Matt Marshall is a film lecturer, screenwriter, composer, and accompanist. He teaches Cinema as Art and Screenwriting at the University of Virginia and Film Appreciation for Piedmont Virginia Community College’s Prison Education Program. He has been composing and performing live music to classic silent films for over 20 years with the Virginia Film Festival and other venues throughout the Commonwealth.
The Virginia Theatre Festival’s 2026 season will open on Saturday, June 20 with the melodramatic madcap romp, Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty. VTF’s 52nd season runs through July 26 and will also feature the Tony Award-winning musical Disney’s Newsies and Frida…A Self Portrait, a one-woman show that explores and celebrates the life, art, and enduring legacy of legendary artist and cultural icon Frida Kahlo. The Virginia Theatre Festival is a program of the University of Virginia, with support from the Office of the Provost, Vice Provost for the Arts, College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Drama, and The Caplin Foundation.
The idea was simple but ambitious: stage an “ABCs” exhibition spotlighting UVA Library collections, entirely curated by Library staff. The exhibition would showcase the breadth of the Library’s holdings, and also serve as a welcome for new University Librarian and Dean of Libraries Leo Lo, who was set to begin at UVA just days before the opening.
Brett Goerl is pursuing psychiatry with a camera in hand. Goerl, currently a student in both the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine and its Darden School of Business, created a photographic exhibit, “Figuring the Sublime,” on display in the UVA Health University Medical Center’s main lobby through March 12, one of six art displays scheduled for 2026.
The 1978 mystery film “Death on the Nile” is based on a novel by the famous British writer Agatha Christie, featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and set in Egypt. So how did a University of Virginia School of Law diploma end up on one character’s office wall? When UVA Today received the question from Mary Farsetta, a quality improvement coordinator in the Heart and Vascular Center at UVA Health, we knew we had to take a crack at it.
In late January 2021, nearly 800 million shares of video game retailer GameStop changed hands as amateur investors inspired by the WallStreetBets subreddit snatched up its stock, sending prices soaring by as much as 51%. That “short squeeze” – in which the amateur investors targeted hedge fund managers who were betting financially against the flagging retailer – is the inspiration for a novel by University of Virginia alumnus Frank Hamlin.
Spring is a time of renewal — more specifically, a time to visit one of Charlottesville’s many offerings to reignite an old artistic passion or explore a new one. The Charlottesville area is home to many affordable arts events, varying from orchestra performances to drag shows. Here are six upcoming arts events in the area from January through March for those looking to get in touch with the creative side of the community.
The Incident, Amuse Bouche and The Whethermen joined forces Friday in Warner Hall for their semesterly tradition — a free, three-group comedy show. Aptly titling the show “Good Things Come in Threes,” the three groups each brought their own unique humor to the performance over a hilarious evening.
Phaeton Gallery Presents Near and Dear: Familiar Objects and Distant Landscapes Featuring Tori Cherry and Brittany Fan Opening Reception: Friday, February 6, 5:00–8:00 PM | Artist Talk at 6:00 PM Phaeton Gallery, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, VA.
WTJU’s volunteer hosts are curating a Folk music mecca, running February 2 – 9, all to raise money for your favorite non-commercial radio station as it continues to find its footing after federal funding cuts. Your support continues to be more important than ever.
Soundscape Architecture, a new book co-authored by former UVA School of Architecture Dean Karen Van Lengen, explores how architecture and art can enhance listening as a social and political act. “When we listen, we begin the first act of engagement and communication with others,” writes Van Lengen. “Listening is also critical when we consider our local natural habitats, and it can remind us, in a particularly visceral way, of the fragility of our lived environments, increasingly stressed by climate change. We ask, therefore, how the act of intentional listening can prompt us to engage more fully in the world and with the people in it; and how architecture and urban design can encourage this type of engagement.”
Originating as a form of festive courtly entertainment in 16th-century Europe, masques contain music, dancing, singing, acting, and allegory. The Death of Dido: An English Masque features an Italianate musical score by Johann Pepusch with an English libretto by Barton Booth, employing the same section of Virgil’s Aeneid as Henry Purcell’s famous 1689 opera Dido and Aeneas. Arias and instrumental music from English theatrical works by Purcell and his contemporaries precede the masque, introducing the audience to the characters and setting the scene for the infamous tale to unfold. Advance registration required. Free, 7:30pm. The Rotunda at UVA, 1826 University Ave. earlymusiccville.org
