Michael Mayo comes back to the Rochester area, Grammy nominations in hand

The singer last seen at the 2024 Rochester International Jazz Festival headlines the Smith Opera House in Geneva on Sunday, Feb. 7.

The last time Michael Mayo sang for a Rochester-area crowd, it was June 21, 2024, at the Rochester International Jazz Festival. His next local date is a different kind of night: a Sunday in February, in a theater of his own in Geneva.

Michael Mayo plays the Smith Opera House in Geneva on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2027, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets run $30 to $50 through Eventbrite, and the date was announced Oct. 23. The Smith holds about 950, which makes it a real concert room for a singer whose whole act is built on the voice.

A lot has happened to Mayo since that festival set. His second album, Fly, came out in 2024, and a deluxe edition followed on Mack Avenue Records on Sept. 5, 2025. Then the Recording Academy took notice: at the 68th Grammy Awards he was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Fly and Best Jazz Performance for its track "Four." NPR's profile of him as a first-time nominee, carried by Michigan Public and other member stations, put the headline plainly: for Michael Mayo, vocal expression is innate.

That is the reason to make the drive. Two Grammy nominations change who is paying attention, and a headline theater date is a different thing from a festival slot. Rochester audiences who caught him at the jazz festival saw him on the way up; Geneva gets him after the nominations.

Rochester saw him on the way up; Geneva gets Michael Mayo after the Grammy nominations.

He has been busy on the road in 2026. His spring took him to Ronnie Scott's in London and to the Jarné Jazzáky festival in Bratislava. In the fall he played Dazzle in Denver on Sept. 29 and the Wisconsin Union Theater in Madison on Oct. 1. In October he went to Seoul for what the Korean press billed as his first solo concert in Korea, and the concert announcement said the set would mix earlier material with new songs. Anyone curious about what comes after Fly should listen closely.

The room matters here too. At about 950 seats, the Smith is big enough to feel like an event and small enough that a singer can hold it with very little behind him. A Sunday night crowd tends to arrive ready to listen, and that suits a vocalist whose instrument is the point of the show.

A few practical notes. If you are coming from Rochester, plan the drive for February roads and give yourself time to park before the 7:30 start. Tickets are priced from $30 to $50, so decide early whether you want to be close. Check the Eventbrite page and the Smith Opera House for any updates before you go.

Two and a half years after his last Rochester-area set, Mayo comes back with a Grammy-nominated record and new songs on the road. It is worth a Sunday drive to Geneva to hear where that voice has gone.

Sources: JamBase: Michael Mayo at Smith Opera House, Feb 7, 2027 (jambase.com); Eventbrite: Michael Mayo at Smith Opera House (eventbrite.com); Michigan Public (NPR): For first-time Grammy nominee Michael Mayo, vocal expression is innate (michiganpublic.org); WLRN (NPR): For first-time Grammy nominee Michael Mayo, vocal expression is innate (wlrn.org); MCG Jazz: Michael Mayo Grammy nominations (mcgjazz.org); Qobuz: Michael Mayo (qobuz.com); Arts & Venues Denver: Michael Mayo at Dazzle (artsandvenuesdenver.com); UW–Madison: Michael Mayo at Wisconsin Union Theater (today.wisc.edu); GoOut: Jarné Jazzáky 2026 – Michael Mayo (goout.net); Sports Khan: Michael Mayo first solo concert in Korea (sports.khan.co.kr)