Music

Built in 1906, New Orleans’ Civic Theater is the oldest performance theater in the city. Most of the building’s original décor and architecture remain in-tact, making the Civic Theater a beautiful place to visit and relish in a piece of NOLA history. Civic hosts contemporary music, arts, and performance events throughout the week that attract large audiences, so be sure to buy tickets online before you go! In addition to a musical experience, theatergoers can enjoy specialty-crafted cocktails created by talented mixologists.

This New Orleans' live music venue, located in the French Quarter, has hosted world class musicians from Fats Domino to Eric Clapton. Sunday mornings the House rocks with a rousing Gospel Concert.

It's Playtime. Grammy and Billboard Award-winning Jazz trumpeter Irvin and Royal Sonesta Hotel proudly present Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse. The best jazz club in New Orleans showcases New Orleans' greatest Jazz talent and serves your favorite cocktails and appetizers in a luxurious venue on the lobby level of the Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans.

The Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts began its life as the New Orleans Theater of the Performing Arts in January 1973. New Orleans-born Norman Treigle, a bass-baritone and international Opera star, inaugurated the Theatre with a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa di Requiem, which he performed with the New Orleans Symphony. On December 1, 1993, amidst decades of world class theatre, opera, dance and musical performances, the City Council voted to rename the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts in honor of the famed and beloved New Orleans gospel singer. Though ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, this New Orleans landmark in Armstrong Park is once again a cultural center of our unique city.

OperaCréole, an opera company founded in New Orleans, is resurrecting music written by local composers of color and others who've been left out of the overwhelmingly white, male canon.

Music clubs are rarely dedicated to a single musician, and few as influential as performer, composer, and pianist Professor Longhair. Henry Roeland Byrd, (a.k.a. Professor Longhair) is one of the most revered rhythm and blues musicians in the legacy of New Orleans music. Longhair created a unique style by fusing rhumba rhythms with boogie-woogie, blues and southern R&B. Fess composed many songs which are part of the Crescent City lexicon, like "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," which serves as the soundtrack to Carnival every year. Longhair influenced his musical peers and progeny in the Crescent City since the 1950s including Dr. John, the Meters, the Neville Brothers, Allen Toussaint, and many others. Tipitina's began as a neighborhood juke joint, established in 1977, by a group of young music fans (The Fabulous Fo'teen) to provide a place for Professor Longhair to perform in his final years. The venue, named for one of Longhair's most enigmatic recordings "Tipitina," has survived in an e