What does a Saturday night at 735 Anderson Hill Road cost? On November 21, the Joshua Redman Quartet plays the Concert Hall at The Performing Arts Center, with seats from $21.75 to $82 plus fees. That same evening, a short walk across the Purchase College campus, Purchase Opera performs Così fan tutte for $15, or $7 for seniors and students.
Two calendars share this campus. The PAC's touring season is the one with banners and a new logo this fall. The other comes from the college's conservatories of music, theater and dance. Those shows run in the same buildings, often on the same nights, and many cost less than a movie ticket. For anyone in Harrison, Purchase or West Harrison, the best late-fall plan on campus uses both.
November 21 Shows How the Two Calendars Overlap
No single day this fall makes the point better. Here is everything on campus that Saturday:
| Time | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noon to 5 p.m. | Neuberger Museum of Art galleries | Museum, South Arcade | Free |
| 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. | R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), Purchase Repertory Theatre | PAC Abbot Kaplan Repertory Theatre | $5 to $30 plus fees |
| 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. | Fall Dance Concert, Conservatory of Dance | Performing Arts Center | Tickets through the PAC |
| 7 p.m. | Così fan tutte, Purchase Opera | Music Building Recital Hall | $15; $7 seniors and students |
| 7:30 p.m. | Joshua Redman Quartet | PAC Concert Hall | $21.75 to $82 plus fees |
That makes five things to do at once. Only one of them is a touring headliner, and its cheapest seat costs about the same as the most expensive R.U.R. ticket. The Redman checkout also adds a $2.50 administrative fee and a sliding-scale processing fee on top of the seat price.
It's the same campus and the same evening. The difference is who's on stage. The PAC describes its 2026–27 season as one that pairs students with visiting professionals across music, dance, theater and film, so the two calendars run alongside each other by design.
The Same Pattern Runs on November 7
Two Saturdays earlier, the setup repeats. Black Violin brings The Be Free Tour to the PAC at 7:30 p.m. The center lists the classical-meets-hip-hop duo under its family genre as well as music.
On the same day, the Music Building Recital Hall hosts Day of Percussion. It runs all day, it's free and it doesn't need a ticket, though the schedule was still listed as to be announced. The Conservatory of Theatre Arts closes its run of Deep Blue Sound that day too, with shows at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. in the CMFT Performance Theatre. Tickets cost $5 to $15 plus processing fees.
Earlier that week, Deep Blue Sound plays Wednesday, November 4, at 7:30 p.m. The Neuberger holds its First Wednesday program the same day. The next night, Music & Technology Live! fills the PAC's PepsiCo Theatre from 7 to 9 p.m. It's free, there are no tickets and seats go first come, first served.
The headliner on November 14 is The Hip Hop Nutcracker at 7 p.m., a family holiday dance show. Even that week has a student counterpart, because R.U.R. opens the night before, on November 13.
The Free Museum Fits Between a Matinee and a Night Show
The Neuberger Museum of Art makes a full day on campus easy to plan. It's open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., and admission is currently free for all visitors. Those hours line up with the matinees. On November 21 you can see the 1:30 R.U.R., walk the galleries until closing, and still make a 7 or 7:30 curtain.
Three exhibitions are on view this fall, and all three close on Sunday, December 20:
- The Declaration Distributed: Westchester County's Holt Broadside of 1776, on view since July 4
- Guerrilla Girls: Food for Thought, on view since April 1
- Guerrilla Girls Complaints Department, on view since July 2
The ongoing collection show, Then and Now: Selections from the Collection, continues past that date.
The museum also has a program calendar. There's a sound bath on November 11. On November 12, the artist Dread Scott gives the Yaseen Lecture. The NEU Vitality Arts program has its culminating event on November 18. December 2 brings a drop-in tour of the Guerrilla Girls shows, a meditative drawing session and another First Wednesday. The events page doesn't list prices for these, so check each listing before you go.
Early December Is When the Student Calendar Gets Busiest
As the semester ends, the student calendar takes over. Here is the run from November 30 to December 6:
- November 30, 7 p.m.: Purchase Chorus, Music Building Recital Hall, $15 general admission and $7 for seniors and students
- December 1, 7:30 p.m.: Purchase Latin Jazz Orchestra, Music Building Choral Hall, same pricing
- December 2, 6:30 p.m.: Chamber Music, Music Building Recital Hall, free with no ticket needed
- December 2 to 5: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, CMFT Performance Theatre, $5
- December 5 and 6: New Plays Now, Humanities Theatre, free with a suggested $10 contribution
The PAC answers that same weekend with Songs of the Spirit: A Concert for Peace on December 5 at 7:30 p.m. and December 6 at 3 p.m. Its Holiday Village & Craft Fair runs from noon to 8 p.m. both days. So on December 5 you could shop the craft fair in the afternoon, catch a $5 Arturo Ui and still have the concert as an option. On Sunday, New Plays Now is on the same day as the 3 p.m. Songs of the Spirit matinee.
The Westchester Philharmonic finishes the PAC's calendar year. It plays Inspiration Point on December 13 at 3 p.m., then The Rob Mathes Holiday Concert on December 19 at 8 p.m. and December 20 at 3 p.m. That Sunday matinee falls on the last day of all three Neuberger exhibitions, so one visit to campus can cover both.
What Parking Adds to the Bill
Parking costs the same whichever calendar you're there for. Purchase lists visitor rates of $3 for one hour, $7 for three hours and $15 for a 12-hour pass. West 1 is the general visitor lot. The Neuberger's directions send visitors to West 1 and to a pay station near the PAC, beside the accessible parking spaces. Print your receipt and leave it face up on the dashboard.
On a cheap night, parking can cost more than the show. The 90-minute Chamber Music set on December 2 is free, but a stay longer than an hour moves you to the $7 three-hour rate. A day like November 21, with a matinee, the museum and an evening show, fits in the $15 pass. The college also sells a community-member permit for $30 a year, which is the price of two 12-hour passes.
PAC tickets are sold online. In mid-October the center posted a notice that its phone lines were down during a change of phone provider.
One Week on Campus, Mixing Both Calendars
This plan starts tomorrow, Friday, October 30, and uses both calendars:
- Friday, October 30: Ballet Hispánico's CARMEN.maquia at the PAC at 7:30 p.m. The Rocky Horror Picture Show starts the same night at 10 p.m. if you'd rather go late on Halloween eve.
- Wednesday, November 4: an afternoon at the Neuberger, then Deep Blue Sound at 7:30 p.m. for $5 to $15.
- Thursday, November 5: Music & Technology Live! in the PepsiCo Theatre. It's free, so arrive early for a seat.
- Saturday, November 7: drop in on Day of Percussion during the day, then see Black Violin at 7:30 p.m.
That's four outings in nine days, and only two of them need a PAC headliner ticket.
If seeing how much is going on near Anderson Hill Road has you thinking about life on this side of Harrison, Gino Bello Homes is happy to talk it through. Request a free home valuation and market consultation, and we'll show you how homes near Purchase are pricing this season.
