harmonies and soulful sound, whether singing traditional gospel, R&B classics, or any other genre. With “intricate harmonies, perfectly executed,” this world-famous choir is hailed universally by critics and audiences alike as simply “spellbinding” (Glam Adelaide). Touring the U.S. with their new program called “Peace,” the Choir will sing music of Aretha Franklin, Aretha Franklin, Harry Belafonte, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Leonard Cohen and more, at the Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News on Sunday, October 12 and at Attucks Theatre, Norfolk on Tuesday, October 14.

STEP AFRIKA!

Absolutely unique, undeniably appealing, and able to lift audiences to their feet in joyful celebration, Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities with traditional African dances and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a compelling artistic experience. Performances are much more than dance shows; they integrate songs, storytelling, humor and audience participation. The blend of technique, agility, and pure energy makes each performance unique and leaves the audience with their hearts pounding. “Joyful, inclusive, and soul-filling…a tour de force” (DCTheaterArts), this “enthralling sensory experience is rooted in history and packed full of joy”—an unforgettable tradition to share with family and friends. Step Afrika! Performs at Chrsyler Hall, Norfolk on Thursday, October 23.

Tickets for these Virginia Arts Festival performances are on sale now, available online at vafest.org, by phone at 757-282-2822, or at the Festival Ticket Office, 440 Bank St, Norfolk (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm)

About Virginia Arts Festival
Since 1997, under the direction of Perry Artistic Director Robert W. Cross, the Virginia Arts Festival has presented great performers from across the globe. Renowned artists who have performed at the festival include Itzhak Perlman, Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Olga Kern, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Miami String Quartet, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Stewart Copeland, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, Patti LuPone, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre and Mark Morris Dance Group. The festival has presented numerous world premieres and new productions of classical music, dance, and theatre from some of today’s most influential composers, choreographers and playwrights. Van Cilburn gold medalist Olga Kern serves as the Festival’s Connie and Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music and award-winning Broadway music director Rob Fisher serves as the Festival’s Goode Family Artistic Advisor for Musical Theater and American Songbook. Each season, performances from the Virginia Arts Festival are broadcast nationwide on American Public Radio’s Performance Today. The festival’s arts education programs reach tens of thousands of schoolchildren each year through student matinees, in-school performances, artist residencies, master classes and demonstrations.

VAF Media Contact:
Alli Pereira
apereira@vafest.org
757-282-2804