Ferguson Center for the Arts
The Ferguson Center for the Arts, on the campus of Christopher Newport University, opened its doors in 2005 and houses the Diamonstein Concert Hall that we perform in (pictured above). Seating 1,725 people, the Orchestra, Parterre, and Grand Tier areas feature comfortable seating with several aisles. For the best experience, inquire about the box seating located on each level. Drinks with lidded cups purchased in the lobby are allowed inside the hall, and free parking with a convenient shuttle is offered in the garage behind the hall.
Christopher Newport University
1 Avenue of the Arts
Newport News, VA 23606
Phone: (757) 594-7448
Capacity: 1,600
Parking: Free parking is available in the garage adjacent to the Ferguson Center with complimentary shuttle service to take you to the lobby. In addition, the Ferguson Center also provides valet parking for a fee.
Click on a seating chart above to download a PDF.
Accessibility
The Ferguson Center was built under the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) and meets the standards set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It is our intent to exceed standard requirements and provide exceptional service for our patrons with disabilities.
Special Features for patrons with disabilities
Complimentary wheelchairs are available at all performances. Speak to a member of House Management upon arrival.
Seating
To purchase accessible seating, contact VSO Patron Services at (757) 892-6366. Notice of special needs must be addressed at time of purchase so that we may best accommodate you. All accessible seats are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
Parking
Handicap Parking is available in the parking garage. A shuttle service, via electric carts, is available at all performances to and from the parking garage.
Paid valet parking is available at most performances for all patrons. If valet parking is not available, disabled patrons may park in the drop-off circle. These services must be arranged at least 14 days prior to the performance. Contact Patron Services at (757) 594-8465.
Assisted Listening
An FM assisted listening system, including headsets and induction loop devices, is available at performances on a first-come, first-served basis.
Speak to a member of House Management upon your arrival.
Ferguson Center for the Arts
Upcoming Concerts at Ferguson Center for the Arts
Brahms + Pulitzer Prize Winning Composer • 10/24-10/27
Thursday, October 24, 2019 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Saturday, October 26, 2019 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, October 27, 2019 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
Michael Tilson Thomas calls conductor Edwin Outwater “one of the most innovative conductors on the scene today.” Known throughout the world for reinventing the concert experience with major orchestras, Outwater collaborates for these performances with violinist, singer, and composer Caroline Shaw – who at age 30, was the youngest-ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013, and who enjoys a large following both on recordings and YouTube. Equally adept at interpreting the great masterworks, Outwater concludes the evening leading Brahms’ perennial favorite Symphony No. 4.
Meet the artists and discover the orchestra experience from a new perspective during Behind the Notes, a pre-concert talked hosted by guest conductor, Edwin Outwater. These casual presentations give you a special look at the music of the day as well as the music-makers themselves. They offer an informative way to learn about the music before your orchestra experience. Our hour before each Classics concert (7pm or 1:30pm). Behind the Notes is FREE to ticket holders at all venues.
Edwin Outwater, conductor
Caroline Shaw, composer
Beethoven: King Stephen Overture
Caroline Shaw: Other Song
Caroline Shaw: Red, Red Rose
Caroline Shaw: “Lo” (Violin solo)
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Sensory Friendly Concert • 11/2
Saturday, November 2, 2019 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 3PM
Join the Virginia Symphony Orchestra for a special sensory-friendly concert for music lovers of all ages. This inclusive, orchestral performance is open to everyone, but has been specially designed to feature familiar classical pieces that accommodate the sensory needs of audience members on the autism spectrum. Families and friends are invited to take part in the pre-concert hands-on activities and resource fair. Quiet spaces will be available before and during the concert and seating will be flexible within the hall.
Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique • 1/24-1/26
Friday, January 24, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, January 25, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, January 26, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
Glasgow-born conductor Douglas Boyd enjoyed a stellar career as a world-renowned oboist, before stepping away after 21 years to begin an international career as conductor. Currently, Boyd is Music Director of the L’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris as well as Artistic Director of the summer opera festival, Garsington Opera, in Buckinghamshire, England. Boyd has conducted all the BBC Orchestras, as well as orchestras throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States. For his debut performances in Hampton Roads, Boyd conducts Hector Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique, a romantic symphonic portrayal of the gifted artist’s challenges with unrequited love.
Meet the artists and discover the orchestra experience from a new perspective during Behind the Notes, a pre-concert talked hosted by guest conductor Douglas Boyd. These casual presentations give you a special look at the music of the day as well as the music-makers themselves. They offer an informative way to learn about the music before your orchestra experience. Our hour before each Classics concert (7pm or 1:30pm). Behind the Notes is FREE to ticket holders at all venues.
Douglas Boyd, conductor
Elena Urioste, violin
Stravinsky: Fireworks
Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
Ravel: Tzigane
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Mahler & Mozart • 2/21-2/23
Friday, February 21, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, February 22, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, February 23, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Perfoming Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
“Danzmayr has what it takes,” wrote The Chicago Tribune of David Danzmayr’s performances leading the Illinois Symphony. Last year, Danzmayr was appointed chief conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic – part of an extensive European career of concerts in venues like Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, and the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg. One of his shorter symphonies, Mahler’s fourth is that last of his so-called Wunderhorn symphonies, all based on songs from The Youth’s Magic Horn – and is one of his most popular and widely performed.
Meet the artists and discover the orchestra experience from a new perspective during Behind the Notes, a pre-concert talked hosted by guest conductor David Danzmayr. These casual presentations give you a special look at the music of the day as well as the music-makers themselves. They offer an informative way to learn about the music before your orchestra experience. Our hour before each Classics concert (7pm or 1:30pm). Behind the Notes is FREE to ticket holders at all venues.
David Danzmayr, conductor
Clara Rottsolk, soprano
Mozart: Divertimento KV 136
Mozart: Voi avete un cor Fedele
Mahler: Symphony No. 4
Stravinsky Firebird • 3/6-3/8
Friday, March 06, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, March 07, 2020 | L. Douglas Wilder Performing Arts Center, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, March 08, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
Chicago-born conductor Fawzi Haimor has established an extensive international career with some of world’s great orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony, and just last summer, the Grant Park Symphony in his native Chicago. He is currently music director of the Württembergische Philharmonie. For his VSO debut, Haimor celebrates the Centennial of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, along with a first Hampton Roads performance from Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavarra – his popular Cantus Articus, or Concerto for Birds and Orchestra featuring birdsong recorded at the Finnish Artic Circle.
Meet the artists and discover the orchestra experience from a new perspective during Behind the Notes, a pre-concert talked hosted by guest conductor Fawzi Haimor. These casual presentations give you a special look at the music of the day as well as the music-makers themselves. They offer an informative way to learn about the music before your orchestra experience. Our hour before each Classics concert (7pm or 1:30pm). Behind the Notes is FREE to ticket holders at all venues.
Fawzi Haimor, conductor
Leonard Elschenbroich, cello
Joshua Cerdenia: Feuertrunken (Fire-Drunk)
Elgar: Concerto for cello
Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus, op. 61 “Concerto for Birds and Orchestra”
Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (1919)
Strauss Rosenkavalier Suite • 3/27-3/29
Friday, March 27, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, March 28, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, March 29, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
From the much-loved waltzes made famous in Strauss’ opera Der Rosenkavalier, to Robert Schumann’s one and only piano concerto, JoAnn Falletta has chosen a wide-ranging program of classics to show off the orchestra and soloist next spring, including French pianist Prisca Benoit – known for a refined pianistic touch with a wide range of colors. Benoit continues the orchestra’s collaboration with Sentara Healthcare’s “Music and Medicine” Program. The Schumann concerto will be recorded for later release.
Meet the artists and discover the orchestra experience from a new perspective during Behind the Notes, a pre-concert talked hosted by Music Director JoAnn Falletta. These casual presentations give you a special look at the music of the day as well as the music-makers themselves. They offer an informative way to learn about the music before your orchestra experience. Our hour before each Classics concert (7pm or 1:30pm). Behind the Notes is FREE to ticket holders at all venues.
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Prisca Benoit, piano
Bantock: The Witch of Atlas
Schumann: Piano Concerto
Strauss: Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome
Strauss: Rosenkavalier Suite
Shostakovich Five • 5/8-5/10
Friday, May 8, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Saturday, May 09, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Sunday, May 10, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
Hailed by The New York Times as “an interpretive dynamo,” conductor Eric Jacobsen returns to the VSO in the new season to lead one of the 20th Century’s tour de force masterpieces – Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. Jacobsen has built a reputation for engaging audiences with his innovative and collaborative programming, and in addition to the Shostakovich, Jacobsen will conduct the beautiful Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2, with violinist Alexi Kenney, a recipient of a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Kenney has been named “a talent to watch” by The New York Times, which also noted his “architect’s eye for structure and space and a tone that ranges from the achingly fragile to full-bodied robustness.”
Meet the artists and discover the orchestra experience from a new perspective during Behind the Notes, a pre-concert talked hosted by guest conductor Eric Jacobsen. These casual presentations give you a special look at the music of the day as well as the music-makers themselves. They offer an informative way to learn about the music before your orchestra experience. Our hour before each Classics concert (7pm or 1:30pm). Behind the Notes is FREE to ticket holders at all venues.
Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Alexi Kenney, violin
Anna Clyne: Masquerade
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
Beethoven “Emperor” and Symphony No. 9 “Choral” • 5/15-5/17
Fri., May 15 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Sat., May 16 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sun., May 17 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, VA Beach | 2:30PM
JoAnn Falletta finishes her final season as Music Director with a history-making performance celebrating Beethoven’s 250th Year, in performances presented by the Virginia Arts Festival. For these concerts, Falletta will be joined by renowned pianist Olga Kern, who will perform Beethoven’s well-known “Emperor” Concerto. Kern is the recently appointed Connie and Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music for the Virginia Arts Festival. Following intermission, Falletta will be joined by four soloists and full VSO Chorus for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the “Choral” Symphony.
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Olga Kern, piano
Beethoven: Emperor Concerto
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
*Please note this concert is not available for exchanges or Flex Package purchases.*
