Community Calendar

A fully-staged production of Puccini's masterpiece Tosca, with orchestra, chorus and elaborate sets and costumes. In order to save her lover's life, Floria Tosca agrees to sleep with Scarpia, Rome's corrupt Chief of Police, after he promises her to stage a mock public execution and later release her lover in secret so that the two can flee abroad. Instead of yielding to him, she stabs Scarpia in the chest, killing him. But Scarpia has double crossed her: her lover is actually executed at the Castel Sant'Angelo prison while she watches from afar. Pursued by guards for murdering Scarpia, she jumps to her death from the Castle's tower. One of Puccini's three most famous works, Tosca packs a dramatic force and a level of suspense unsurpassed in the verismo repertoire.

Through their belief in Ifá and the divine, three generations of women grow their relationships with each other and navigate living within their African diasporic identities in undergraduate student Alyssa Windom‘s award-winning script, Who Can I Run To? Windom is a 3rd year History of Art and Visual Culture (HAVC) major with the Arts Division at UC Santa Cruz and is the recipient of the 2026 Dharma Grace Creative Writing Award. The award includes a full theatrical production of their script.

In a modern, undisclosed time and a familiar yet unvisited space within the Americas, the audience meets four women, Lucia, Esme, Naia, and Aviva, three generations of the Sandorson family. The play follows each woman as they navigate how to live within the African diaspora, as well as grow their relationships with each other. Families are complex, but audiences learn this family does not have to figure out this life alone. Their belief in Ifá, and the divine, connects each woman with a guiding orisha that aids them in discovering themselves and their life paths.

Who Can I Run To? is directed by Theater Arts graduate student Darren Jackson-Wilkins.

Blending Euripides’ classic Medea with Mexican folklore, Luis Alfaro examines the tragedy behind America’s immigration system and the destiny of one family caught in its grip.
Directed by Kinan Valdez.

Through their belief in Ifá and the divine, three generations of women grow their relationships with each other and navigate living within their African diasporic identities in undergraduate student Alyssa Windom‘s award-winning script, Who Can I Run To? Windom is a 3rd year History of Art and Visual Culture (HAVC) major with the Arts Division at UC Santa Cruz and is the recipient of the 2026 Dharma Grace Creative Writing Award. The award includes a full theatrical production of their script.

In a modern, undisclosed time and a familiar yet unvisited space within the Americas, the audience meets four women, Lucia, Esme, Naia, and Aviva, three generations of the Sandorson family. The play follows each woman as they navigate how to live within the African diaspora, as well as grow their relationships with each other. Families are complex, but audiences learn this family does not have to figure out this life alone. Their belief in Ifá, and the divine, connects each woman with a guiding orisha that aids them in discovering themselves and their life paths.

Who Can I Run To? is directed by Theater Arts graduate student Darren Jackson-Wilkins.

A fully-staged production of Puccini's masterpiece Tosca, with orchestra, chorus and elaborate sets and costumes. In order to save her lover's life, Floria Tosca agrees to sleep with Scarpia, Rome's corrupt Chief of Police, after he promises her to stage a mock public execution and later release her lover in secret so that the two can flee abroad. Instead of yielding to him, she stabs Scarpia in the chest, killing him. But Scarpia has double crossed her: her lover is actually executed at the Castel Sant'Angelo prison while she watches from afar. Pursued by guards for murdering Scarpia, she jumps to her death from the Castle's tower. One of Puccini's three most famous works, Tosca packs a dramatic force and a level of suspense unsurpassed in the verismo repertoire.

Through their belief in Ifá and the divine, three generations of women grow their relationships with each other and navigate living within their African diasporic identities in undergraduate student Alyssa Windom‘s award-winning script, Who Can I Run To? Windom is a 3rd year History of Art and Visual Culture (HAVC) major with the Arts Division at UC Santa Cruz and is the recipient of the 2026 Dharma Grace Creative Writing Award. The award includes a full theatrical production of their script.

In a modern, undisclosed time and a familiar yet unvisited space within the Americas, the audience meets four women, Lucia, Esme, Naia, and Aviva, three generations of the Sandorson family. The play follows each woman as they navigate how to live within the African diaspora, as well as grow their relationships with each other. Families are complex, but audiences learn this family does not have to figure out this life alone. Their belief in Ifá, and the divine, connects each woman with a guiding orisha that aids them in discovering themselves and their life paths.

Who Can I Run To? is directed by Theater Arts graduate student Darren Jackson-Wilkins.

A fully-staged production of Puccini's masterpiece Tosca, with orchestra, chorus and elaborate sets and costumes. In order to save her lover's life, Floria Tosca agrees to sleep with Scarpia, Rome's corrupt Chief of Police, after he promises her to stage a mock public execution and later release her lover in secret so that the two can flee abroad. Instead of yielding to him, she stabs Scarpia in the chest, killing him. But Scarpia has double crossed her: her lover is actually executed at the Castel Sant'Angelo prison while she watches from afar. Pursued by guards for murdering Scarpia, she jumps to her death from the Castle's tower. One of Puccini's three most famous works, Tosca packs a dramatic force and a level of suspense unsurpassed in the verismo repertoire.

A fully-staged production of Puccini's masterpiece Tosca, with orchestra, chorus and elaborate sets and costumes. In order to save her lover's life, Floria Tosca agrees to sleep with Scarpia, Rome's corrupt Chief of Police, after he promises her to stage a mock public execution and later release her lover in secret so that the two can flee abroad. Instead of yielding to him, she stabs Scarpia in the chest, killing him. But Scarpia has double crossed her: her lover is actually executed at the Castel Sant'Angelo prison while she watches from afar. Pursued by guards for murdering Scarpia, she jumps to her death from the Castle's tower. One of Puccini's three most famous works, Tosca packs a dramatic force and a level of suspense unsurpassed in the verismo repertoire.

A fully-staged production of Puccini's masterpiece Tosca, with orchestra, chorus and elaborate sets and costumes. In order to save her lover's life, Floria Tosca agrees to sleep with Scarpia, Rome's corrupt Chief of Police, after he promises her to stage a mock public execution and later release her lover in secret so that the two can flee abroad. Instead of yielding to him, she stabs Scarpia in the chest, killing him. But Scarpia has double crossed her: her lover is actually executed at the Castel Sant'Angelo prison while she watches from afar. Pursued by guards for murdering Scarpia, she jumps to her death from the Castle's tower. One of Puccini's three most famous works, Tosca packs a dramatic force and a level of suspense unsurpassed in the verismo repertoire.

Espressivo Returns to the Roots of Americana with Copland’s Original Appalachian Spring
SANTA CRUZ, CA — On June 6 and 7, Espressivo, Santa Cruz’s "small, intense orchestra," continues its season with a program centered on the original, intimate chamber version of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Led by guest conductor Michael McGushin, the program explores the power of "small-scale" masterpieces by Copland, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, and Milhaud.
From its first performance in 1944, Appalachian Spring was hailed as a definitive American work. “It is a celebration of the human spirit,” wrote New York Times dance critic John Martin following the premiere. While often heard in its full-orchestral suite, Espressivo returns to Copland’s original scoring for just thirteen musicians. This spare instrumentation highlights the idealism and hope of a work composed during the closing years of WWII—themes that resonate deeply in today's landscape.
The program also features:
Jan Sibelius: En Saga. Presented in a rare version for seven instruments, honoring the composer's original chamber concept for this atmospheric tone poem.
Felix Mendelssohn: String Symphony No. 7. A sophisticated work of genius written when the composer was only thirteen.
Darius Milhaud: Little Symphony No. 3. An exuberant, four-minute "pocket symphony" for seven instruments.
Conducting Espressivo for the first time is Michael McGushin, a staple of the Monterey Bay music scene and conductor of the UCSC Chamber Singers.