Top arts events of the 2025-‘26 season

Of course, no one can see every concert, theater production and art exhibit in the Greater Lansing area — to do so would likely require more time and effort than a full-time job. But how do you determine which are most worth your time? City Pulse staff have you covered with a list of the top five most notable arts events in the year to come, from a celestial opening to the Lansing Symphony Orchestra season to a colorful, family-friendly musical based on the works of Dr. Seuss. In the pages beyond — and in future City Pulse issues, newsletters and social media updates — you can find more information on museum and gallery offerings, theater seasons and musical events, but for those whose schedules only permit them to see a handful of offerings, we recommend you make the following shows a priority.

 

‘Nexus’

Through Sept. 21

(SCENE) Metrospace

Featuring work by Michigan State University Department of Art, Art History and Design staff members Rebecca Casement, Erica Hooker, Alex Nichols, Walt Peebles, Christopher Harold Perkins and Mackenzie Sheehan-D’Arrigo, “Nexus” showcases how each artist explores aspects of daily life in their creative practices. The name “Nexus” denotes “a connection or series of connections linking two or more things” or “the central and most important point or place.” With a diversity of media, from sculptures and pottery to photographs and drawings, the exhibit prompts viewers to “seek connection within each artwork, the exhibition and throughout the community.” Known for sharing their vast knowledge with the next generation of creatives, “Nexus” is an opportunity to view work by some of the leading artistic minds at MSU.

— NICOLE NOECHEL

Lansing Symphony Orchestra MasterWorks: ‘The Planets’

7:30 p.m. Oct. 4

Wharton Center Cobb

Great Hall

 The 2025-‘26 season is a big milestone for the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, as conductor Timothy Muffitt brings his 20-year tenure as music director to a close. Fittingly, the season will open on a cosmic scale Oct. 4 with a 40-minute mélange of orchestral, choral and visual stimuli courtesy of Minnesota-based composer Jocelyn Hagen’s “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci,” paired with Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.”

Hagen’s epic multimedia extravaganza will be a hard act to follow, but Muffitt will give it his all as he tears through some of the “greatest hits” of his Lansing tenure, including Béla Bartók’s concerto for orchestra (Nov. 7), Brahms’ First Symphony (Jan. 9) and Beethoven’s Seventh (March 27). New music will also erupt from the stage, much of it from the pen of LSO composer-in-residence Jared Miller (“Shattered Night” on Jan. 9 and a new work for the May 15 season finale), along with a percussion concerto by Kevin Puts (March 27). 

— LAWRENCE COSENTINO

 

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

7:30 p.m. Jan. 26

Wharton Center Cobb

Great Hall

Many of the world’s greatest performers and ensembles are coming to MSU’s Wharton Center this season, from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (Feb. 10) to the transcendent baroque ensemble Les Arts Florissants (Nov. 14), but perhaps the biggest plum is a Jan. 26 visit from London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring superstar violinist Ray Chen. Continuing a distinguished tradition stretching back to the orchestra’s founding in 1946 by Sir Thomas Beecham, conductor Vasily Petrenko will lead the orchestra in Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2. Chen, a charismatic superstar in the classical world, will play Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto on the heels of a sellout recital at Wharton in March 2024. (In a rare convergence, Chen will also appear with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra Nov. 7.)

— LAWRENCE COSENTINO

 

Jazz Spectacular Finale

Concert, with Anat Cohen

7:30 p.m. April 18

Fairchild Theatre

MSU’s stellar jazz studies program will present an overflowing bounty of music in the 2025-‘26 season, from all-star gatherings of the Professors of Jazz to a variety of guest artists, many of them under the rubric of MSU Federal Credit Union’s long-running artist-in-residence program. One of the most highly anticipated events is the return of charismatic, virtuosic Israeli-born clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen, who will cap the annual Jazz Spectacular concerts with faculty and student musicians April 18. Cohen is a consummate musician and engaging performer who takes the clarinet all over the map, from the spiritual realm of John Coltrane to sizzling rhythms from Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, defying boundaries and winning over audiences well beyond the jazz world. Cohen summed up her musical philosophy in a 2017 interview with City Pulse: “I don’t care if somebody plays the fastest, the hardest. If he doesn’t touch my heart, I don’t care.”

— LAWRENCE COSENTINO

 

‘Seussical’

June 4-7 and 11-14

Riverwalk Theatre

Based on the works of Dr. Seuss, Riverwalk Theatre’s June production of “Seussical” promises a colorful, zany experience straight out of the beloved children’s books. The musical is narrated by the Cat in the Hat, who tells the story of Horton the elephant’s discovery of a microscopic planet the size of a speck of dust, populated by tiny people called Whos. Their society is on the brink of war, and all the Truffula trees have been cut down. Horton agrees to protect their planet — and, eventually, an egg hatched by Mayzie LaBird — facing “ridicule, danger, kidnapping and a trial” along the way, according to theatrical licensing agency Music Theatre International. In the end, the powers of friendship, family and loyalty prevail. Packed with nostalgia for older audience members and plenty of lighthearted fun for kids, “Seussical” truly caters to everyone, and Riverwalk is primed to produce an excellent rendition.

 — NICOLE NOECHEL