Soaring sonic artistry. Cutting-edge choreography. Contemporary crowd-pleasers and Broadway razzle dazzle, too.
The Charleston Gaillard Center today has announced its 2026– 2027 season, rolling out an impressive slate of shows and concerts spanning artistic disciplines and places of origin. The program will be the Gaillard’s 11th since establishing itself as a nonprofit in 2015, and opening the doors of its acoustically superior, sumptuously 1,818-seat Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall, among other on-site spaces.
Arts lovers will delight in ambitious concerts by legendary musical artists like Yo-Yo Ma and Philip Glass and celebrated dance companies Trisha Brown Dance Company and Akram Khan Company in the midst of buzz-worthy world tours. They’ll find regionally resonant new commissions featuring local artists like digital artist Beeple and an added bump in Broadway fare and returning favorites, too.
“This season is a reflection of everything we believe the Gaillard can be,” said Lissa Frenkel, president and CEO of the Charleston Gaillard Center, in a statement. “Year after year, this stage becomes something more: a place where artists are invited to take risks, where new ideas find a home, and where audiences gather for experiences that stay with them long after the curtain falls.”
It is also the first season under the leadership of Nicole Taney, the Gaillard’s inaugural vice president of programming. Joining the center in August 2025, Taney has since scoured the globe, while also tapping longstanding relationships with seminal artists and companies.
“The most fun part of the job is going to see the work,” Taney told Charleston City Paper, noting that it offers a firsthand experience with audiences engaging with the performances. When that’s not possible, Taney dives deep into recent videos, or, in the case of new work, draws from her expansive background working at arts organizations, among them Trisha Brown Dance Company, Spoleto Festival USA and Celebrity Series of Boston.
Season highlights
- A world premiere as visionary digital artist Beeple and Grammy Award-winning ensemble Sō Percussion join forces in a one-night-only immersive experience at Beeple Studios (Sept. 26)
- Akram Khan Company’s final touring production,Thikra: Night of Remembering (Oct. 1-2), a poignant culmination of 25 years of groundbreaking work.
- A rare, large-scale performance of Philip Glass’s complete set of twenty piano etudes, featuring ten renowned pianists (Nov. 1)
- The groundbreaking, renowned Trisha Brown Dance Company (Nov. 7) with a repertory program.
- The monthlong return in December of the iconic Spiegeltent on the Terrace Lawn for its fifth year, celebrated with an all-new production of Cabaret Royale by London’s acclaimed Underbelly
- A concert starring Austin-born singer-songwriter Shakey Graves during his Fondness, Etc. Tour (Dec. 5)
- Three Broadway luminaries, including two Hamilton stars, Leslie Odom, Jr. and Renée Elise Goldsberry (various dates)
- Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra perform for Marsalis’s final season as artistic director (Jan. 30, 2027)
- The New York Times bestselling author and cultural commentator Isabel Wilkerson (Feb. 23, 2027)
- The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor offers dance enthusiasts a bold new work co-commissioned by the Gaillard and choreographed by Tony Award–winning choreographer Sonya Tayeh (Feb. 26, 2027).
- The Moth, the famed storytelling initiative presents its hallmark true, personal stories shared live and without notes, with five storytellers recounting unforgettable, real-life moments (April 2, 2027).
- An intimate and deeply expressive musical dialogue between cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Solon Gordon (April 4, 2027)
For Taney, booking marquee events, like the production of Akram Khan that is part of the company’s final tour and has a limited run, is indicative of the draw that the Gaillard has for top-tier artists.
“To bring something like that to Charleston feels like a nice feather in our cap,” she said.
As a lifelong supporter of dance who has worked for New York City Ballet and Bill T. Jones as well as for Trisha Brown, Taney is particularly enthused by the level of choreographers and dancers in the lineup, which furthers the Gaillard’s ongoing dance initiative.
“It’s an opportunity to bring companies here throughout the season that we wouldn’t see otherwise unless you went to New York or you were a cultural tourist,” she said.
Patrons will also find returns of past favorites to the stage, among them Lowcountry Jazz Festival (Sept. 4-6) for Charleston’s signature smooth jazz weekend with an all-star lineup; Black Violin (Oct. 15); David Sedaris (Oct. 30); Broadway star Audra McDonald (March 6, 2027); and Dance Theatre of Harlem (April 30–May 1, 2027).
Framing the season as “a little bit of something for everything,” Taney said it builds on recent years.
“I’m very impressed and heartened by the audience turnout that we’ve had over my first season here and it’s been really exciting to experience really full houses. The opportunities are there with Charleston growing, she said.
“And artists love coming to Charleston. It’s not a hardship.”
- For a full lineup visit gaillardcenter.org. For tickets and membership information, visit the website or call 843-242-3099. Unless otherwise noted in the lineup, tickets go on sale May 5 at 11 a.m.
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