Boston Conservatory at Berklee Kicks Off Spring Center Stage Season in February Boston Conservatory at Berklee's Center Stage season continues this spring with four extraordinary performances in dance, music, opera, and theater that will spotlight the remarkable talent of the school's performers. January 6, 2026
By
Tori Donahue
Boston Conservatory at Berklee's Center Stage season continues this spring with four extraordinary performances in dance, music, opera, and theater that will spotlight the remarkable talent of the school's performers. Audiences will experience a broad range of artistry, including the second annual commercial dance concert, a premiere of a new piano concerto by Peter Dugan at Symphony Hall, the hit Broadway musical Urinetown, and the New England premiere of a timely contemporary opera by Professor Laura Kaminsky.
The spring 2026 Center Stage season will begin with the Commercial Dance BFA Concert at the Huntington Theatre on February 6 and 7. This special evening features all of Boston Conservatory's commercial dancers performing world premieres by choreographers Ray Mercer, Marcus Allen Cobb, and Dance Division faculty, plus a reconstruction of an iconic Bob Fosse work, part of the five-year partnership between Boston Conservatory and the Verdon Fosse Legacy.
On Sunday, February 22, Boston Conservatory Orchestra will be joined by acclaimed pianist, composer, and From the Top host Peter Dugan to present the educational premiere of a new piano concerto written by Dugan and his brother Leonardo, and commissioned by Boston Conservatory and the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. Alongside this important premiere, the performance will feature three graduating conductors as they progress from Boston Conservatory's conducting studio to iconic Symphony Hall. Students Julian D rr, Christine Le, and Simon Sadikovi will conduct works by American composers George Gershwin and Howard Hanson, and by Russian composers Alexander Borodin and Igor Stravinsky.
From April 9 to 12, Boston Conservatory musical theater students will present the razor-sharp satire Urinetown at Boston Conservatory Theater. A wickedly funny reflection on corporate greed, social irresponsibility, and musical theater itself, Urinetown tells the story of a dystopian city plagued by drought, where private toilets are outlawed and citizens must pay to use public amenities controlled by a powerful corporation. Following its acclaimed off-Broadway premiere and celebrated Broadway run, this uproarious musical has become a modern classic, delighting audiences with bold wit, an unforgettable score, and subversive storytelling that challenges the conventions of the genre. Boston Conservatory at Berklee's production is directed by assistant professor De'Lon Grant.
The spring Center Stage season closes with the collegiate and New England premiere of the new opera Time to Act by renowned composer and Boston Conservatory professor Laura Kaminsky and librettist Crystal Manich, running April 16 to 18 at the Nancy and Edward Roberts Studio Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion. Set in a high school as theater students prepare for a staging of Antigone, this gripping contemporary opera explores how young people confront grief, violence, and the urgent need for change in the face of school shootings. In a recent interview, Kaminsky explained how the opera was shaped in part by feedback from Boston Conservatory students, and reflected on the emotional significance of collaborating with young artists of the lockdown generation.
Fresh from its world premiere at Pittsburgh Opera in March 2026, Time to Act will be performed by Boston Conservatory as part of a groundbreaking national consortium with Opera Montana, Opera Santa Barbara, and Pittsburgh Opera. Associate professor Andrew Bisantz will conduct the Boston production, with direction by associate professor David Gately. Following its Boston run, Time to Act will travel to National Sawdust in Brooklyn, New York (April 22-23, 2026) for a semi-staged public performance and professional live recording, to be released nationally by the label Bright Shiny Things.
Tickets can be purchased online any time at bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/events or in person at the Berklee Box Office at 136 Massachusetts Avenue. Tickets for Time to Act will be available in early 2026; please check event listings for updates. Through January 16, the box office will be open Wednesdays and Fridays from 12:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. After that, it will return to its regular hours, Tuesday through Friday from 12:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. If you have questions about purchasing tickets, please email boxoffice@berklee.edu or call 617-747-2261.
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