Get a 20% discount when purchasing to four or more Music Department events sold through the Cal Poly Ticket Office. Cal Poly faculty and staff receive 20% discount for any Music Department event sold through the ticket office. Prices are inclusive of all fees.
Matt Sargent Algorithmic Music Workshops
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2025
1:40-3 p.m. and 3:10-4:30 p.m., Davidson Music Center, Room 130
Matt Sargent returns to Cal Poly to offer workshops in composing algorithmic music. Sargent is a composer, guitarist, recording engineer and music technologist based in upstate New York, where he is an assistant professor of music at Bard College.
Free admission
Faculty Showcase
Friday, Oct. 18, 2024
6:30 p.m. Davidson Music Center, Room 218
The recital will feature Cal Poly’s applied music faculty, who are recognized across the region for their expertise in solo and chamber ensemble performance.
Tickets at the door ($10 general, $5 students)
Janina Fiałkowska Piano Master Class
Friday, Nov. 1, 2024
4:10 p.m. Davidson Music Center, Room 218
Paderewski Festival Gala pianist Janina Fiałkowska will give a master class for Ukranian students, Paderewski Youth Piano Competition winners and Cal Poly music majors who study piano.
On Nov. 2, Fiałkowska will be the piano soloist with the San Luis Obispo Symphony in performances of works by Mozart, Mussorgsky and Paderewski, conducted by Andrew Sewell.
Free admission
W. Terrence Spiller Piano Recital
Friday, Jan. 10, 2025
7:30 p.m. Spanos Theatre
Professor Emeritus W. Terrence Spiller will perform a variety of repertoire ranging from the late-18th century into the mid-1920s, including Béla Bartok’s demanding Sonata and Franz Schubert’s legendary "Wanderer" Fantasy. Joseph Haydn's Keyboard Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVI:37; Claude Debussy's "Children's Corner"; and Franz Liszt's "Soirées de Vienne No. 6" based on a work Franz Schubert will also be on the program.
Tickets ($22 general, $12 students)
Bach Week
Jan. 23-25, 2025
Instrumental Master Class and Continuo Workshop
Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025
11:10 a.m.-1 p.m., Cal Poly Davidson Music Center, Room 218
For the first half, guest artists will coach Cal Poly students in instrumental repertoire from the Baroque era, with a focus on historically informed performance. During the second half, the students will be coached in effective continuo playing, which is the foundation of all Baroque music.
Free admission
Vocal Master Class
Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025
3:10 p.m., Cal Poly Davidson Music Center, Room 218
Guest artist John Buffett will coach several Cal Poly voice students in repertoire from the Baroque era.
Free admission
Akademie Lecture-Demonstration: Music for the Golden Hour
Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025
7:30 p.m., Cal Poly Davidson Music Center, Room 218
Music Department Chair Alicia M. Doyle will present a lecture titled "Music for the Golden Hour" which will explore the evolution of service music for Vespers from chant to J.S. Bach. Guest performers will demonstrate the lecture concepts.
Free admission
Chamber Concert: Buxtehude — The Italian Influence in Northern Germany
Friday, Jan. 24, 2025
7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church of San Luis Obispo
Bach Week welcomes back the world-class musicians of Tesserae Baroque! A period instrument ensemble specializing in repertoire of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The music of Dietrich Buxtehude was a profound influence on Bach’s style. In this program, Tesserae and festival bass John Buffett will explore works by Buxtehude and his contemporaries alongside selected early Italian works — which in turn had a profound influence on the early German style. Featuring vocal cantatas alongside virtuosic instrumental works, this program traces the thread between the early Baroque style and the music of J.S. Bach.
Tickets ($22 general, $12 students)
Finale Concert: Magnificat
Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025
2 and 7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church of San Luis Obispo
Members of Cal Poly’s Chamber Choir, Symphony and faculty will join with guest artists to perform works based on the Magnificat text, a canticle from the traditional Vespers service that shares the song of Mary as found in the gospel of Luke.
Tickets ($22 general, $12 students)
Bennardo-Larson Duo Concert
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
7:30 p.m., Davidson Music Center, Room 218
The Bennardo-Larson Duo is a contemporary classical duo committed to the performance of forward-thinking works for violin and piano. Comprised of Maya Bennardo, violin, and Karl Larson, piano, the duo is dedicated to aesthetically diverse programming that illuminates new repertoire for their instrumentation alongside intrepid works from the past. The Bennardo-Larson Duo was formed in 2016 when they undertook the task of learning and performing Charles Ives’s complete works for violin and piano, which they presented on their annual ‘Ives of March’ concerts from 2017-19.
Their performance at Cal Poly will focus on contemporary performance techniques and recent collaborations with living composers.
Free admission
W. Terrence Spiller: All-Chopin Piano Recital
Friday, April 25, 2025
7:30 p.m. Performing Arts Center Pavilion
Music Professor Emeritus W. Terrence Spiller will explore a broad swath of Frédéric Chopin's works, including dances, a nocturne and concluding with his extraordinary set of Preludes, Op. 28.
- Tres Valses brillante, Op. 34
- Berceuse in D-flat Major, Op. 57
- Nocturne in F-sharp Minor, Op. 48 No.2
- Polonaise in F-sharp Minor, Op. 44
Tickets ($22 general, $12 students)