Encounter three rare historic prints of the Declaration of Independence – including an official 1823 Stone Declaration – at the Durham County Main Library and the Nasher Museum of Art. Presented as part of We the People, the exhibition invites reflection on the nation’s founding ideals and their continuing influence today.

Join the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy for a lecture with Mitt Romney, former U.S. senator from Utah, governor of Massachusetts, and 2012 Republican presidential nominee. As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Romney will reflect on the health of American democracy, the values that […]

The Ciompi Quartet, Duke University’s resident string quartet, has built an international reputation for performances that weave together music of the past and present. Praised by The New York Times for playing that sounded “intelligent and sure,” the ensemble’s fall program “Follow Me” is rooted in U.S. musical traditions. The evening moves from Samuel Barber’s […]

The Ciompi Quartet, Duke University’s resident string quartet, has built an international reputation for performances that weave together music of the past and present. Praised by The New York Times for playing that sounded “intelligent and sure,” the ensemble’s fall program “Follow Me” is rooted in U.S. musical traditions. The evening moves from Samuel Barber’s […]

Following their three-night run of Holiday Sauce in 2025, MacArthur “Genius” Award-winning icon Taylor Mac reunites with Obie Award-winning composer Matt Ray, “the musical nexus of New York’s alt-cabaret scene” (NYTimes), for an evening that invites all to reflect on queer lineage and futures. Following their much-heralded durational performance A 24-Decade History of Popular Music […]

Praised by The Washington Post as “one of this country’s most interesting and profound pianists” Awadagin Pratt is one of the most distinctive artists in American classical music. Winner of the Naumburg International Piano Competition and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Pratt has built a dynamic career with appearances ranging from solo recitals […]

Eleven-time GRAMMY-winning bassist Christian McBride is one of the most influential figures in jazz today. A virtuoso performer, composer, and bandleader, prolific educator and advocate, and host of NPR’s “Jazz Night in America,” McBride is equally at home across genres from straight-ahead jazz to R&B, hip-hop, and classical music. In Ursa Major, McBride is joined […]

In Lead Me Home: A Celebration of the American Choral Landscape, the celebrated British vocal ensemble VOCES8 explores the many traditions that shape American choral music. The program moves from early voices such as William Byrd to contemporary composers like Pulitzer Prize-winning North Carolina composer Caroline Shaw, with beloved spirituals like Steal Away and My […]

Legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns joins Duke alumnus, trustee emeritus, and former board chair David M. Rubenstein for a wide‑ranging conversation about United States history and civic engagement. Available exclusively to the Duke community, this free event marks the arrival of three historic copies of the Declaration of Independence at the Nasher Museum of Art […]

GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter, and guitarist Madison Cunningham has become one of the most admired musicians working across folk and rock today. Her 2022 album Revealer earned the GRAMMY® for Best Folk Album and widespread critical acclaim, cementing her reputation as an artist musicians admire as much as audiences do. Cunningham has collaborated with artists […]

Six dancers take the stage in MAJOR to explore the power, memory, and physicality of majorette dance, a form that originated in the American South within Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the 1960s. In this dance-theater work, six Black femmes revisit the rhythms of their girlhood and rediscover the bodies they shaped through choreography, […]

Few works in modern dance carry the legacy of Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, a masterpiece set to spirituals and gospel music that has moved audiences worldwide since 1960 and remains the most widely seen work in modern dance history. In Sacred Spaces, Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing and Co-creator and Musical Director Du’Bois A’Keen revisit that […]

Trailblazing comedian Mo Amer brings his sharp, deeply-personal stand-up to Durham to help kick off the Duke Arts Presents season. Known for his acclaimed series MO and three stand-up specials on Netflix, Amer has built a global following with comedy that blends personal storytelling, cultural insight, and fearless humor. Drawing from his experiences as a […]

Cherokee songwriter Ken Pomeroy writes songs that cut straight to the heart. Her music pairs a soft soprano with spare guitar and clear-eyed storytelling, creating songs that feel both fragile and powerful. Raised in Moore, Oklahoma, Pomeroy began writing at age eleven and quickly developed a reputation for lyrics that carry unusual emotional weight. Her […]

Kaia Kater is part of a new wave of folk musicians expanding the story of the banjo, with a sound Rolling Stone describes as “plaintive and mesmerizing.” In 2023, she won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song for the series The Porter, and her NPR Tiny Desk performance introduced her to a global […]

Ten years after the release of her acclaimed album Language Barrier, Durham-based poet, musician, and producer shirlette ammons brings the project home for a special full-album performance at Page Auditorium. In this one-night-only event, each track will be reimagined live with a rotating lineup of collaborators, reflecting the community spirit at the heart of the […]

Two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning songwriter Patty Griffin is one of the most beloved voices in American folk and Americana. For more than two decades, she has written songs that capture the small moments and big emotions that shape everyday life. The New York Times praised Griffin for writing “cameo-carved songs that create complete emotional portraits,” a […]