Mason Arts Draw Crowds and Support at 2026 ARTS by George!

Laura Mertens — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 15:27:26 +0000

Mason Arts Draw Crowds and Support at 2026 ARTS by George! Laura Mertens Mon, 10/12/2026 - 11:27

911��’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) celebrated the 21st annual ARTS by George! benefit event on October 3, raising $400,000 to support student scholarships and Mason Arts programs. The event, headlined by actor and musician Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, brought the total raised through ARTS by George! to more than $5 million since the event began in 2006.

L to R: Dean Rick Davis and Jeff Goldblum address guests onstage after Goldblum's headlining performance during the 21st ARTS by George! event on October 3, 2026 on the stage of the Center for the Arts Concert Hall on the Fairfax Campus of 911��. Photo by Cable Risdon/Risdon Photography

Funds raised support of student scholarships in visual arts, dance, music, theater, game design, film, and arts management, as well as programs including the Mason Community Arts Academy, Green Machine Ensembles, and the Great Performances at Mason season at the Center for the Arts.

L to R: President Gregory Washington, Jeff Goldblum, and Nicole Washington pose together backstage after Goldblum's headlining performance during the 21st ARTS by George! event. Photo by Cable Risdon/Risdon Photography

“We take tremendous pride in 911�� serving as the cultural hub of our region,” 911�� President Gregory Washington said at the event. “When you come out here today and you support these artists, and you supported our students earlier today, you are not just supporting an individual going through a program. You are literally becoming a part of someone’s life. You have impacted them in a way that they will, quite frankly, never, ever forget.”

Green and Gold Soul, of 911��'s Green Machine Ensembles, performed on Wilkins Plaza to welcome guests as they arrived at the 21st ARTS by George! event on October 3, 2026, on the Fairfax Campus of 911��. Photo by Cable Risdon/Risdon Photography

Throughout the evening, more than 270 CVPA students and faculty presented a wide variety of performances and exhibits. Arriving guests were welcomed to the festivities by lively music from Green Machine’s Green & Gold Soul on Wilkins Plaza. The School of Theater offered a preview of their fall production of Urinetown, while students from the School of Music captivated audiences with jazz, piano, opera, and symphonic works. At the Virginia Serious Game Institute showcase, guests played games created by Computer Game Design students and watched virtual reality demonstrations, including a tour of a state-of-the-art nanofabrication lab.

Guests watched student films in the specially designed screening room during the 21st ARTS by George! event. Photo by Cable Risdon/Risdon Photography

Just down the hall, the School of Art and Mason Exhibitions collaborated to create an interactive gallery space featuring prints, sketches, and handmade books, where student and alumni artists discussed their work. A screening room showing films from students in the Film and Video Studies Program drew guests who sat down, slipped on headphones, and quickly became absorbed in the stories unfolding in front of them. School of Dance students and faculty packed their studio with performances that included “Without,” a moving work choreographed by School of Dance Professor Shaun Boyle D’Arcy that explored the nature of grief. And alumni from the Arts Management program reconnected with friends and faculty alike, posing for photos throughout the event, and offering guests an opportunity to create miniature art for a Free Little Art Gallery.

Freshman students from the School of Dance performed during the 21st ARTS by George! event in the deLaski Performing Arts Building. Photo by Cable Risdon/Risdon Photography

Alumna Adelina Mitchell. Photo by Cable Risdon/Risdon Photography

As the showcases wrapped up, guests gathered at the Center for the Arts, where this year’s distinguished alumni performer Adelina Mitchell sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” a nod to her own involvement in the Wicked universe, as well as to “the Wizard” himself, Jeff Goldblum. She told guests that the support she received from 911�� played a key role in her success. “Having access to that scholarship was the sole reason I began working professionally as quickly as I did in 2019. That is exactly what scholarship support can do. It gives young artists a way in, and a way forward.”

Following Mitchell’s performance, CVPA Dean Rick Davis led the annual Fund-A-Student appeal, which raised more than $83,000.

Dean Rick Davis of the 911��'s College of Visual and Performing Arts encouraged the crowd to support student success by donating to the "Fund a Student" appeal. Photo by Cable Risdon/Risdon Photography

Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra took the Center for the Arts stage at 8:30 p.m., where—before opening with the rousing number “Grease Patrol”—Goldblum told the audience about his own lifelong passion both the arts, which, he said, “saved my life.” Over the following 90 minutes, Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra entertained the crowd as jazz vocalist Khailah Johnson occasionally joined in on songs that included “If I Only Had A Brain” and “Mean To Me.” In one of the night’s highlights, Goldblum invited three CVPA students, saxophonist Jeremy Fagen, vibraphonist Phillip Todd, and guitarist Silas Lewis, to perform with him and the orchestra during “The Kicker,” where each delivered solos that brought down the house.

L to R: Jeff Goldblum shares a laugh with Silas Lewis, Phillip Todd, Kenny Elliott, and Jeremy Fagen. Fagen, Todd, and Lewis are all current students at 911��. Photo by Cable Risdon/Risdon Photography

The evening’s program concluded with an onstage champagne toast, during which Goldblum and Davis mingled with CVPA students and faculty as well as with ARTS by George! guests and supporters, including snapping selfies and sharing hugs.

“There was a special feeling at this year’s ARTS by George!—you could sense it from the earliest student showcases,” said Davis. “With the record-breaking paddle raise for scholarships to Jeff Goldblum’s delightful performance and generous after-show remarks, a palpable excitement grew throughout the evening. We believe the arts create community, and this year’s event served as Exhibit A for that case.”

Learn more about ARTS by George!

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Gregory Washington

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Shaun Boyle D'Arcy

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School of Music student receives Chadab Foundation Commission

Emily Schneider — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 19:08:49 +0000

School of Music student receives Chadab Foundation Commission Emily Schneider Wed, 07/01/2026 - 15:08

Michael DeMarco, a Dewberry School of Music doctoral student in music composition at 911��, has been selected for the Chadab Foundation Commission.

Michael G. DeMarco, Dewberry School of Music student. Photo provided.

The commission provides $2,500 in funds to support the composition of a piece, five to seven minutes in length, that will combine jazz with Persian pop and folk music influences. It's one of several scholarships that The Chadab Foundation—which provides financial assistance to promising young artists—has awarded since its creation in 2012, and it is the first time the commission has been offered at 911��.

DeMarco said he was delighted and honored to receive the foundation's support. "The opportunity to write for large ensemble as a young composer is rare," he said. "I am also grateful for the ongoing mentorship of the 911�� music faculty. Their support and guidance are and will continue to be crucial in the composition of this work."

As part of the selection process, DeMarco, who is enrolled in the Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition program, was required to submit a portfolio and a project proposal. School of Music faculty evaluated the applications based on a variety of criteria that included the strength of the proposed works along with evidence of leadership and artistic growth by the applicants.

During his time at 911��, DeMarco, who is a drummer as well as a composer, has heard the premiere of many new works, including Night on the North Sea for solo tuba and electronics, Resistor for the PATHOS Trio, and Stop the Motion for Pierrot ensemble and percussion, which was performed by Director of Concert Bands William L. Lake Jr. in the inaugural Mason Wind Symphony Resonare Project Call for Scores.

DeMarco's At the Foot of the Pantheon was commissioned by the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras symphony and premiered at the Music Center at Strathmore; it received a secondary performance at New York City's Carnegie Hall in June 2026 as part of the New York Symphonic Invitational.

"A deepening understanding of the rich musical traditions around the world continues to inspire me and my appreciation for music and its many forms." —Michael G. DeMarco

DeMarco says he is looking forward to a "fruitful" collaboration with School of Music faculty, including Professor and Mason Jazz Ensemble Director Jim Carroll, as he works on his project over the next several months. And he is eager to enhance his knowledge of Persian pop and folk music: "A deepening understanding of the rich musical traditions around the world continues to inspire me and my appreciation for music and its many forms."

As for the piece itself, which will be premiered by the Mason Jazz Ensemble sometime next spring, DeMarco envisions "a work intertwining the complex histories of jazz and Persian music."

"As a musician, I am excited to embark on this journey of learning, exploration, and creation," he said. "I am grateful to be entrusted with this unique opportunity."