Festival of the Arts Boca will open its 21st season on Friday, March 5, 2027, with the world premiere of a symphonic Billy Joel program at the Mizner Park Amphitheater in downtown Boca Raton, the first of ten consecutive nights of concerts, dance, film music and talks running through Sunday, March 14. Tickets go on sale Nov. 1.

A Billy Joel premiere on opening night

The season starts at 7:30 p.m. on March 5 with Uptown Classics: Songs of Billy Joel, a new concert built on orchestral arrangements by Grammy winner Jeff Tyzik. Vocalist and pianist Paul Loren sits at the keyboard in front of the Festival Orchestra. The set list on the festival's event page runs from Uptown Girl, Movin' Out and Only the Good Die Young to New York State of Mind, Vienna, She's Always a Woman and And So It Goes, and closes the loop with Piano Man. The festival is billing the evening as a world premiere, so Boca Raton audiences will be the first to hear this version of the songbook.

Venice to Buenos Aires in one weekend

The opening weekend is built as a pair. On Saturday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m., violinist sisters Hina and Fiona Khuong-Huu join Festival Orchestra Boca, led by conductor Rei Hotoda, for Vivaldi's The Four Seasons alongside Astor Piazzolla's The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Hina Khuong-Huu last played the festival in 2023, when she performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto; this time she shares the stage with her sister, with whom she recorded the album Dear to Us.

Sunday, March 7, at 7 p.m. moves fully into Argentina. Social Tango Project, created by choreographer Agustina Videla, brings ten dancers and five live musicians, with projected film behind them. The evening opens with Argentine food and a tango class for anyone in the audience who wants to try a few steps before the show.

Four weeknights of Authors and Ideas

From Monday through Thursday, the festival's Authors and Ideas series moves indoors to The Studio, the black box theater inside the Cultural Arts Center at the southwest end of Mizner Park, which seats up to 350. All four talks begin at 7 p.m.

On March 8, longtime technology executive Pete Martinez, joined by engineer Robert Cancio, talks about how artificial intelligence is being put to work in medicine, including genomics and research into rare genetic diseases, and how patients can use it in their own care. On March 9, novelist Lauren Groff speaks on why art matters in hard times, drawing on poets and writers from Czeslaw Milosz to George Eliot. On March 10, author Porter Knight presents a practical, science-based talk on the brain and happiness, including her own Happiness Equation. On March 11, Cindy Cohn, author of Privacy's Defender, discusses digital privacy and how much of daily life online can still stay private.

The series has been part of the festival for 20 years and has brought speakers such as Thomas Friedman, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Salman Rushdie to Boca Raton. Speakers often also visit area schools during festival week to meet with students.

A cappella, John Williams and a closing ballet

The second weekend returns to the amphitheater. On Friday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m., the Central Florida a cappella group Voctave sings Broadway and Disney songs in The Corner of Broadway and Main.

On Saturday, March 13, at 7:30 p.m., Maestro of the Movies marks John Williams' 95th birthday year. Scott Terrell conducts Festival Orchestra Boca through music from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Jaws and Jurassic Park, while more than 50 minutes of edited film scenes play on the big screen above the stage.

The season ends on Sunday, March 14, at 7 p.m. with A Night at the Ballet, presented by Live Arts Global. The program moves from classical pieces to contemporary choreography, with artists listed including Christine Shevchenko and Melanie Hamrick.

Twenty-one seasons at Mizner Park

Festival of the Arts Boca was founded in 2007 to bring music, dance and ideas to residents of Boca Raton, Palm Beach County and the rest of South Florida. Its March performances take place under the festival tent at the Mizner Park Amphitheater, at the north end of Mizner Park next to the Boca Raton Museum of Art. The amphitheater sits on the east side of Federal Highway between Palmetto Park Road and Glades Road; from Interstate 95, take the Glades Road exit east, turn right on Federal Highway and drive about half a mile south.

How to get tickets

Tickets for all ten nights go on sale Sunday, Nov. 1, through the Get Tickets buttons on each event page at festivalboca.org or by calling the festival box office at 561-757-4762. The full calendar, with descriptions of every concert and talk, is posted on the festival's events page now, and the festival's email list sends notice when sales open.

  • What: Festival of the Arts Boca, 21st season
  • When: March 5 to 14, 2027; amphitheater concerts at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays; talks at 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday
  • Where: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton, and The Studio at the Cultural Arts Center in Mizner Park
  • Tickets: On sale Nov. 1 at festivalboca.org or 561-757-4762

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