Stanford Live was founded as Stanford Lively Arts in 1969 as the performing arts presenter at Stanford University. We present up to 150 performances each season on the Stanford campus featuring classical, jazz, and world music, dance, theater, and multimedia. We also present an outdoor summer concert season with genres from classical to hip-hop.

Our seasons are guided by unifying themes such as “Art and Politics.” We present some of the world’s leading performing artists, along with regional, national, and world premieres each year. We also present dozens of free community and campus engagement events each season featuring visiting and local artists, Stanford faculty and guest scholars. These programs increase access to the arts and offer insights into the artists and works we present.

Our K-12 education and community engagement programs include student matinees; professional development workshops for teachers; interactive workshops, artist talks and performances on campus and at community partner sites; and an artists-in-schools program in nearby East Palo Alto.

We primarily serve the communities of Silicon Valley, with 82.5% of our audiences from the Peninsula and South Bay regions. Among other audience members, about 5% each come from San Francisco, the East Bay (Berkeley/Oakland), and locations outside California, and the remaining 3% are from areas in California outside our immediate region.

In January 2013 we opened Bing Concert Hall, an 842-seat, state-of-the-art space. The hall has become a vital Bay Area resource, acclaimed for its extraordinary acoustics, stunning architecture, and intimate audience experience. In summer 2019 we reopened Stanford’s renovated 8,000-seat Frost Amphitheater, adding an outdoor summer season to become a year-round presenter.