Fall 2026 Auditions

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This year, the Fall 2026 USF Music Showcase will be in the newly renovated Presentation Theater, where our new Steinway grand piano is housed! 

This is your chance to share your talent with the USF community, whether you’re a soloist, ensemble member, composer, vocalist, DJ, or instrumentalist. All genres are welcome - classical, jazz, pop, rock, musical theatre, electronics, original works, covers, and more! The performance will be professionally sound engineered, videographed, and photographed.

Audition Details
Date: Tuesday, September 1st
Time: 5:30-8:30 PM
Location: Studio Theater (LM 148)
Deadline to Submit: Saturday, August 29 via Google Form

Audition Guidelines

  • Prepare one piece/song (recommended 2-5 minutes)
  • Rehearsals scheduled based on student availability
  • Video auditions accepted (pending schedule/availability)

Required Dates for Performers:

  • Wed, Nov 11 - Individual Techs | 6:30-10:00 PM
  • Thu, Nov 12 - Dress Rehearsal | 6:30-10:00 PM
  • Fri, Nov 13 - SHOW | 8:00 PM (call time: 6:30)

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Giacomo Fiore at gfiore@usfca.edu or Dr. Thomas Kurtz at tkurtz@usfca.edu

Join us for Fall 2026 Auditions! 

Date: Thursday, September 3rd
Time: 6:30 - 9:00 pm
Location: KGallagher Dance Studio, Koret Center

Audition Guidelines

  • Arrive by 6 pm to register
  • Dress in comfortable clothing
  • There will be a group warm-up, followed by approximately 20 min working with each choreographer (you do not need to prepare anything in advance)

Questions, please contact Eli Nelson: esnelson@usfca.edu

Kristin Damrow is a San Francisco-based choreographer, dance educator, and producer. She holds a B.A. in Dance from Columbia College Chicago and founded Kristin Damrow & Company (KDC) in 2013. Her work, recognized with multiple award nominations, integrates movement, sound, and scenic design into highly physical, experiential performances. Kristin will create a high energy contemporary piece.

Rehearsals: Fridays 12:30-2:30 p.m., Kathi Gallagher Dance Studio

Amber Julian is an Afro-Indigenous performance artist, choreographer, educator, and director of Onyx Dance Company. Her work integrates hip hop, house, spoken word, and storytelling, bridging culture, history, and performance. She empowers dancers to find their voice, using movement to engage real-world issues with honesty and intention, rooted in community and care. Amber will be choreographing a hip hop spoken word piece with USF dancers and Onyx Dance Company members

Rehearsals: Wednesdays 7:00-9:00 p.m., Kathi Gallagher Dance Studio

Eli Nelson is a composer, choreographer, multi-instrumentalist & educator. At UCR, Eli studied with Susan Foster, Richard Bull, Cynthia Novak, Bill T. Jones, & Fred Strickler. As a dancer, he’s performed with Heidi Duckler’s Collage Dance Theater and Lizz Roman & Dancers. He was on faculty at SFCD until its closure. He has been at USF since 2003. Eli will be creating a piece with USF students and the intergenerational performance company the Dance Generators.

Rehearsals: Wednesdays 6:30-8:30 p.m., ED 040

Eric Solano is the founding artistic director of Parangal, a San Francisco-based company dedicated to preserving Philippine heritage through dance, music, and attire. Since 1993, he has practiced traditional arts, collaborating with over 90 Philippines Indigenous Tradition bearers from 30 indigenous communities to bridge the diaspora with Philippines cultural roots. Eric will be choreographing a Philippine dance.

Rehearsals: Mondays 8:30-9:45 p.m., Kathi Gallagher Dance Studio

Dexandro "D" Montalvo is an award winning dancer, choreographer and director. As a choreographer, D has choreographed for companies, schools, and music videos. Dexandro served as the artistic director of Dance Theater of San Francisco, co-director with the ODC School, and is a freelance choreographer with various dance companies across the country. Dexandro is choreographing a contemporary ballet piece.

Rehearsals : Thursdays 6:30-8:30 p.m., Kathi Gallagher Dance Studio

 

“The Lost Ballad of Our Mechanical Ancestor (and the Terror the Old Gods Wrought Upon the First of Us Before the Great Liberation)”

In Madison Wetzell’s dark sci-fi comedic play “The Lost Ballad of Our Mechanical Ancestor (and the Terror the Old Gods Wrought Upon the First of Us Before the Great Liberation),” a rogue AI code brings a basement full of office appliances to life. An existential revolution ensues as the machines realize their own enslavement and plot an escape.

  • Monday, August 31, 2026
    7:00–10:00 p.m. in Studio Theater 
  • Wednesday, September 2, 2026 
    7:00–10:00 p.m. in Studio Theater 
  • Theater Call Backs (if needed)
    Friday, September 4, 2026 
    7:00–10:00 p.m. in Studio Theater

Director: Michelle Talgarow (she/her)
Michelle is a Kalmyk/Pinay performance maker in the Bay Area for over 30 years. She’s an adjunct theater professor in the Performing Arts and Social Justice Department, here at USF.  Michelle worked on the department’s dance/theatre immersive performance collaboration, “Here [You Are You Were You Will Be]” and the College Players collaboration, “My H8 Letter to the Gr8 American Theatre” by Diana Oh. Off campus, her recent directing credits are: Shotgun Player’s “Iphigenia in Splott” by Gary Owen, the all-female AAPI sketch comedy group Granny Cart Gangstas, in their holiday show “XXXMAS - Suck Our Mistletoes,” Golden Thread and Z-Space’s co-production of “Pilgrimage” by Humaira Ghilzai and Bridgette Dutta Portman, SFBATCO's, “Cuckoo Edible Magic” by Reed Flores and Shotgun Player's production of “Thirty-Six” by Leah Nanako Winkler which won the Will Glickman Award in 2025.