Jerry Garcia’s songbook was never built for a single guitar. The long, searching melodic lines, the gospel undertow, the way a tune could open into something cinematic mid-jam — it always sounded like it was reaching for an orchestra. On Tuesday, September 1, 2026, it gets one. The Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration brings Garcia’s music to CMAC in Canandaigua backed by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, pairing his original compositions and the standards that defined his concert catalog with the full harmonic weight of a symphony.
This is the rare tribute with bloodline credibility. The program is curated by the Garcia family and honors 60 years of the Grateful Dead, and the touring core comes straight from Garcia’s own orbit. Organist Melvin Seals — the Hammond B-3 anchor of the Jerry Garcia Band — is the tonal center, joined by longtime JGB vocalist Jacklyn LaBranch. Around them: guitarist Tom Hamilton of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, bassist Grahame Lesh of Phil Lesh & Friends (and son of the late Dead bassist), drummer John Morgan Kimock of Mike Gordon’s band, and vocalist Kanika Moore. It’s a lineup that knows this material from the inside out.
What makes the symphonic framing work is that it isn’t decoration. Garcia’s late-career writing already leaned toward sweep and space, and a full orchestra gives those tunes room to breathe in a way a club stage never could. The Rochester Philharmonic isn’t there to politely accompany a jam band — the orchestra is the stated premise, the architecture the whole night is built on. Improvisation meets orchestration, and the familiar turns into something larger.
CMAC — the Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center — is the right room for it. The outdoor amphitheater at 3355 Marvin Sands Drive sits in the heart of Finger Lakes wine country, where the stage opens onto open sky and rolling vineyards. For a show built around Garcia’s landscape-scale music, the setting does half the work before a note is played. It’s one of the signature stops in the Rochester / Finger Lakes region.
Showtime is 7:00 PM. Tickets start around $57. Get Tickets.
Disclosure: Some links in this article are affiliate links. Upstate Concerts may earn a commission on ticket purchases at no additional cost to you.