Leonard Pelkey, The Half-Finished Heaven Bookend Spring Performing Arts Schedule

Pacific University’s Spring 2026 performing arts schedule provides something for everyone, beginning with a pair of theatre performances and closing with the premiere of a cycle of songs based on the works of Swedish poet and Nobel laureate Tomas Tranströmer.  

Pacific’s Theatre Department opens the season with two plays at the Tom Miles Theatre. The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, a student-led production directed by Madison Stevens ’26, runs Feb. 6 and 7. That is followed by Galatea, written by Oregon playwright MJ Kaufman, running March 12 to 15.

Pacific’s music and dance ensembles take to the stage in April and May. The university’s band programs present the spring Symphonic Band Concert on Friday, Apr. 3, and Jazz Nite on Friday, Apr. 17. Pacific’s choral programs perform on Saturday, Apr. 18, and the Pacific University Philharmonic Orchestra performs on Friday, May 2. The Pacific Dance Ensemble headlines the Dance Department’s annual Spring Dance Works from Apr. 23 to 25.

The season ends on Saturday, May 2, with Pacific’s choirs presenting the world premiere of The Half-Finished Heaven, settings of the poems of Tranströmer composed by Pacific Assistant Professor of Math Timmy Brown.

All Music Department performances take place at 7:30 p.m. in McCready Hall in the Taylor-Meade Performing Arts Center on Pacific’s Forest Grove Campus. General admission tickets for all concerts are $10. Seniors, military members and non-Pacific University students are $7. Pacific students, faculty and staff are admitted free. 

Admission for theatre performances, which take place in the Tom Miles Theatre on the Forest Grove Campus, is $8 for general admission and free for Pacific students. For all events, tickets must be purchased in advance online. 

Feb. 6 & 7 | The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey
7:30 p.m. 
Join the Pacific University Theatre Department for The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, written by James Lecesen and directed by Madison Stevens ’26. Leonard Pelkey is a tenaciously optimistic 14-year-old boy — and he’s missing. Digging deeper into Leonard’s life, one New Jersey detective must follow clues that lead him to unexpected places and show him how one boy’s bravery can light the way toward truth.

Mar. 12-15 | Galatea
March 12- 14 at 7:30 p.m., Mar. 15 at 2 p.m.
Facing climate disaster and other looming perils in their village, two young people escape a virgin sacrifice by dressing up as boys and running away to the nearby woods. This comedy of inconvenient love, loosely based on John Lyly’s 1985 play, Gallatea, was written by Oregon playwright MJ Kaufman and is directed by guest artist Christine Freije.

Friday, Apr. 3 | Spring Symphonic Band Concert 
Under the direction of Abbie Brown, the Pacific University Symphonic Band will present its spring program, “The Suite Life.” The centerpiece of the program is Gustav Holst’s Second Suite in F, a masterwork for bands. The program will also feature music designed to evoke leading a sweet life, including Mother Earth Fanfare by David Maslanka, Adoration by Florence Price, Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs by Frank Ticheli, Sweet Like That by Christopher Theofanids, One Life Beautiful by Julie Girox, and Halcyon Hearts by Katahj Copley.

Friday, Apr. 17 | Jazz Nite 
Presented by the Pacific University Jazz Band, Jazz Nite will feature standards from prominent composers in jazz, including Gordon Goodwin, Duke Ellington, Pat Matheny and Sammy Nestico. The concert will also feature works by rising composers like Michelle Fernandez, Toschi Clinch and Paul Baker. Along with funk, rock and Latin-inspired works, the concert will also feature vocalists Cait Wilson ’27 and Sydney Timm ’27.

Saturday, Apr. 18 | Spring Choral Concert
Under the direction of Katy Green, Pacific’s choirs unite in concert to present Elaine Hagenberg’s large work, Illuminare, with chamber orchestra. Set in Latin, Greek and English, this five-movement journey carries listeners through beauty, disruption, and darkness toward the return of light and hope. The concert also includes Mozart’s Litanie Lauretanae, K. 109, featuring the Chamber Singers with strings, organ and student soloists.

Apr. 23-25 | Spring Dance Works
Apr. 23 & 24 at 7:30 p.m., Apr. 25 at 2 p.m. 
Pacific University’s Dance Department celebrates the spring with its annual Spring Dance Works concert in the Tom Miles Theatre. Join us as alumna Victoria Perez ’19 returns to complete her residency as guest choreographer, setting a new work for the university’s dance company, the Pacific Dance Ensemble.

Friday, May 1 | Spring Philharmonic Orchestra Concert 
Under the direction of Dijana Ihas, the Pacific University Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a program of works by Béla Bartók, Maurice Ravel, Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert. The evening will also feature a performance by Elena Harschanko, a talented young cellist from Salem.

Saturday, May 2 | The Half-Finished Heaven 
Pacific’s choirs, baritone soloist Adrian Rosales, and collaborative pianist Cessaries Galusha will present the world premiere of The Half-Finished Heaven, settings of poems by Tomas Tranströmer composed by Pacific Assistant Professor of Math Timmy Brown. The song cycle highlights not only Tranströmer’s modernist poetry, but draws inspiration from the challenges he faced as he continued to write after suffering a stroke in 1990.