Brian Culbertson books the Wilson Center for April 13

The jazz keyboardist's spring date at Cape Fear Community College's downtown theater is announced, and tickets are listed now.

Mid-April in Wilmington, the azaleas are out and downtown is busy again on weeknights. Brian Culbertson has picked one of those nights for the Wilson Center.

Brian Culbertson plays the Wilson Center on Tuesday, April 13, 2027. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. The date was announced Oct. 19. Tickets are through AXS.

Culbertson is a keyboardist, producer and bandleader whose records live in contemporary jazz, and his recent work has been built for the stage. His 2025 album *Day Trip* came with a fall tour that opened at the Hard Rock Casino in Rockford, Illinois, on Oct. 17 and ran through October and November (AOL). Stops on that run included Atlanta (Midtown Alliance), Fort Lauderdale's Broward Center and Jacksonville, where News4JAX previewed him performing the new album. The closest stop to us was Charleston, where the City Paper described the show as bringing jazz big-band sounds to town.

He also hosts. Culbertson's Napa Valley Jazz Getaway reached its 13th year in June 2026, with four days of shows from June 10 to 13. He is a musician who thinks about the whole evening, not just the set list.

He is a musician who thinks about the whole evening, not just the set list.

The Wilson Center is a good room for that. It is Cape Fear Community College's performing arts center at 703 N. Third St., completed in 2015 (LS3P), and it doubles as a classroom: behind the main stage there are 26 instructional spaces and a studio theater, and CFCC students work on every production, according to WECT. Its presenting arm runs the Broadway series that brings touring shows downtown, and a Star Series of comedy and concert headliners (Wilson Center). The college keeps that calendar full. In August it added *Spamalot* and *Singalong Broadway* to the 2025–26 Broadway season (WECT). A jazz bandleader on a Tuesday fits the Star Series mold.

When to buy: the show is more than five months out, which is usually the best time to pick seats rather than settle for what's left. Buy through the AXS link above rather than a reseller. A 7 p.m. start on a Tuesday means an early night by downtown standards, with plenty of time for dinner on Front Street or a drink after.

It's also an easy gift. Tuck a pair of tickets into a holiday card and you've planned a spring night out without having to remember it in April.

Sources: AXS: Brian Culbertson tickets (axs.com); JamBase: Brian Culbertson at Wilson Center (jambase.com); AOL: Celebrated jazz artist drops studio album 'Day Trip' (aol.com); Midtown Alliance: Brian Culbertson Day Trip Tour (midtownatl.com); Broward Center: Brian Culbertson - Day Trip Tour (browardcenter.org); News4JAX: Brian Culbertson to perform new album Day Trip in Jacksonville (gmg-wjxt-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com); Charleston City Paper: Culbertson brings jazz big band sounds to Charleston (charlestoncitypaper.com); LS3P: Wilson Center at Cape Fear Community College (ls3p.com); WECT: More than 2 years in, a look inside CFCC's Wilson Center (wect.com); Wilson Center: Our Story (wilsoncentertickets.com); WECT: CFCC Broadway and the Beach season expands with two additional shows (wect.com); North Carolina Azalea Festival - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)