Artist Series Season Tickets on Sale August 26
The 2026-2027 season promises to be an exciting line-up of great entertainment celebrating America 250 with an exciting line-up for all ages. Our season celebrates the American sound with a celebration of home, community and country opening September 22, 2026 with local country music legend BILLY DEAN’s 90 Minutes of 90’s Country. A Grammy-nominated country singer-songwriter known for hits like “Billy the Kid,” “Only Here for a Little While,” and “Somewhere in My Broken Heart,” Dean has over 35 years in music and eight Top 5 singles. He remains a respected voice in country music.
Dean grew up in the small town of Quincy, Fla., starting his music career by singing in his dad’s band, The Country Rocks. His first big break came in 1988 when he appeared on the Ed McMahon-hosted Star Search, winning Best Male Vocalist. His first album, Young Man in 1990 became Dean’s first certified Gold record, with the single Somewhere in My Broken Heart honored as the American Country Music Awards’ 1992 Song of the Year and Dean earning Top New Male Vocalist of the Year. Some of his other Billboard-charting singles include You Don’t Count the Cost, Only the Wind, I Miss Billy the Kid, If There Hadn’t Been You, Tryin’ to Hide a Fire in the Dark, I Wanna Take Care of You and I’m Not Built That Way. Dean has performed and toured with country-music icons such as Kenny Rogers, Clint Black, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, the Judds, Wynonna Judd and others.
Billy Dean is an American Troubadour who has mastered the art of singing, songwriting, and storytelling. His unique ability to morph into the characters in his songs while performing live, brings the storyline to life with musical drama. Learn more at billydean.com
Celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence with ZODIAC TRIO, American 250!, exploring the American sound on October 22, 2026. Celebrating nearly 20 years together, the Zodiac Trio, a clarinet–violin–piano ensemble, —formed at the Manhattan School of Music and later studying with the Ysaÿe Quartet in Paris—has given hundreds of performances worldwide, released four albums, and commissioned over 25 new works. Their repertoire ranges from contemporary commissions to audience favorites like Márquez’s Danzón No. 2. The trio’s latest album, The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise—currently on the ballot for a Grammy Award—recently received a 5-star review in Fanfare Magazine, where critic Ken Meltzer wrote: “The Zodiac Trio plays all the works with a palpable joy, razor-sharp execution, technical brilliance, and complete identification with the works’ popular elements.”
This year, the ensemble celebrates the 250th anniversary with a special program, American 250! The program features George Gershwin’s iconic An American in Paris, Peter Schickele’s playful Serenade for Three, and selections from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. The concert also pays special homage to jazz legend Benny Goodman with beloved standards including Night & Day and In a Sentimental Mood.
In addition, the Trio will honor American composers who wove their own cultural influences into the tapestry of American music, highlighted by the late Paul Schoenfield’s klezmer-inspired Trio for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano. Learn more at www.zodiactrio.com.
The season rounds out with an electrifying retrospective stage show celebrating the golden age of Rock & Roll on March 17, 2027 with SHAKE BABY SHAKE. The show stars piano phenomenon Lance Lipinsky, renowned for his role headlining in over 2500 shows of the Tony Award-winning musical Million Dollar Quartet, and features his dynamic showband - The Lovers - and the dazzling Lovettes vocalists, who have appeared on PBS’s Doo-Wop Generations and are endorsed by The Shirelles and The Chiffons. Blending concert performance with a historical journey, Shake Baby Shake showcases the melting pot of styles that shaped pop music’s most innovative decades.
The show delivers iconic hits of the early 1950s to the mid-1960s from artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Elvis, Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, and more! Influenced by the mid century birth of Rock & Roll era, Lipinsky preserves the timeless tradition of the Rockabilly subculture as a songwriter and as an entertainer with classic show stopping boogie woogie piano antics. Lipinsky recorded his debut album "Roll" at historic Sun Studios in Memphis and is the winner of the 2017 Ameripolitan Award for Roots Music and Rock and Rock! Learn more at www.shakebabyshake.com
Season tickets go on sale Aug. 26. Season tickets—$50—are a bargain price when compared to sister institutions where prices are double or triple this amount. Season ticket holders receive reserved seating renewal privileges for the next season. Patrons who are renewing their season tickets may contact the Box Office beginning Aug. 26.
Single event ticket prices this year are $20 for adults, $10 for children under 18, and $5 for Chipola students and employees. Single event tickets go on sale Aug. 26.
For more information, call the Center for the Arts Box Office at 850-718-2420 or visit www.chipola.edu/boxoffice. The Box Office will open for the Fall Semester on Wednesday, Aug. 26. Box Office hours are Monday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. The Box Office is closed on Fridays and all college holidays.