The University of California, Davis, Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts this 2025-26 season includes a diverse array of artists, from classical, to jazz, to global and everything in between for music. Performers include rising stars and old favorites, and plenty of dance. There’s ample family entertainment too, as well as prominent speakers.

“This year, we continue our theme of discovery, welcoming a diverse cohort of outstanding artists and ensembles making their Mondavi Center debuts and return visits by Mondavi Center audience favorites,” said Jeremy Ganter, executive director.

The season opens Friday, Oct. 3, with “Stop Making Sense,” a film by Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads. Talking Heads performed at UC Davis in 1983 as part of the University’s 75^th anniversary celebration just days before making the film in Los Angeles.

Now, guitarist and band member Jerry Harrison returns to host a live screening of the band's iconic film, newly restored. He will also lead a question-and-answer session about the band and film.

That Sunday, Oct. 5, Grammy-winning vocalist Ledisi pays tribute to Dinah Washington, the legendary blues and jazz singer. In newly released tribute album “For Dinah,” Ledisi said, “She gave me permission to move freely, create freely, be a woman in leadership, wear and say what I want.”

In November, Itzhak Perlman returns on the 30th Anniversary tour of “In the Fiddler’s House,” featuring klezmer music that leaves audiences dancing in the aisles. On Tuesday, Nov. 18, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and global advocate for girls’ education Malala Yousafzai will join UC Davis Chancellor May for the Chancellor’s Colloquium. 

Below are season highlights in multiple genres and categories of entertainment. Go to mondaviarts.org for the full schedule of events in a scrollable (by date) and searchable format by name and genre. There’s also ticket information, including opportunities for season tickets, ticket packages, special discounts and other information.

Jazz legends, debut artists, favorites

In April and May, Mondavi celebrates the centenaries of jazz legends John Coltrane and Miles Davis, respectively. Each show features a super-group of current jazz stars, paying homage to two of the greatest American artists. Another highlight in jazz programming will be the debut of rising star Lucía in May 2026.

Other 25–26 artist debuts include Hawaiian singer Raiatea Helm, Mariachi Herencia De México, violinist Ray Chen, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra with Yuja Wang, the Ndlovu Youth Choir from South Africa, Ghanaian artist Okaidja Afroso, and Malpaso Dance Company from Cuba. Returning this season will be favorites such as Las Cafeteras, MOMIX, American Bach Soloists, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Campus community book project features Solito in March

Javier Zamora — memoirist and poet — will address his award-winning memoir, Solito, which explores his journey to the United States as an unaccompanied 9-year-old, offering a glimpse into the realities of child migration. His talk is Tuesday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m. The book is the 2025-2026 UC Davis Campus Community Book Project.

Orchestra

Favorite orchestra performances will include Philharmonia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell, San Francisco Symphony and Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Chamber and classical

American Bach Soloists & American Bach Choir return as does the Taproot New Music Festival. Other highlights include Sphinx Virtuosi with Randall Goosby, violin. In February, the ever-popular Barbara K. Jackson Rising Stars of Opera, which made its debut in 2010, returns with the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra and singers from the San Francisco Opera Center. 

American and global roots music

Highlights in the genre include I’m With Her, offering folks tradition that expands the usual, Raiatea Helm with Hawaiian song and string. The Okaidja Afroso Ensemble, described as “genre-defying” gives audiences the “soul of Ghana” through rhythm, song and movement.

Dance

Sutra, by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, brings choreography, sculpture and Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple in China this fall. One of the most acclaimed dance companies in the world, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, performs in April. Malpaso Dance Company from Cuba also performs.

Family

Disney’s Moana comes in the form of a live-to-film concert in the fall, and MOMIX, Cirque FLIP Fabrique and Ndlovu Youth Choir round out the family-friendly selections.