Sandler Center for the Performing Arts
201 Market Street
Virginia Beach, VA 23462
Phone: (757) 385-2787
Capacity: 1,200
Parking: Free parking is available in several lots and garages in close proximity to the Sandler Center. View a parking map of the area.
Click on a seating chart above to download a PDF.
Accessibility
If you need assistance while at the Sandler Center, please contact an usher or staff member. In addition, the Guest Services Center is located in the front atrium in front of the main entry doors. Any Guest Services Rep will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Special Features for Patrons with Disabilities
In addition to the main entrance, Bank and Commerce Street are also wheelchair accessible. Once inside the Sandler Center, elevators are available to provide access between levels.
Seating
Accessible seating is available at various locations throughout the Sandler Center and is available to the patron with the disability and one guest. To purchase, please call our box office at (757) 892-6366.
Parking
Accessible parking is available in all of the parking lots surrounding the Sandler Center. In order to park in the spaces reserved for disabled guests, the vehicle must have a state issued handicapped window pass, sticker, or license plate.
Assisted Listening Devices
Assisted listening devices are available to hearing-impaired guests at no cost. They are available at the Guest Services/Coat Check booth located in the main lobby across from the entry doors.
Sandler Center for the Performing Arts
Upcoming Concerts at Sandler Center for the Performing Arts
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 talk 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. One 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
Sponsored By
Series Sponsor
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 the 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 Rautavaara – his popular Cantus Arcticus, 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 talk 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. One 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)
Sponsored By
Series Sponsor
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 talk 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. One 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 in A minor
Strauss: Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Suite
Sponsored By 
Series Sponsor
Old Dominion University Side by Side • 4/1
Wednesday, April 1, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 8PM
Students from the Old Dominion University Orchestra will gain hands-on, professional experience by playing alongside the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in this special performance! The VSO is thrilled to partner with the ODU Orchestra to provide this exciting opportunity for the next generation of musicians.
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 talk 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. One 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
Sponsored By
Series Sponsor
Beethoven “Emperor” and Symphony No. 9 “Choral” • 5/15-5/17
Friday, May 15, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 8PM
Saturday, May 16, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 8PM
Sunday, May 17, 2020 | 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.*
Meet the artists and discover the orchestra experience from a new perspective during Behind the Notes, a pre-concert talk 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. One hour before each Classics concert (7pm or 1:30pm). Behind the Notes is FREE to ticket holders at all venues.
Governor’s School for the Arts Orchestra Side by Side • 6/3
Wednesday, June 3, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Arts, Virginia Beach | 7:00PM
Students from the Governor’s School for the Arts Orchestra will gain hands-on, professional experience by playing alongside the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in this special performance! The VSO is thrilled to partner with the GSA Orchestra to provide this exciting opportunity for the next generation of musicians.
Jeff Phelps, conductor
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
From the New World • 9/18 – 9/20
Friday, September 18, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Saturday, September 19, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 7:30PM
Sunday, September 20, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 7:30PM
Suffolk native and Metropolitan Opera star Ryan Speedo Green comes home to join the VSO in the opening of our 100th Anniversary Season! Green’s inspiring personal story and incredible talent (nurtured at the Governor’s School for the Arts) has been featured in numerous media outlets. For this special appearance, Green’s incredible range will be on display with a variety of operatic showstoppers, Broadway standards and African American spirituals.
Rossen Milanov is currently the Music Director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra and newly appointed Chief Conductor of the Slovenian RTV Orchestra in Ljubljana. Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony reflects on the bountiful and optimistic United States that welcomed the composer with open arms. Spirituals learned from the grandson of a freed slave and transcriptions of Native American melodies enrich this mix of European refinement and American earnestness.
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Ryan Speedo Green, bass-baritone
Adolphus Hailstork: An American Port of Call
Rossini: “La Calunnia” from IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
Bizet: “Votre toast” from CARMEN
Rodgers/Hammerstein: “This nearly was mine” from SOUTH PACIFIC
Wagner: “Abendlicht strahlt der sonne auge” from DAS RHEINGOLD
Traditional/ arr. Flody: Down by the river side
Dvorak: New World Symphony
A Celebration of the 1920s • 10/23 – 10/25
Friday, October 23, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Saturday, October 24, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 7:30PM
Sunday, October 25, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
It’s the roaring ‘20s! Gershwin wrote his signature piece Rhapsody in Blue about the same time Maurice Ravel was in Paris writing his Concerto in G, which was heavily influenced by American jazz. Hear both pieces as audience favorite pianist Natasha Paremski returns to the VSO in a program that harkens back to the decade of the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra’s founding in 1920. Leading the VSO will be Akiko Fujimoto, who is quickly establishing herself as one of today’s most dynamic and nuanced young conductors.
Akiko Fujimoto, conductor
Natasha Paremski, piano
Hindemith: Ragtime
Porter/Koechlin: Within the Quota
Ravel: Concerto in G
Ellington: Harlem
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Classic Marsalis! • 11/5 – 11/8
Thursday, November 5, 2020 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Saturday, November 7, 2020 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 7:30PM
Sunday, November 8, 2020 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
Grammy-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis makes his first appearance with the VSO! Joining his friend to conduct is Norfolk native and Hampton Roads’ favorite son Thomas Wilkins who returns to lead this exciting program featuring a recent saxophone concerto by American composer John Adams. The work is inspired by Adams’ early exposure to jazz greats John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter. Don’t miss this very special collaboration!
Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Branford Marsalis, saxophone
John Adams: Saxophone Concerto
Elliott Brothers Pla7 Brahms • 1/22/21 – 1/24/21
Friday, January 22, 2021 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Saturday, January 23, 2021 | Chrysler Hall, Norfolk | 7:30PM
Sunday, January 24, 2021 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
Newport News natives Brendon and Sterling Elliott, each embarking on their own impressive solo careers, will make a rare joint appearance with full symphony orchestra in Brahms’ Concerto for Violin and Cello. Popular former VSO Resident Conductor Benjamin Rous, now Music Director of the Charlottesville Symphony and on faculty at the University of Virginia, returns to conduct this performance which concludes with Rachmaninoff’s final major composition, Symphonic Dances, popular for its colorful rhythms, gorgeous melodies and beautiful alto saxophone solo.
Benjamin Rous, conductor
Brendon Elliott, violin
Sterling Elliott, cello
Strauss, Jr.: Csardas from “Ritter Pasman”
Brahms: Concerto for Violin and Cello
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
Kishi Bashi Meets the Symphony • 3/5/21 – 3/7/21
Friday, March 5, 2021 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Saturday, March 6, 2021 | Venue TBA, Norfolk | 7:30PM
Sunday, March 7, 2021 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach | 2:30PM
From South by Southwest to Austin City Limits, the internationally celebrated singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Kishi Bashi has been pushing musical boundaries since growing up in Norfolk. Written in honor of the 75th anniversary of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, his multimedia presentation combines elements of film as well as recorded and improvised music. The work was premiered by Miami’s Nu Deco Ensemble in 2018 with co-founder and artistic director Jacomo Bairos on the podium. Bairos will conduct the VSO in this full orchestra premier of the work. The program will conclude with Shostakovich’s stirring Symphony No. 10.
Jacomo Bairos, conductor
Kishi Bashi, violin
Kishi Bashi: EO 9066 (Japanese Internment)
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
Brandenburg Concertos • 3/26/21 – 3/28/
Friday, March 26, 2021 | Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News | 7:30PM
Saturday, March 27, 2021 | Harrison Opera House, Norfolk | 7:30PM
Sunday, March 28, 2021 | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts | 2:30PM
Rarely presented in a single evening, the complete Brandenburg Concertos – six baroque masterpieces – spotlight the superlative musicians of the VSO. These musical jewels showcase individual instruments in melodies immediately recognized and beloved by musicians and audiences everywhere. This extraordinary program will be led by one of America’s most revered conductor/ violinists, Cho-Liang “Jimmy” Lin, lauded all over the world and loved here in Virginia for his superb technique and leadership.
Cho-Liang Lin, conductor/violin
Members of the VSO
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (Complete)
