School Matinees
The Mondavi Center is pleased to announce our school matinees for the 2025-26 season!
From Mariachi to a South African youth choir, there’s something new to learn for students of all ages. There will be six in-person school matinees, running between October 2025 and April 2026.
Ruth Rosenberg
Mondavi Center Director of Arts Education and Artist Engagement
How To Buy Tickets
Please fill out the online request form and you will be contacted to arrange payment.
Tickets are $11 for students, $15 for adults (1 adult for each 10 students required)
Ticket Request Form
When the performance you wish to request is sold out, you can join our waitlist:
Purchasing questions? Contact Group Sales Coordinator at 530.754.4658 or email us
Performances
Raiatea Helm: A Legacy of Hawaiian Song & String
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 • 11:00am-Noon
Location: Jackson Hall
Recommended Grades: 4-12
Length: 60 minutes
Two-time Grammy nominee Raiatea Helm, a master of leo ki‘e ki‘e, the art of Hawaiian falsetto, showcases her most recent album, A Legacy of Hawaiian Song and String. Enhanced by the onstage inclusion of musicologist & luthier Kilin Reece, this passionate musical snapshot reflects the stories, poetry, and emotions of Hawai’i’s rich culture. With deep reverence, Helm honors Hawaiian tradition while carrying its bright influence forward.
Mariachi Herencia de México
Monday, October 20, 2025 • 11:00am-Noon
Location: Jackson Hall
Recommended Grades: K-12
Length: 60 minutes
A new generation takes mariachi to entirely new heights as Latin Grammy nominees Mariachi Herencia de México honor tradition while pushing the genre forward. The historic tradition of mariachi music has its roots of origin in cities such as Guadalajara and Mexico City. As the ever-evolving genre’s influence spread, it reached Chicago where Mariachi Herencia de México was formed. With their electrifying sound and reverence for the past, they deliver a celebration of Mexican music and culture.
Words Take Wing
Tuesday, February 24, 2026 • 11:00am-Noon
Location: Jackson Hall
Recommended Grades: 3-8
Length: 60 minutes
Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times Bestselling author whose have sold over one million copies. Her lecture-style presentation aims to showcase the power of storytelling, introduce new worlds and inspire students to create and share their own stories. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together, received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor. Other books include The Ryan Hart series, Some Places More Than Others, and Love is a Revolution. A passion is using the arts to help youth cope with trauma and discuss social issues. Her picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, is based on poetry workshops with children in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Ndlovu Youth Choir
Wednesday, February 25, 2026 • 11:00am-Noon
Location: Jackson Hall
Recommended Grades: K-12
Length: 60 minutes
Hailing from South Africa, the Ndlovu Youth Choir uplifts audiences around the globe with powerhouse vocals, mesmerizing choreography, and infectious energy. The group infuses South African genres with chart-topping hits, moving them into intriguing new territory. A groundbreaking run on TV’s America’s Got Talent earned them praise from Simon Cowell. They strive to push the creative boundaries of song and dance to reach and touch audiences with a message of hope, love and togetherness.
FLIP Fabrique: Blizzard
Monday, March 2, 2026 • 11:00am-Noon
Location: Jackson Hall
Recommended Grades: K-12
Length: 60 minutes
With Blizzard, Cirque FLIP Fabrique, from Quebec City, Canada, takes you on a crazy, poetic and gentle journey in the dead of winter, and invites you to lose yourself in a moment of complete wonder. What if winter has taken over? Not just outside, in the streets and in the fields, but also in the houses, in bedrooms, underneath our clothes, and even right into our hearts. With performers at the peak of their art and outstanding visual poetry, Blizzard promises to blow away everything in its path.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 • 11:00am-Noon
Location: Jackson Hall
Recommended Grades: K-12
Length: 60 minutes
Celebrating over 65 years of unparalleled artistry, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is one of the most acclaimed dance companies in the world. Entering a new era under Artistic Director Alicia Graf Mack, the company continues to be guided by Alvin Ailey’s pioneering legacy by celebrating artistic excellence, unbounded creativity, and the power of art to transform and engage.
California Arts Standards
The California Arts Standards provide guidance toward a common goal: for all California students to fully participate in a rich and well-rounded arts education. The standards are based on the artistic processes of creating; performing/producing/presenting; responding; and connecting. Our school matinees correspond to responding and connecting:
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Responding—Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and Analyze Artistic Work; Standard 8: Interpret Intent and Meaning in Artistic Work; Anchor Standard 9: Apply Criteria to Evaluate Artistic Work
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Connecting—Anchor Standard 10: Synthesize and Relate Knowledge and Personal Experiences to Make Art; Anchor Standard 11: Relate Artistic Ideas and Works with Societal, Cultural, and Historical Context to Deepen Understanding
Common Core Standards
Common Core broadens the definition of a “text,” viewing performance as a form of text, so students are experiencing and interacting with a text when they attend a performance. Seeing live performance provides rich opportunities to write reflections, narratives, arguments etc.
What Students Can Expect
A theatre is a charged space, full of energy and anticipation. When the house lights (the lights that illuminate the audience seating) go down, the excitement level goes up!
By watching attentively, the audience shows respect for the performers. Audience members may feel like laughing if the action on stage is funny, crying if the action is sad, or sighing if something is seen or heard that is beautiful. Sometimes the audience will clap during a performance, as after a featured solo.
Applause is the best way for audience members to share their enthusiasm and to show their appreciation for the performers. Applaud at the end of a performance!
Please note that food and drinks are not permitted in the theatre during a performance.
Contact Us
Ruth Rosenberg
Director of Arts Education and Artist Engagement
rrosenberg@ucdavis.edu
530.752.6113
School Matinee Ticket questions:
Madi Miguel
Group Sales Coordinator
mcgrouptickets@ou.ad3.ucdavis.edu
530.754.4658
Other School Matinee questions:
Jennifer Mast
Business Services and Arts Education Coordinator
jmmast@ucdavis.edu
530.754.5431
Thank you to our Arts Education Sponsors
Les and Mary Stephens Dewall
MC Friends K-12 Arts Education Fund