The Department of Fine Arts and the University Artist Series sponsor a wide variety of performances that are open to the public, usually free or at a minimal charge. Those held in the downtown Performing Arts Center venues are typically ticketed, Box Office: 843-661-4444 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. Other than University Theatre performances, events held in venues on the main campus are typically general admission with no advance reservation system.
Musical Lineages: From France to Colombia and the U.S.
Natalia Vanegas Escobar, piano
FMU Artist Series/Burns Memorial Recital Series
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Colombian pianist Natalia Vanegas is a passionate advocate for her country’s composers and a versatile performer. She released her debut album Preludios Colombianos, featuring piano works by Guillermo Uribe Holguín and Adolfo Mejía, and has appeared as a soloist with the EAFIT Symphony in Medellín. Natalia has also been invited to perform at festivals and conferences in the United States, Costa Rica, and Colombia. She is co-director of the Memphis International Piano Festival and has served as a judge for competitions, including the Pianissimo Festival in Colombia. Beyond classical music, she enjoys performing with salsa bands, expanding her artistry into other genres. Natalia holds degrees from the University of Antioquia and the University of Memphis, where she earned her doctorate in piano performance and served as piano instructor. She currently works as a collaborative pianist at Arkansas State University and the University of Mississippi.
THE DAVID MARSHALL AND CATHERINE KOGER BURNS MEMORIAL RECITAL SERIES:
David Marshall Burns, Jr., and Catherine Koger Burns, natives of Charleston, South Carolina, were married and moved to Florence in 1933 where they became actively involved in civic activities and the arts. The Bums Recital Series was established in 1989 by Catherine Burns in memory of her husband and, upon her death in 1995, the Series was renamed the David Marshall and Catherine Koger Burns Memorial Recital Series.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
W4RP Trio
FMU Artist Series
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Described as “A talented group that exemplifies the genre-obliterating direction of contemporary classical music (Columbia Free times)”, W4RP Trio is an internationally touring cross-genre chamber music experience. Reflecting the combination of Juilliard trained members juxtaposed with members steeped in rock and jazz styles, the one of a kind trio can be seen performing classical works in prestigious halls on the same tour where they headline a standing room only show at a rock venue. In addition to their electrifying public performances, they have gained a reputation for their innovative educational workshops with students from grade school through university level.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
FMU Concert Band
Dr. Terry Roberts, conductor
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Mainstage Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 21, 2025
The Francis Marion University Concert Band will be performing its fall concert at the FMU Performing Arts Center in downtown Florence.
The Francis Marion University Concert Band is composed of FMU students as well as community members from the Pee Dee region. Community members include professional area music educators, band directors, choir directors, ministers of music, and FMU music faculty members. Membership is open to all FMU students and area residents who are experienced concert band instrumentalists. Performances include traditional concert band music as well as popular and show music. The program began as a way to give students of FMU a chance to perform music, earn academic credit for performance in the ensemble, and to become involved with other students in campus life.
Beginning in the spring of 2002, the FMU Concert Band rehearsals were scheduled on Tuesday evenings and adult musicians from the region were invited to participate. The band continues to rehearse every Tuesday evening.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
Vinegar Tom by Caryl Churchill
Francis Marion University Theatre
Director: Prof. D. Keith Best
Musical Direction: Dr. Brandon Goff
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
3:00 pm Sunday, October 26, 2025
7:30 pm Monday-Wednesday, October 27-29, 2025
The University Theatre and Music Industry programs combine to produce Vinegar Tom, a 1976 play by the British playwright Caryl Churchill. The play examines gender and power relationships through the lens of 17th-century witchcraft trials in England.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
FMU String Ensemble
Dr. Terry Roberts, director
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Open to all university students and faculty interested in learning and performing chamber music, the University String Ensemble members meet for weekly rehearsals during Fall and Spring academic semesters, giving public recitals and accompanying other campus ensembles.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
FMU Music Industry Ensemble
Dr. Brandon Goff, director
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Chapman Auditorium, McNair Science Building
7:30 p.m. Thursday, November 6, 2025
The Music Industry Ensemble is a chamber ensemble devoted to the development of individual performance and improvisation skills through the staging of music for small groups representing a variety of classic and modern jazz, pop, rock and soul styles. The M.I.E. provides a workshop in which students also learn arranging, microphone technique and scheduling, sound reinforcement and lighting design.
Please contact Dr. Brandon Goff bgoff@fmarion.edu for additional information about participating in the M.I. Ensemble.
Thanks to the Music Industry program, there is no charge for this performance. General admission, no advance reservations needed.
FMU Jazz Combo
Dr. Brian Jones, director
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 pm Tuesday, November 11, 2025
The FMU Jazz Combo allows students in a small group setting to learn and hone improvisational skills within the the jazz idiom. Works have been selected from music by Corea, Glasper, Shorter, and more.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
FMU Percussion Ensemble
Dr. Brian Jones, director
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 pm Wednesday, November 12, 2025
The Francis Marion University Percussion Ensemble is a contemporary chamber ensemble that explores the world of percussion from an improvisation-based approach. We model our performance methodology and musical ideology on the performance practice of drummer/composer Max Roach’s percussion ensemble M’Boom, especially in their focus on jazz and non-Western musical cultures as a touchstone for aesthetic inspiration. We employ improvisation as a key mode of praxis—both in terms of theory and practice—and special focus is given to compositions invented during collective improvisation exercises. Additionally, we explore “minimalism,” “game,” and “open score” notation/compositional systems, while also examining the ways in which poetry and literature can be interpreted in a musical setting.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
FMU Concert Choir and Voice Collective
Dr. Fran Coleman
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 p.m. Monday, November 24, 2025
Open to all university students, the University Concert Choir has an average enrollment of between 35 and 45 students. This group has sung in numerous area churches and has also performed with the Florence Symphony Orchestra. They have performed such major choral works as the “Polovetzian Dance and Chorus” of Alexander Borodin, the “Schicksalslied” of Johannes Brahms, and the Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Recently their concerts have included selections accompanied by the newly formed Francis Marion string ensemble.
Francis Marion’s Voice Collective is a small, audition-only vocal group. This group performs throughout the region for schools and service organizations. They have also performed in Orlando, Florida, in Baltimore, Maryland, in Washington, D.C., in Vienna, Austria, and on a performance cruise to the Bahamas.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
Studio Voice Recital – Students of Dr. Fran Coleman
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Adele Kassab Recital Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center
7:30 pm Monday, December 1, 2025
Come celebrate the accomplishments of voice students in Dr. Coleman’s studio as they perform classical as well as contemporary songs.
RESERVATIONS: This performance is free and open to the public. No reservations, general admission.
illy B – Billy Martin, percussion
FMU Artist Series
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 pm Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Billy Martin a.k.a. illy B is a genre-bending composer, drummer, and visual artist known for his work with Medeski Martin & Wood and many others. Founder of Amulet Records, Billy produces music for film, designs and builds unique light sculptures, bamboo instruments, striking visual art, and teaches rhythm and improvisation globally.
Medeski Martin & Wood’s Billy Martin will perform a solo set utilizing percussion instruments, found objects, voice, flutes, bird calls, and more!
This promises to be a mind-blowing, unique, and soulful performance and can take you to places beyond the imagination. Sometimes, Billy will also work with the audience or students for an impromptu collaboration under his direction before or during the performance.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
The Swan by Elizabeth Egloff
Francis Marion University Theatre
Director: Jessica Willis
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 pm Wednesday-Saturday, February 18-21, 2026
“Fierce in its poetic treatment of love, The Swan provides a mysterious gloss on whether or not we descended from the beasts…and what we may feel when we find them lurking in our truest selves.”
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
S.C. Chamber Music Festival
South Carolina Chamber Music Festival
Paolo André Gualdi, artistic director
FMU Department of Fine Arts, Artist Series and REAL Grant Program
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, February 23-27, 2026
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
Monday, February 23 – 7:30 pm: Black Box Theatre
AMOUR! An evening of French music
Kirstin Chavez, mezzo-soprano
Paolo André Gualdi, piano
Kirstin Chávez is considered one of the most riveting and significant performing mezzo-sopranos today. Her powerful voice with its expansive range, the dramatic intensity of her acting, and her natural sensuality combine to make her an arresting and unique presence on the operatic and concert stages.
Wednesday, February 25 – 7:30 pm: Black Box Theatre
Masterworks for Piano Trio
Irina Pevzner, piano; Terris Roberts, violin; Gabriel Martins, cello
Thursday, February 26 – 7:30 pm: Steven F. Gately Gallery
The ViMaDeAn Experience – Sound in Motion
Anastasia Petrunina, violin; Denis Petrunin, percussion
Founded in 2010 at the Yale School of Music, ViMaDeAn Duo has had premiere performances throughout the globe, conducted workshops on three continents, and worked with a variety of composers and artists to bring new compositions to diverse audiences.
The Steven F. Gately Gallery is at 142 N. Dargan Street, 2 blocks north of the Performing Arts Center.
Friday, February 27 – 7:30 pm: Black Box Theatre
Depths of the Soul: the Sonatas of Shostakovich and Franck
Viktor Uzur, cello
Paolo André Gualdi, piano
Viktor Uzur has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician and guest artist in Austria, Spain, Italy, France, Russia, Canada, Korea, China, Latvia, Brazil, United States and the former Yugoslavia. His recent engagements include performances at Mondavi Center, Sala Sao Paulo, Auditorio Claudio Santoro, and Sale Cortot, jury member at the Aram Khachaturian International Competition, and a guest artist at Festival Campos de Jordao.
FMU String Ensemble
Dr. Terry Roberts, director
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Open to all university students and faculty interested in learning and performing chamber music, the University String Ensemble members meet for weekly rehearsals during Fall and Spring academic semesters, giving public recitals and accompanying other campus ensembles.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
FMU Concert Band
Dr. Terry Roberts, conductor
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Mainstage Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, 2026
The Francis Marion University Concert Band will be performing its fall concert at the FMU Performing Arts Center in downtown Florence.
The Francis Marion University Concert Band is composed of FMU students as well as community members from the Pee Dee region. Community members include professional area music educators, band directors, choir directors, ministers of music, and FMU music faculty members. Membership is open to all FMU students and area residents who are experienced concert band instrumentalists. Performances include traditional concert band music as well as popular and show music. The program began as a way to give students of FMU a chance to perform music, earn academic credit for performance in the ensemble, and to become involved with other students in campus life.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
FMU Music Industry Ensemble
Ashley Henry, director
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, 2026
The Music Industry Ensemble is a chamber ensemble devoted to the development of individual performance and improvisation skills through the staging of music for small groups representing a variety of classic and modern jazz, pop, rock and soul styles. The M.I.E. provides a workshop in which students also learn arranging, microphone technique and scheduling, sound reinforcement and lighting design.
Please contact Dr. Brandon Goff bgoff@fmarion.edu for additional information about participating in the M.I. Ensemble.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
FMU Jazz Combo
Dr. Paolo André Gualdi, director
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 pm Tuesday, April 14 2026
The FMU Jazz Combo allows students in a small group setting to learn and hone improvisational skills within the the jazz idiom. Works have been selected from music by Corea, Glasper, Shorter, and more.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
FMU Percussion Ensemble
Dr. Brian Jones, director
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Blackbox Theatre, Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 pm Wednesday, April 15, 2026
The Francis Marion University Percussion Ensemble is a contemporary chamber ensemble that explores the world of percussion from an improvisation-based approach. We model our performance methodology and musical ideology on the performance practice of drummer/composer Max Roach’s percussion ensemble M’Boom, especially in their focus on jazz and non-Western musical cultures as a touchstone for aesthetic inspiration. We employ improvisation as a key mode of praxis—both in terms of theory and practice—and special focus is given to compositions invented during collective improvisation exercises. Additionally, we explore “minimalism,” “game,” and “open score” notation/compositional systems, while also examining the ways in which poetry and literature can be interpreted in a musical setting.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
Alice in Wonderland
Musical Adaptation by The Manhattan Project
Francis Marion University Theatre
Director: Prof. A Glen Gourley
Musical Direction: Dr. Brandon Goff
Fine Arts Theatre, Hyman Fine Arts Center, Main Campus
7:30 pm Thursday-Friday, 2:00 pm Saturday, April 16-18, 2026
Version of Lewis Carroll’s classic created by The Manhattan Project, under the direction of André Gregory. Everyone is familiar with Alice’s antic adventures, and they are all here—but with an arresting difference. From the presumed innocence of the original is drawn a caustic and giddy revelation of the human psyche and the dark, unsettling shadows which can linger there. Freud and Jung, Kafka and Dali, all make their presences felt, in a piece of pure theatre that is full of truth, fun, terror and uncanny pertinence to our own topsy-turvy times.
RESERVATIONS: This performance is free and open to the public. No reservations, general admission.
FMU Concert Choir and Voice Collective
Dr. Fran Coleman
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Performing Arts Center/Downtown Florence
7:30 p.m. Monday, April 20, 2026
Open to all university students, the University Concert Choir has an average enrollment of between 35 and 45 students. This group has sung in numerous area churches and has also performed with the Florence Symphony Orchestra. They have performed such major choral works as the “Polovetzian Dance and Chorus” of Alexander Borodin, the “Schicksalslied” of Johannes Brahms, and the Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Recently their concerts have included selections accompanied by the newly formed Francis Marion string ensemble.
Francis Marion’s Voice Collective is a small, audition-only vocal group. This group performs throughout the region for schools and service organizations. They have also performed in Orlando, Florida, in Baltimore, Maryland, in Washington, D.C., in Vienna, Austria, and on a performance cruise to the Bahamas.
Tickets are available to FMU students, faculty, and staff at no charge upon showing an FMU ID. Tickets to the general public are $10, as space allows. The FMU PAC Ticket Office at 201 South Dargan Street is open Monday through Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, or by calling 843-661-4444.
Studio Voice Recital – Students of Dr. Fran Coleman
FMU Department of Fine Arts
Adele Kassab Recital Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center
7:30 pm Monday, April 27, 2026
Come celebrate the accomplishments of voice students in Dr. Coleman’s studio as they perform classical as well as contemporary songs.
RESERVATIONS: This performance is free and open to the public. No reservations, general admission.