A CONCERT TO CELEBRATE THE CONTEMPLATIVE SCIENCES CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
FEATURING
ZAC BROWN BAND
WITH SPECIAL GUEST MAGGIE ROGERS
AND COMEDIAN JOE ZIMMERMAN
JOHN PAUL JONES ARENA - CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2025
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - The University of Virginia (UVA) announced today that GRAMMY® Award-winning Southern rock group Zac Brown Band will perform a benefit concert to celebrate UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville on Saturday, April 5, 2025. Special guest, multi-platinum, GRAMMY® nominated artist Maggie Rogers and comedian Joe Zimmerman will also perform.
In addition to performing, Maggie Rogers will receive the Contemplative Science Center’s inaugural Contemplation in Action award, celebrating her leadership on and off the stage, including her academic work on the role of artists and performers in spiritual development through public gatherings. “The music Maggie composes and scholarship are authentic contemplations of her views and feelings on love, wellbeing, and community and are deeply aligned with the CSC’s values. We are thrilled to honor her with our Contemplation in Action award,” shares Contemplative Sciences Center Board Chair Jeffrey Walker.
UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center (CSC) was established in 2012 to catalyze research and programs focused on contemplation, connection, and wellbeing. It is housed within UVA’s newly opened Contemplative Commons, a 57,000-square-foot biophilic space in Central Grounds designed to serve as a beating heart of contemplative practice, artistry, and scholarship at UVA.
Between the completion of the Contemplative Commons and the recent appointment of the CSC’s new Executive Director, Kelly Crace, the CSC is poised to begin an exciting new chapter as a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration and community connection at UVA. CSC offerings include academic courses on human flourishing; fellowship programs for students; academic partnerships to disseminate evidence-based contemplative tools; a research consortium; a peer-reviewed, open-access journal; and classes and trainings in contemplative disciplines such as yoga, Tai Chi, and other practices.
“We are delighted for the opportunity that this benefit concert affords to gather and invite our community to elevate their attention, intention, and reflection on what sustains and enriches their lives,” explains Executive Director Kelly Crace.
Tickets for the benefit concert will go on sale on Friday, January 31 at 10 a.m. at the John Paul Jones Arena box office and Ticketmaster.com. Proceeds from the benefit concert will support the Contemplative Sciences Center operations and programs.
About Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown Band is a multi-platinum, GRAMMY® Award-winning, Southern rock group led by front man, Zac Brown. Throughout their career spanning more than a decade, Zac Brown Band has had six consecutive albums reach the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and five consecutive albums debut at #1 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart. To date, the group has won three GRAMMY® Awards, including Best New Artist in 2010, sold more than 30.5 million singles, 9.3 million albums, amassed over 11.2 billion catalog streams, achieved 16 #1 radio singles and are the second act to top both the Country and Active Rock formats. Zac Brown Band has headlined 9 North American Tours and currently holds the record for most consecutive sold-out shows at the iconic Fenway Park. Symbolic of their massive success at the ballpark, in July 2022, Zac Brown Band was inducted into the Fenway Music Hall of Fame, joining music icons Paul McCartney and Billy Joel. Since their debut, Zac Brown Band has developed a reputation with critics and fans alike as one of the most dynamic live performers, marked by strong musicianship that defies genre boundaries.
About Maggie Rogers
Originally from Maryland, multi-platinum, GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer/ songwriter/ performer Maggie Rogers released her breakthrough EP Now That The Light Is Fading in 2017. Widely hailed as an artist to watch, Rogers shared her critically acclaimed Capitol Records debut album Heard It In A Past Life in 2019 and immediately found tremendous success: entering Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart at No. 1 and debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The album earned raves from the likes of NPR, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, TIME Magazine, Vogue, and many more. Heard It In A Past Life also landed Rogers a Best New Artist nomination at the 62nd GRAMMY® Awards. The album, which contains the Platinum hits “Light On” and “Alaska,” has amassed over 1 billion streams globally and is certified Gold in the U.S. In 2022, Rogers released her follow up album, Surrender to widespread acclaim and embarked on two sold-out headline tours across Europe and North America. Rogers’ new album, Don’t Forget Me is out now. Pitchfork said, “the singer-songwriter’s third album is her strongest yet, the sound of a wise, clear-eyed, melodious prodigy coming into her own voice,” while SPIN praised her “transcendent songwriting.” The New Yorker deemed Rogers’ Don’t Forget Me as “the loosest and most elemental music she’s made…burly, coltish, tender, fun,” and Rolling Stone named Don’t Forget Me as one of their “100 Best Albums of 2024.” Rogers recently wrapped “The Don’t Forget Me Tour, Part II” — her first-ever arena outing — which included two sold out shows at New York City’s Madison Square Garden and the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA. Her television performances include “Saturday Night Live,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Austin City Limits,” “Today” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”
About Joe Zimmerman
Known for his inventive writing style and playful persona, Joe grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia, and started his comedy career in North Carolina after graduating Davidson College. While in the south, he started a tour with three friends, called “The Beards of Comedy”, and landed a record deal with Comedy Central Records. In 2012, he moved to New York City, which quickly led to appearances on "The Late Late Show" and John Oliver’s "New York Stand-Up Show," as well as Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival as a New Face. His resume has since grown to include "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon," "Conan" on TBS, Nickelodeon, "Last Comic Standing," his own "Comedy Central Half Hour," as well as Comedy Central’s “This Week at the Comedy Cellar”. Joe’s first solo album Smiling at Wolves (2014) reached number two on iTunes, and Paste Magazine named him one of 10 best comedians from the south. His second album, Innocence, came out in 2018 and is played regularly on Sirius XM radio, and in 2019 he recorded a Dry Bar special with 1.5 million views on YouTube. His first, fully produced one-hour special, Cult Classic, came out in 2023, directed by Nate Bargatze, and The Comedy Bureau named it “Without a doubt, one of the best specials of the year” and has since been picked up by Hulu. Aside from headlining comedy clubs, he tours regularly in theaters with comedy legend Brian Regan, and arenas with rising super-star Nate Bargatze. Joe is also a writer, having contributed humor pieces to The New Yorker and The New York Times, and has an illustrated children’s book and short novel set to come out in 2025 and 2026.
Media Contacts:
For UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center, please contact: Kayti Sewell, kaw7fa@virginia.edu
For Zac Brown Band, please contact: ZBB@jonesworks.com
For Maggie Rogers, please contact: lisa.diangelo@umusic.com