Join us for the grand finale of UMBC’s 2025 Guitar Fest, a one-of-a-kind concert presenting guitar artistry across eras, geographies, and traditions. Featuring works ranging from J. S. Bach to Pat Metheny, this concert brings guitarist Felipe Garibaldi performing highlights of the classical and popular repertoires, along with original compositions. He is later joined by jazz guitarist Tom Lagana and classical guitarist Andres Palacios, creating an extraordinary fusion of guitar worlds, promising an unforgettable evening of music.

The Baltimore Classical Guitar Society presents classical guitarist David Russell, who is world renowned for his superb musicianship and inspired artistry, having earned the highest praise from audiences and critics alike. Russell appears regularly at prestigious halls in main cities such as New York, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Madrid, Toronto, and Rome. Russell received a Grammy award for his CD “Aire Latino” in the category of best instrumental soloist in classical music.

Inscape, praised by The New York Times as "brilliant," performs a program featuring works by Steven Stucky's Ad Parnassum, Joan Tower's Into the Night, and other works. Originally commissioned by the group Eighth Blackbird, Tower says Into the Night commemorates the treasured final months she and her late husband had together.

The Department of Music presents the UMBC Wind Ensemble under the direction of Brian Kaufman in Love Notes, a program of music inspired by love. The event will feature critically acclaimed multi-instrumentalist improviser Rob Flax and the UMBC String Chamber Orchestra directed by Philip Mann.

The Department of Music presents RUCKUS, the contemporary music ensemble in residence at UMBC, in a program of works by Pierre Boulez, Julius Eastman, Salina Fisher, Alexandra Gardner, Elainie Lillios, Emma O'Halloran, and Vicki Ray.

In conjunction with a concert on Wednesday evening, April 23 — Celebrating Charles Ives at 150 — pianist Joel Sachs will give an informal talk about Ives (1874–1954) and his remarkable creative output.

Pianist Joel Sachs performs masterworks by Charles Ives, one of America’s greatest composers and one of the greatest modernists of the early 20th century. His rarely heard Piano Sonata No. 1 will be preceded by “The Alcotts” and “Thoreau,” the third and fourth movements of his more famous second Sonata, “Concord, Mass., 1840-1860,” a tribute to the literary giants of that little town. Taken together, these compositions offer an unforgettable view of Ives’s unique vision of music that is both universal and deeply American.

The Department of Music presents the UMBC Collegium Musicum under the direction of Lindsay Johnson. The Collegium Musicum explores and performs vocal and instrumental music from Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, sampling musical repertoires created between 800 and 1750.

The U.S. Army Blues, a component of the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” will perform a free concert at UMBC in honor of Jazz Appreciation Month. This special event will feature the 2023 Collegiate and High School solo competition winners from the Army Blues Young Artist Competition, alongside Naptown Jazz Kids, the premier jazz organization for young people in Annapolis.

Cellist Juan Sebastián Delgado teams up with pianist Kristhyan Benitez in a program of original music for cello and piano from Latin America, featuring works by Astor Piazzolla, Mario Lavista, Francisco Mignone, Carlos Chavez, and Manuel Ponce. First-prize winner at the 2008 Latin-American Cello Festival, Delgado is active in the creation and dissemination of new works that explore the cello in innovative ways. Grammy award winning pianist Kristhyan Benitez is exciting audiences worldwide with his vivid and passionate concerts, presenting both Classical and Latin American repertoire with depth, passion and charisma.

The Department of Music presents the UMBC Chamber Players under the direction of Airi Yoshioka.

The Department of Music presents the UMBC Gamelan Ensemble under the direction of Michelle Purdy. The ensemble performs on a central Javanese gamelan (a gong-chime orchestra of Indonesia), and also on a Balinese gamelan angklung (one of many types of gong-chime orchestras from the island of Bali, Indonesia).

The Department of Music presents the Jubilee Singers and the UMBC Gospel Choir under the direction of Janice Jackson.