October 21st, 2025
With multiple new art exhibitions, a full lineup of concerts, exciting celebrations and much more, Scottsdale Arts starts the 2025–26 season with a wide variety of things to do and see.
CAPTION: Images (left to right): Dreamy Draw Music Festival and Lea Salonga are among the events happening at Scottsdale Arts in November.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — With multiple new art exhibitions, a full lineup of concerts, exciting celebrations and much more, Scottsdale Arts starts the 2025–26 season with a wide variety of things to do and see.
November brings powerhouse festivals, Dreamy Draw Music Festival and Canal Convergence, back to Scottsdale. Legendary performers like Vampire Weekend, The Lumineers, Father John Misty, Local Natives and Marcus King Band will perform on the Civic Center stages and at Scottsdale Stadium during Dreamy Draw on Nov. 7 and 8, while Canal Convergence will begin that same weekend and continue until Nov. 16.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts continues its 50th anniversary season with stage and screen star Lea Salonga, known for her roles in “Les Misérables” and “Miss Saigon,” on Nov. 12.
The center has a storied history with the stars of Broadway that dates all the way back to Oct. 24, 1975. That’s when composer and lyricist Michael Brown, whose songs had been part of various Broadway productions, brought his “Great American Nut Show” to the new venue, just one day after it opened with a concert by Roger Miller. Miller himself would later go on to write the musical “Big River.”
When the center moved into the 21st century, Broadway stars began to appear in concert more frequently, including numerous performances at Scottsdale Arts’ annual ARTrageous Gala with such luminaries as Kristin Chenowith, Mandy Patinkin and Audra McDonald.
“We feel quite lucky to continue this star-studded history of concerts by the stars of Broadway with such a stellar lineup for our 50th anniversary season,” said Abbey Messmer, programming director for the center, noting two recent sold-out shows by Jeremy Jordan and a Feb. 1 performance by Cheyenne Jackson.
The following is a list of events and exhibitions from Scottsdale Arts, a nonprofit organization comprising Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale Public Art, Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation, Canal Convergence and Civic Center LIVE. Visit ScottsdaleArts.org for information.
PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS
50th Anniversary Celebration with Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, 6 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $99
Celebrate 50 years in style with an exclusive red-carpet reception and an intimate performance from one of the most influential artists in American roots music.
Rufus Wainwright
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $51
At once introspective and grand, playful yet profound, Rufus Wainwright’s cabaret-style shows weave a tapestry of sound that draws from opera, folk, rock and Broadway influences.
Dreamy Draw Music Festival
Friday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, 1 p.m.
Scottsdale Civic Center
Tickets start at $124 per day or $171 for both days
Dreamy Draw Music Festival features two days of Americana and country music from The Lumineers, Vampire Weekend, Thee Sacred Souls, Father John Misty, Marcus King Band, Local Natives, Houndmouth and Saint Motel.
Canal Convergence
Friday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, evenings
Scottsdale Waterfront
Free
Scottsdale Arts’ Canal Convergence will explore performance as public art with large-scale, light-based public artworks, live music and dance performances, creative workshops, educational tours and activities, food trucks and a beer and wine garden.
LEA SALONGA | Stage, Screen & Everything in Between
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $71
Musical theater royalty and Disney Legend Lea Salonga brings her powerful voice to stage and screen classics from iconic roles in “Miss Saigon,” “Les Misérables,” “Aladdin” and “Mulan.”
Sun and Spine | A Conversation on Health, Nature, and the Body
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, 7 p.m.
Offsite: Music Pavilion at Taliesin West
Free
Reflect on the body as a landscape for healing and on movement and art as a practice of connection to both self and environment.
Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra | Legends and Legacy
Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, 4 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets start at $20
Iconic music by Richard Wagner and John Williams—from the Harry Potter and Star Wars series—explores how epic storytelling shapes America’s spirit and cultural imagination.
LOOKING AHEAD
Arizona Concours d'Elegance
Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, 9 a.m.
Scottsdale Civic Center
Tickets start at $85 with early bird discount
The 8th edition of the Arizona Concours d’Elegance will display exceptional vehicles from around the world, guaranteed to impress and excite not only dedicated car lovers but anyone who appreciates the beauty of expressive design, enjoyed in the atmosphere of a stylish garden party.
EXHIBITIONS
James Perkins | Burying Painting
Sept. 20, 2025, through Feb. 15, 2026
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
“Burying Painting” presents process-based land art by James Perkins in his first museum exhibition, highlighting the artist’s approach to nature as a collaborator.
Jeanne K. Simmons: Rooted
Oct. 11, 2025, through Feb. 22, 2026
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
“Rooted” blends sculpture and photography by Jeanne K. Simmons in a site-specific meditation on humanity’s delicate, interwoven relationship with nature.
Casey Curran: Tidal Sky
Oct. 11, 2025, through Feb. 22, 2026
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
Drawing parallels between natural phenomena and present-day concerns, “Casey Curran: Tidal Sky” asks what remains when structures collapse — and what new beginnings emerge in their wake.
• Squidsoup • Infinite •
June 28, 2025, through Aug. 30, 2026
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $10 to $16
Enter “Infinite” and be surrounded by hundreds of illuminated spheres that form a symphony of notes.
A Pivotal Point in Time: Art in Scottsdale in the 1970s
Oct. 4, 2025, through Jan 17, 2026
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Free
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, “A Pivotal Point in Time: Art in Scottsdale in the 1970s” pays homage to artists who were part of the local arts scene around the time the center was built.
Artists of Cattle Track
Oct. 6 through Dec. 31, 2025
Scottsdale Civic Center Library
Free
“Artists of Cattle Track" is an exhibition that features working artists who create in the studios of Cattle Track Arts Compound.
SMoCA _____ space Installations
March 8 through Sep. 7, 2025
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Free
In “Pathfinding,” Evan Roth seeks out the sun around his home in Berlin to confront the emotional toll of overcast winters.
Scottsdale Public Art Permanent Collection
Ongoing
Various locations throughout Scottsdale
Admission: free
More than 160 artworks, many of them large-scale sculptures, can be found throughout the city at parks, in public facilities and along the streets. See the map at ScottsdalePublicArt.org for locations.
For more information about the events, and to order tickets, visit ScottsdaleArts.org.
Scottsdale Arts thanks the following sponsors and partners: City of Scottsdale, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Flinn Foundation, Billie Jo Herberger, Krumwiede Lewis Family Foundation, Nationwide, National Endowment for the Arts, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, SOAR Foundation, SRP, Terra Foundation for American Art, Karen and John Voris, Arizona Republic, Buddy Taub Foundation, Betty Hum & Alan Yudell, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Virginia M. Ullman Foundation, Walter and Karla Goldschmidt Foundation, and Ethelyn Cohen.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sydney Ritter | SydneyR@ScottsdaleArts.org | 480-874-4663