Words and Images Courtesy of the Virginia Arts Festival
THE CONCERT TRUCK
May 3-6, 2023
Locations around South Hampton Roads
The Concert Truck returns to the Virginia Arts Festival in 2023! These free outdoor concerts will take place across South Hampton Roads – Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. Dates, times and locations for this year’s performances are as follows: Wednesday, May 3, 6:00 pm Red Wing Park 1398 General Booth Boulevard, Virginia Beach
Thursday, May 4, 6:00 pm Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center
400 High Street, Portsmouth
Friday, May 5, 6:00 pm Mount Trashmore Park 310 Edwin Drive, Virginia Beach
Saturday, May 6, 2:00 pm Johnson Park 1006 Grady Street, Chesapeake
Saturday, May 6, 6:00 pm
The Plot
776 Granby Street, Norfolk
About The Concert Truck The Concert Truck is a mobile music venue that strengthens communities by redefining the concert experience and making music accessible to all. We engage diverse communities and audiences with thoughtful, timely programming and help build a critical presence in the community for the organizations with whom we collaborate.
Impassioned by their love for music and belief in its emotional power, pianists Nick Luby and Susan Zhang converted a 16-foot box truck into a fully functioning mobile concert hall, complete with lights, sound system, and piano. Since then, The Concert Truck has presented concerts across the country in city streets, music and arts festivals, schools, neighborhoods, parks... anywhere you can think to park a truck. Nick, Susan, and the Truck have been featured by Voice of America – VOA, Minnesota Public Radio, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, WYPR Maryland, and many local TV news stations and online publications and syndicates. In addition to sharing original programming with local communities, The Concert Truck strengthens relationships between arts organizations and the communities they serve. In the Fall 2020 season, The Concert Truck partnered with the Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera, University of South Carolina, Southeastern Piano Festival, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra to deliver great music to their local communities. Additionally, The Concert Truck created an online children’s show in partnership with the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival that has been presented to over 40,000 students in North Carolina schools. Other past presenters include Minnesota Public Radio and the Smithsonian.
The Concert Truck launched in April 2016, giving eight performances in five days throughout the city of Columbia, SC. It has received awards, fellowships, and grants for social innovation and creativity in music.
About Virginia Arts Festival The Virginia Arts Festival celebrates its 26th Anniversary in 2023. The largest performing arts organization in southeastern Virginia, Virginia Arts Festival has transformed the region's cultural scene, presenting great performers from around the world and making this historic region a cultural destination for visitors from across the United States and around the world. In 2019 the Festival welcomed visitors from 47 states, the District of Columbia, and 12 foreign countries. Each season, the Festival presents over 250 performances, free community events, student matinees, and workshops, with an annual attendance of over 110,000. Millions more are reached through international broadcasts of Festival performances on American Public Media’s Performance Today, nationally on PBS TV, and regionally on WHRO TV. Over 32% of ticket sales come from outside the region, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to local museums and attractions and filling regional hotels and restaurants. Estimated annual economic impact of the Festival exceeds $25 million.
The Festival's artistic leadership includes Grammy Award-winning percussionist Robert W. Cross, Executive Director and the Perry Artistic Director; Van Cliburn Gold Medal-awarded pianist Olga Kern, the Connie and Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music; and Tony award-winning Broadway music director Rob Fisher, the Goode Family Artistic Advisor for Musical Theater and American Songbook.