The Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration arrives at CMAC in Canandaigua on Tuesday, September 1, 2026 — two days removed from a stop at Bethel Woods and carrying the full weight of what this project represents: Garcia’s songbook, the Grateful Dead’s six decades of catalog, and a full orchestra providing the kind of harmonic architecture Garcia himself chased in his later collaborations and explorations. It is a fitting show for CMAC’s Finger Lakes setting, where the amphitheater’s outdoor stage opens onto wine country under an early September sky.
About the Show
At the center of the ensemble is Melvin Seals, the Hammond B-3 organist who spent 18 years as keyboardist for the Jerry Garcia Band — the instrument Garcia built his late-career explorations around, and the tonal anchor that made JGB shows feel distinctly different from Dead shows in the best possible way. Grahame Lesh, son of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, holds down the low end, extending a lineage he has carried through Grahame Lesh & Friends and The Terrapin Roadshow. Tom Hamilton handles guitar duties, John Morgan Kimock occupies the drum chair, and vocalists Jacklyn LaBranch and Kanika Moore round out the ensemble.
The orchestra fills in around them — not as decoration, but as the stated premise of the program. The show is an orchestral celebration honoring 60 years of the Grateful Dead, pairing Garcia’s original compositions and the standards that defined his concert catalog with the sweeping architecture of a full symphony. The Bowery Presents is behind this one.
About CMAC
CMAC — the Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center — is an outdoor amphitheater at 3355 Marvin Sands Drive in Canandaigua, in the heart of the Rochester / Finger Lakes region. For a show built around Garcia’s meditative, landscape-scale compositions, the setting is not coincidental. Premium upgrades are available: the Keybank Headliner Lounge ($30, private tent with amenities and one complimentary drink) and the Corona Cabana ($25, fenced lawn access with private bar and bathrooms; the first 100 guests receive Adirondack chairs). Premium lot parking runs $30 with advance purchase.
Tickets & Show Details
Doors open at 5:30 PM; showtime is 7:00 PM. Secondary market tickets are averaging $116.18 for this date. Buy Tickets.