Free public programming blends live performance, community gatherings, and contemporary storytelling
NEW HAVEN, Conn.- July 31, 2025 – Yale Schwarzman Center today announced its Fall 2025 season, a bold slate of programming that reaffirms the Schwarzman Center’s role as a cultural engine, performance space, and creative commons in the heart of New Haven. Through theater, dance, music, exhibitions, culinary experiences, and more, the Fall 2025 season invites audiences into a shared space for discovery, dialogue, and imagination.
All events are free and open to the public, continuing the Schwarzman Center’s mission to break down barriers to participation and create a more accessible and welcoming model for cultural institutions.
This season Yale Schwarzman Center continues its practice of championing genre-expanding new works. From dance and theater, to magic and opera, the Fall 2025 season lineup includes immersive solo works and large scale spectacles, all uniquely imagined for the Center’s bespoke spaces. Distinctive artists Priyanka Shetty (The Elephant in the Room), Liz Toonkel (Magic for Animals), and bassoonist Joy Guidry; a tribute to the legacy of choreographer George Balanchine with stars from the New York City Ballet; and a special holiday extravaganza with Pulitzer nominated and MacArthur Award-winning artist Taylor Mac.
“We’re not just presenting a season of performances, we’re cultivating a space in which community, creativity, and curiosity can thrive side by side,” said Rachel Fine, executive director of Yale Schwarzman Center. “With each season, we welcome audiences into the Schwarzman Center to experience art not as something distant or exclusive, but as something alive and shared. Our Fall 2025 lineup reflects the passion, complexity, and vibrancy of the world in which we live and offers space to connect with one another in consequential ways.”
“This season, the Schwarzman Center continues its commitment to redefining what a commons can be for artists, for a university, and for a community,” said Jennifer Harrison Newman, associate artistic director of Yale Schwarzman Center. “As a place where curiosity and the collision of art and everyday life lead to wonder, the artists in the Fall 2025 lineup will dare you, move you, and inspire you.”
The season also features the Center’s first -ever 360-degree immersive installation, Celestial Garden (Yale), a light and sound installation by Yale alum Leo Villareal ’90; Fach It!, a virtuosic drag-opera hybrid led by Jasmine Rice LaBeija and featuring Creatine Price; and a sneak peek into the new work by choreographer Roderick George and his dance company kNoname Artist.
Culinary and cultural programs such as Global Table with Seon Buddhist chef Jeong Kwan and the annual Yale Powwow round out a season that redefines what a dynamic cultural institution can offer its surrounding community.
Performances, events, and exhibitions in the Schwarzman Center’s Fall 2025 season are free and open to the public. More details about Fall 2025, including a full listing of performance dates and building hours can be found at https://schwarzman.yale.edu. For the most current information on all ticket releases and the full season lineup, subscribe to the Yale Schwarzman Center newsletter.
About Yale Schwarzman Center
Based in New Haven, Connecticut, and located in the historic heart of the Yale University campus, Yale Schwarzman Center is a commons for university life where art, culinary, and wellness experiences converge to build bridges, nurture creativity, and foster kinship and belonging. Positioned at the crux of social cohesion, creativity, and self-expression, the Center includes several flexible spaces in which members of the Yale and New Haven communities engage through free, public programming that ranges from the intimate to the grand. The Center’s iconic building was constructed in 1901 and rebirthed in 2022 following a renovation by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, and is recognized for excellence by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. The Center has recently been the site for world premieres and commissions by Nathalie Joachim, Bryce Dessner, Ash Fure, Christopher Cerrone, Ted Hearne, Carolyn Yarnell, and Andrew Norman, among many other artists. The Center’s impact extends well beyond its walls through programming and programmatic partnerships within its home city and across the country. https://schwarzman.yale.edu
Highlights of the Fall 2025 Season:
Leo Villareal: Celestial Garden (Yale)
Renowned visual artist and Yale alum Leo Villareal ’90 will present Celestial Garden (Yale), a new exhibition in The Dome at Yale Schwarzman Center. This never-before-exhibited artwork features an original soundscape and employs a suite of ten projectors that map the entire dome’s intrados. Villareal, whose work explores the physicality of light in both the spatial and temporal dimensions, uses custom software to orchestrate the perpetually evolving, abstract compositions, inspired by nature’s intricate, ever-changing patterns. Plush carpets and seating allow a contemplative pause for viewers to be immersed in a dynamic and continuously unfolding interplay of light and sound. From August 9 to October 10, 2025.
Jasmine Rice LaBeija & Creatine Price: Fach It!
Celebrated drag performer Jasmine Rice LaBeija presents Fach It! This unique event will showcase Creatine Price and will feature talented singers from the Yale School of Music performing works outside of their designated choral fach—a German term used to categorize a singer's vocal range and timbre. 2025 Britain’s Got Talent finalist Jasmine Rice LaBeija, a Julliard-trained operatic tenor known for a dynamic stage presence and powerful voice, has brought Fach It! to life at various venues, delighting audiences with unexpected musical interpretations. Together with the charismatic opera singer and France’s Got Talent finalist Creatine Price, they will challenge traditional boundaries and celebrate the versatility of the human voice in a night of musical exploration and entertainment. September 13.
Priyanka Shetty: The Elephant in the Room
Playwright and solo performer Priyanka Shetty brings her powerful storytelling to the stage with her one-woman show The Elephant in the Room. The play is a witty, dark comedy about an Indian metalhead and software-engineer-turned-actor who must navigate life as an immigrant arriving in Trump's America. When Priyanka makes the bold move to defy her family by quitting her IT job and moving to the U.S. to pursue an acting career, things don’t quite turn out how she imagined. The play navigates Shetty's real-life journey as she transitions from her deeply embedded roots in India to finding context and common ground in America. Gear up for a funny, tumultuous ride through immiscible cultures, unforgettable love, irreparable loss, and the desperation of not belonging anywhere. September 27.
kNoname Artist: The Grave’s Tears
kNoname Artist, founded by American choreographer Roderick George, uses art as protest and healing. The collective reflects on past and present events, using cultural origins for creative expression. George's latest work, The Grave's Tears, inspired by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the erasure of the LGBTQIA+ community, is a choreographic piece exploring generational trauma and systemic neglect. The work honors Black queer cultural ancestors, insisting on presence and resistance. kNoname Artist has performed at prestigious festivals worldwide, and in 2024, George received the Princess Grace Award for Choreography and the inaugural Jacob's Pillow Men Dancers Award. October 4.
Tom Chiu
A noted champion of new music, violinist, composer, and Yale alum Tom Chiu ’93 is renowned for premiering more than 200 new works by influential composers and for his collaborations with groundbreaking artists across multiple disciplines, including free jazz legend Ornette Coleman and choreographers Pam Tanowitz and Shen Wei. With an extensive discography and a diverse body of work, Chiu has contributed to avant-garde performances and installations at notable venues such as the Walker Arts Center and the Museum of the Moving Image. Chiu will be joined at the Schwarzman Center by Cory Smythe on piano and Meaghan Burke on cello to explore the music of Muhal Richard Abrams, Vijay Iyer, Oliver Lake, Wadada Leo Smith, and Ornette Coleman—composers who redefine the boundaries between improvisation and composition. October 16.
Visionary Steps: Balanchine & Beyond the Contemporary
with Dancers from the New York City Ballet
In a special event honoring the legacy of George Balanchine, members of the New York City Ballet offer a tribute performance organized by principal dancer Adrian Danchig-Waring celebrating the visionary choreographer’s enduring influence on the world of dance. Blending performance with scholarship, the evening will offer a rich, multi dimensional look at Balanchine’s innovations in ballet and his lasting imprint on contemporary dance, brought to life through movement, storytelling, and reflection. This Commons event features choreography by Jerome Robbins, Pam Tanowitz, Ulysses Dove, and Christopher Wheeldon—and dancers Unity Phelan, Mira Nadon, Dominika Afanasenkov, Miriam Miller, Joseph Gordon, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Preston Chamblee, and Davide Riccardo. October 25.
Yale Drama Series
Playwright Ariel Stess has been named the winner of the 2025 Yale Drama Series Prize for her compelling and thought-provoking play KARA & EMMA & BARBARA & MIRANDA. Chosen from more than 2,000 entries across 55 countries, and celebrated for its raw and powerful exploration of women's inner lives, connection, and agency, the play was selected by Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins in his inaugural year as judge. Jacobs-Jenkins commented, "Stess’s work stood out for the line-by-line sparkle and polish of its composition and the playwright’s cool confidence in the power of well-crafted language alone to transport an audience to and through the vast inner wilds of character…This is dramatic portraiture of the highest order.” October 29.
Yale Powwow of Light
The Yale Powwow of Light is an annual celebration of Native American culture, community, and tradition, bringing together Indigenous dancers, drummers, artists, and visitors from across the region. Hosted by the Yale Native American Cultural Center, the participatory event features traditional and contemporary dance performances, live drumming, artisan vendors, and indigenous foods. Open to all, the Powwow honors Native heritage while fostering cross-cultural understanding and community connection. November 1.
Zibby Owens
Zibby Owens, renowned author, publisher, and podcast host, will lead a Schwarzman Session, offering an intimate glimpse into her creative process and insights into the literary world. Additionally, she will host a fireside chat in the Schwarzman Center’s stately Presidents’ Room in conversation with New York Times bestselling author and Yale alum Allison Pataki ’07, focusing on Owens’ curated essay collection, On Being Jewish Now. This book, available on Owens’ imprint, Zibby Publishing, explores contemporary Jewish identity through diverse voices and perspectives. November 5.
Liz Toonkel, Magic for Animals
Magic for Animals is an unapologetically witty and insightful one-woman show employing sparkling, incisive humor and magic to conjure laughs and hard-hitting truths. In Magic, Liz Toonkel explores pressing issues of animal welfare, climate change, and sexism through a continuous personal narrative woven throughout each illusion, ultimately paving a way forward with empathy and self-awareness. Edinburgh critics exclaim that “Liz Toonkel achieves the impossible, fusing heartfelt sleepover confessions with insane animal magic” (To Do List) and note how “the audience waits on her every word” (FringeReview). November 14.
‘Siddhartha, She’ Pre-Concert Talk
Hermann Hesse’s iconic novel Siddhartha has inspired a new oratorio, Siddhartha, She, composed by Grammy Award-winning composer and Yale faculty Christopher Theofanidis with libretto by acclaimed poet Melissa Studdard. The oratorio will make its East Coast premiere in a performance by the Yale Choral Artists, Yale Glee Club, Yale Philharmonia, and faculty and student soloists, under the direction of Jeffrey Douma and director Anne Patterson (Yale College). The Schwarzman Center will host a pre-concert talk featuring Douma, Theofanidis, and Studdard in conversation with Yale Religious Studies professor Dr. Sonam Kachru. November 15.
Joy Guidry
Acclaimed bassoonist and composer Joy Guidry will captivate audiences with a solo performance featuring electronic, lighting, and atmospheric elements. Known for her experimental and daring new works, Guidry channels her inner child to honor her ancestors and predecessors through music. The San Diego Tribune describes her performances as “lyrical and haunting…hair-raising and unsettling,” while Foxy Digitalis praises her work for its "cathartic power" that envelops listeners. Guidry has showcased her original compositions at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum for American Art. Her work has been commissioned by renowned organizations like The National Sawdust and Long Beach Opera, and she has graced stages at international festivals including La Biennale di Venezia and Big Ears Festival. Guidry holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Mannes School of Music and is the winner of the 2021 Berlin Prize for Young Artists. December 3.
Holiday Sauce with Taylor Mac
Christmas as Calamity! Taylor Mac’s beloved annual holiday extravaganza, Holiday Sauce blends music, burlesque and random acts of fabulousness in the most subversive and cathartic event of the season. Ibsen Award winner and MacArthur Fellow Taylor Mac (who uses “judy” as a gender pronoun) invites long-time collaborators (including Matt Ray as music director with looks and appearances from Machine Dazzle) and surprise special guests to celebrate the holidays in all of their dysfunction. There is more to the holidays than rampant gift giving—in Taylor’s world, creativity and imagination are their own spirituality. Taylor Mac reminds us of the collective power of our chosen families, a message that rings true in spite of capitalism’s attempt to hijack the holidays. Holiday Sauce is produced by Pomegranate Arts. December 13 and 14.
Toni Dove: Sunjammer 6 – A Tale Blown by a Solar Breeze
Toni Dove's Sunjammer 6: A Tale Blown by a Solar Breeze is an innovative fusion of sculpture, game, cinema, and performance that invites viewers into a poetic and dreamlike experience. An AI driven instrument tells the story of Hypatia, a Hellenistic astronomer and philosopher, who returns as a ghost ten years in our future and encounters a NASA engineer building an off-world power station. They connect across time using mathematics and physics. The core of Hypatia is a hybrid AI that interacts with viewer-operators, creating the illusion of a complex personality. Set in the Schwarzman Center’s iconic Dome, by day the work engages audiences in a dynamic narrative installation activated by their movements, making them part of the story. A longer narrative version is performed by dancer/operators for two evening events. January 5-15, 2026.
Beyond Performances:
Schwarzman Sessions
Yale Schwarzman Center continues its widely-popular lunch series, Schwarzman Sessions—peer-led gatherings where conversations generate collaborations and move ideas to action. Some of this season’s featured guests include Little Brown Books president and publisher Megan Tingley, arts administration expert and educator Michael Kaiser, and acclaimed costume designer and performance artist Machine Dazzle, among many others. The full series will be announced on September 4, 2025.
EveryBody Dances @ Yale Schwarzman Center
EveryBody Dances @ Yale Schwarzman Center brings local and visiting dance artists to the Center’s Dance Studio to teach public masterclasses with movement director and choreographer Yasmine Lee, contemporary dancer Roderick George, and members of the New York City Ballet, among many others. The full series with dates will be announced on September 4, 2025.
Global Table: Jeong Kwan
This fall, Yale Schwarzman Center, in collaboration with Yale MacMillan Center and Yale Hospitality, welcomes the Venerable Jeong Kwan as the third fellow of the Global Table program. A renowned Seon Buddhist nun and chef, Jeong Kwan is celebrated for her mastery of Korean temple cuisine and sustainable eating practices. Featured on Netflix's Chef’s Table, she draws global attention for her unique approach to cooking, using only ingredients she grows herself. During her residency, Jeong Kwan will engage with the community, sharing insights into sustainable culinary practices, and showcase a dinner with a menu inspired by her philosophy. Her visit promises to illuminate the connections between sustainability, health, culture, and community.
Shining Light on Truth: Black Lives at Yale & in New Haven
Now on view in the Schwarzman Center’s galleries, “Shining Light on Truth: Black Lives at Yale & in New Haven” continues through March 26. Centering the stories of those long-overlooked, this exhibition celebrates Black community-building, resistance, and resilience in both the academic and local spheres. The exhibition features nearly 100 archival images of Yale’s earliest Black students from the 1800s and early 1900s—many of whom had deep ties to New Haven—and showcases the essential role these individuals played in shaping Yale and the city. The exhibition also features compelling reproductions of 19th century photographs of New Haveners who were custodians of Yale and highlights key New Haven families—such as the Luke, Grimes, Creed, Park, and Bassett families—who were instrumental to the success of the university and the city.
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