For 73 years, the Danville Concert Association has organized musical and performing arts events in the city to increase local access to the arts, which is becoming more important for Danville’s future, its president said.
The association’s upcoming season starts Saturday with the award-winning Kruger Brothers, followed by an October stop by the Ailey II dance group and an April appearance by the Dallas String Quartet.
Kristen Barker, the organization’s president, said she believes the diverse lineup will appeal to the broader community. Arts and culture and quality of life amenities are important parts of economic growth, which isn’t slowing down in the Danville region, she said.
“If you don’t have those amenities and activities for families, they’re going to work in Danville and live somewhere else,” Barker said in a phone interview. “It’s our goal to provide the life experiences they’re looking for. And when businesses are considering bringing their companies to Danville, they ask what’s available for families that are going to move here.”
The performances also appeal to visitors, she said.
Last year’s performances were intentionally promoted beyond Danville to Central Virginia and North Carolina, to bring in audience members from outside of the region, according to the association’s most recent impact report.
The 2025-26 season distributed over 200 free tickets to students across all three of its performances, which made the performances more accessible to audiences, the report said.
“We know that these events will bring people into your hotels, into your restaurants, into your businesses, and so just the event itself can offer the conduit to the exposure,” she said. “But then once they’re there, then they’re going to find other things about the city of Danville that drive an interest beyond just the event that they’ve attended.”
As the oldest continuously operating performing arts nonprofit in the city, the Danville Concert Association has hosted a wide variety of events, Barker said.
“Traditionally, performances were very focused in the classical music genre,” she said. “A lot of symphonies, quintets, those types of performances. But in the last several years, we have expanded the programming to include a variety of genres of performing arts.”
This still includes classical performers, but there are also musical theater, ballet and contemporary dance performances, she said.
“Broadening our programming engages a larger portion of our community,” Barker said. “Danville’s been really fortunate to experience an economic renaissance, and with bringing these businesses to the region, we have to provide a quality of life for the families in order for them to stay.”
The Kruger Brothers show is set for 7 p.m. at the Community Market. The bluegrass and Americana trio is a member of the Blue Ridge Musical Hall of Fame and the International Banjo Hall of Fame.
The band is led by brothers Jens and Uwe Kruger, who grew up in Europe and moved to North Carolina in 2002. The brothers play the banjo and guitar, respectively, alongside bassist Joel Landsberg.
“They are a bluegrass folk storytelling performance, and they have a strong following,” Barker said. “They’re very fun because they bring their background and stories from their trips around the world, and they’re a very entertaining performance.”
Ailey II, the second company of New York City’s Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, will appear on Oct. 8. That show will be at 7 p.m. at George Washington High School. It will be the first time in the Danville area for the theater, founded in 1947. Ailey II is a group of early-career dancers alongside both emerging and established choreographers.
The final show of the season will be Friday, April 16, at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, featuring the Dallas String Quartet, which uses classical string instruments to play modern music.
“They will be the next performer featured in the next Bridgerton series,” Barker said. “They played for Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani’s wedding, they’ve played for presidents at the White House, and they bring a really fun, dynamic performance, bringing those familiar pieces with a classical spin.”
Part of the association’s mission is to bring educational opportunities about the arts to local students, so each performing group is required to do community outreach pieces while they’re in town.
The Kruger Brothers are hosting a masterclass on music composition, storytelling and arrangements with students, to teach “how bluegrass can have an origin in classical music as well,” Barker said.
The Alvin Ailey group will host a free masterclass for student dancers in the area, as well as dance educators, through the local Meredith Gravelly School of Dance.
And the Dallas String Quartet will engage with local orchestra and band students by sending them a piece of music ahead of time to become familiar with and then rehearsing it with them.
“Then they’ll actually have the opportunity to perform with the Dallas String Quartet,” Barker said.
These are incredible opportunities for local students, said Barker, who has been president of the association for about three years.
The performances themselves are also good opportunities for the community to engage with the arts right in their hometown.
“Some of our patrons do have the opportunity to travel outside of Danville and go see concerts and other performing arts events,” Barker said. “However, we have a great portion of our community that do not have that privilege, so it’s our goal to create access to attend these events.”
The association, which is led by an all-volunteer board, is working to advertise the performances ahead of the season and make ticket prices affordable, Barker said.
“I want to stress the importance of Danville and the region showing up for these events. You can’t say that you, you know, is something that you want or Danville needs, and then not come out and support it,” she said. “People are always disappointed when they find out about a performance after the fact.”
Ticket information and performance details can be found online at the Danville Concert Association’s website. Tickets are available now for all three performances.
