Arts Agenda: Highlights of early 2026

January 24

Pianist Gabriela Montero returns to Spivey Hall with Westward, a program featuring extraordinary immigrant composers and anchored by her improvised accompaniment to Charlie Chaplin’s 1917 film, The Immigrant. She’ll perform at 3 p.m. January 24.

January 24-February 1

The SoundNOW Festival gathers some of Atlanta’s premier new music ensembles to perform contemporary classical music. Four ensembles are making their SoudNOW debut: the Atlanta Contemporary Music Collective; Ayres & Graces; the Hera Trio; and the Kruziki + Toulouse Duo. Returning groups include the Atlanta Contemporary Ensemble; Bent Frequency; the Chamber Carte; neoPhonia New Music Ensemble; and Smol ensemble. Performances take place at the Bradley Planetarium at Agnes Scott College, Core Dance Studio in Decatur and Georgia State University’s Kopleff Recital Hall.

January 28-February 22

Atlanta playwright Steve Yockey returns to Theatrical Outfit with the world premiere of Bleeding Hearts, a pitch-black farce about the disappearing middle class and how people forget to put themselves in each other’s shoes. It opens January 28 and runs through February 22.

January 29-March 8

In Girl From the North Country, Conor McPherson daringly transforms the cherished songs of Bob Dylan, weaving them into a tale about a group of restless travelers in a modest boarding house during the Great Depression. It’s being presented by Actor’s Express in partnership with Oglethorpe University Theatre beginning January 29 and continuing through March 8.

January 30-February 1

Ron Funches is an accomplished stand-up comedian, actor and writer with a long list of memorable television roles, including The Goldbergs, Blackish, The New Girl and Bob’s Burgers. You can currently catch him on Loot on Apple TV+. You can also see him at the Helium Comedy Club at 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. January 30; 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. January 31; and 7 p.m. February 1.

February 1-May 17

The Atlanta Contemporary presents two new exhibitions beginning February 1 and continuing through May 17. Unbound Narratives: Embodied Language brings together Bethany Collins, February James, A’Driane Nieves and Gabi Madrid, artists who treat language as something lived, felt and carried within the body. Georgia Women to Watch 2026: A Book Arts Revolution celebrates the book as an artistic medium, showcasing five innovative Georgia artists who are redefining what books can be.

February 4-6

For more than a decade, SCAD TVfest has spotlighted the latest in design, creativity and innovation on television, streaming and digital media. SCAD TVfest takes place at two venues in SCAD Atlanta’s Midtown location from February 4 through February 6.

February 6-May 10

Over the last 50 years, photographer Mimi Plumb has expertly and poignantly captured the evolution of the Western U.S. landscape and the lives of those within it. In her first solo museum exhibition, the High Museum of Art will present three of her major bodies of work in Blazing Light: Photographs by Mimi Plumb, featuring more than 100 photographs captured in and around San Francisco and across the American West. See it at the High beginning February 6 and continuing through May 10.

February 11-15

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre returns returns to the Fox Theatre from February 11 through February 15 with Ailey’s Revelations and Ronald K. Brown’s Grace — along with the world premiere of Jamar Roberts’Song of the Anchorite, danced to jazz trumpeter Avishai Cohen’s interpretation of a Ravel adagio and Fredrick Earl Mosley’s Embrace, set to popular songs by Pink, Stevie Wonder, Ed Sheeran and Kate Bush.

February 13-15

Experience one of ballet’s iconic romantic ghost stories when Atlanta Ballet presents Giselle, the story of a young peasant girl whose world is shattered when she uncovers the shocking betrayal of her beloved Albrecht. Performances are at 8 p.m. February 13; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. February 14; and 2 p.m. February 15 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

February 15

Spend An Evening With Sutton Foster as the Tony and Olivier Award-winning actress, singer and dancer performs at Atlanta Symphony Hall at 7:30 p.m. February 15.

February 18-March 3

In 2026, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival returns to Atlanta area theaters February 18 through March 3 and streaming March 6 through March 15. The Festival begins with an opening night extravaganza at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center featuring the screening of a film yet to be announced. The full lineup will be revealed on January 12 at a special preview at The Temple.

February 20

The innovative Kronos Quartet comes to Kennesaw State University’s Bailey Performance Center at 8 p.m. on February 20.

February 20-21

Leslie Jones is a three-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee as well as a Writers Guild Award and NAACP Award nominee for her work on Saturday Night Live. She has also been honored as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. She’ll perform at City Winery at 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on February 20 and February 21.

February 25-March 2

Beth Hyland’s Fires, Ohio was inspired by Anton Chekhov’s classic Russian tragicomedy Uncle Vanya and will have its world premiere on the Alliance Theatre’s Hertz Stage February 25 through March 2. The play won the 2025 Alliance/Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Prize, the Kennedy Center’s Paula Vogel Award and the Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting.

March 4-5

Lady Gaga’s The Mayhem Ball tour arrives at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena for two shows in March, with a show that expands on the conceptual world introduced at Coachella. See it at 8 p.m. on March 4 and March 5.

March 12-15

Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann, one of the great interpreters of this exalted work, leads a stellar lineup of soloists with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Bach’s immersive Mass in B minor. Performances take place at Symphony Hall at 8 p.m. on March 12 and March 13 and at 3 p.m. on March 15.

March 14-22

The clever servant Figaro fights to marry his true love while outsmarting his amorous and scheming master, who has his own designs on Figaro’s bride-to-be, Susanna, in Mozart’s operatic masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro. The Atlanta Opera production takes the stage at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre at 7:30 p.m. March 14, March 17 and March 20 and at 3 p.m. March 22.