The Arts are Alive!
Tech VPA announces season
Trending
HOUGHTON - Michigan Technological University’s Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts to announced the schedule of events for the 1026-27 school year. Included in the schedule are Michigan Tech's Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) programs and exhibits.
Composed of Michigan Tech Music, Theatre and Visual Arts, the VPA season will celebrate America's 250th Anniversary and highlight some of the best talent the Upper Peninsula has to offer. "The Rozsa and VPA are intimately linked in a beautiful partnership that just reached 25 years of successful collaboration.", says newly appointed Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair, Joel Neves. "The Rozsa team provides space and professional support for VPA shows in music, sound, theatre and art. In important ways, we are the same family and couldn’t survive and thrive without each other. I’m looking forward to continuing this special relationship for the next quarter century!"
The Michigan Tech Theatre Series begins its season in October with the annual, Halloween adjacent, Haunted Tours, this year transforming the Quincy Hoist House into a gauntlet of frightful scenes. In November, comedy and mystery abound in “The Real Inspector Hound,” a hilarious spoof of whodunit melodramas. In February of 2027 catch “Mimicry: Fashioned by Nature,” a fashion show centered on transformation, sustainability,
and inspiration from the natural world. Then in April, Shakespeare comes to the Rozsa stage with a performance of Twelfth Night, a romantic comedy adapted for a modern U.P./MTU audience.
The Michigan Tech Music Series begins in September with the always popular New Music in the Mine, this year featuring special guests the Michigan State University Digital Music Ensemble. The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra starts their season off with “America at 250,” a celebration of America's semiquincentennial. The Michigan Tech R&D Jazz and Jazz Lab Bands will perform “Beneath the Under Dog: The Music of Charles Mingus,” in October.
In November, Jaztec, Momentum, and more MTU Jazz small groups will perform a variety of historical jazz hits and originals composed and arranged by MTU jazz students. Also in November, the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra holds their K.S.O. Community Recital at the Portage Lake United Church. In December, The Superior Wind Symphony eases us into the holidays with “Quiet Nights, December Lights,” an evening full of seasonal symphony classics.
The combined Choirs of Michigan Tech continue the holiday spirit with “Songs of the Season,” including a wide variety of choral music celebrating winter and the promise of a new year. Then the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra ends 2026 with “Tragic Parody,” an epic journey of selections true to the event's name.
The Michigan Tech Music Series continues in February of 2027 with Michigan Tech Jazz' always jumping Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday Celebration at the Bonfire in Houghton. Then talented Yooper winners of a U.P. wide music concerto competition will perform with the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra in Celebration of Concertos. The Superior Wind Symphony returns with “Modern Fantasy,” a repertoire including pieces from Harry Potter to Pirates of
the Caribbean. In March, the famous Michigan Tech Pep Band takes the stage for its
annual show. Jazz Small Groups, including the Video Game Jazz Ensemble will perform a variety
of pieces, including a few from your favorite game consoles.
The 2027 Don Keranen Jazz Festival returns in April. Once every five years, MTU Jazz Alumni who studied under Don Keranen, Mike Irish, and Director of Jazz Studies Adam Meckler are invited to return to campus, rehearse, and take the stage for the Don Keranen Jazz Festival. 2027 marks the big reunion! with a string of performances including special guests, visiting alumni who studied under the festival's namesake, Don Keranen. Also in April, the Copper Country
Brass Band combines with the Superior Wind Symphony for “Awakenings,” encompassing themes surrounding unlocking inner creativity and epiphany. Finally, the Michigan Tech Music Series ends its season with “Choral-Orchestral Playlist 2.0,” the second playlist concert that combines the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra and the Choirs of Michigan Tech.
In addition to all of these events, the Michigan Tech Art Series includes a variety of exhibits throughout the season. “Neoliberal Loops,” a collection of works by Emma C. Johnson will be displayed from September 18 – November 6, 2026. The Rozsa Gallery will host Student Art showcases for both the Fall and Spring semesters. Studio Here Now will hold an Artist Talk and Exhibition in the fall as well as a Year End Student Art Show in Wadsworth Hall.
Finally, local artists Kenyon Hanson and Lindsay Heiden will display their creative pottery
works in the Rozsa Gallery from January 29, 2026 to March 27, 2027.
The Rozsa is excited to once again host a full season of wonderful performances and art exhibits! Tickets for all events will become available at 11:11pm on Thursday, August 27, 2026 at rozsatickets.com. Visit mtu.edu/rozsa or contact the Rozsa Box Office at boxoffice@rozsatickets.com Or call (906)487-1906 with any questions.