There’s a new concert venue opening on the west side of the Valley in October 2026.
Danny Zelisko Presents has partnered with The Hilltop Theatre and Concert Hall at Hilltop School for the Arts, a new school opening this year in Litchfield Park with a focus on preparing students for professional careers in music, from performance to cinematography, set production and marketing.
Built next door to the school itself, the Hilltop Theatre and Concert Hall is a 750-seat performance venue with a proscenium stage, a chandelier lounge and a second-floor gallery where student art can be exhibited and local coffee vendor Modern Grind will set up shop.
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The name of the venue and the school itself, which is part of the Agua Fria High School District, refers to its location on an actual hilltop.
“I love where we’re located,” Hilltop Theatre and Concert Hall Manager Alexandra Morrell says. “It’s on a historic hilltop that’s been vacant for decades. It’s revitalizing the entire hilltop. And I love the look of it. It matches the Santa Barbara kind of smalltown feel and look of Litchfield Park.”
The concert hall has been designed as a place where, as Danny Zelisko says, “future artists, managers, promoters, producers and industry leaders will learn their craft.”
To Morrell, that’s what makes it special.
“We’re going to give our students the opportunity to connect with real professionals in an industry that’s usually hard to break into,” she says. “Everything that is going to be taught here is all of the jobs behind the curtain and on the stage.”
Students will have the opportunity to engage directly with artists through sound checks and behind-the-scenes access that turn performances into real-world learning experiences.
As Zelisko says, school officials “decided they were gonna do a completely different kind of a school — a music business and performance-oriented school.”
Danny Zelisko says new venue among his ‘most meaningful projects’
Morell says working Zelisko has been working with the team behind the school for two years to bring this vision to life.
“Danny’s a legend for a reason,” she says. “And he’s been a great partner to us.”
Zelisko says he’s thrilled to be involved.
“After more than 50 years of promoting concerts in the Valley, I can honestly say this is one of the most meaningful projects I’ve ever been involved with,” the promoter says. “Live music has been my life’s work, and the opportunity to help connect students with the real-world experience of this business is incredibly rewarding.”
He’s excited “to bring outstanding concerts and events to this beautiful new hall,” Zelisko says. “But we’re equally excited about inspiring the next generation of people who will carry this industry forward. To be part of something that combines education, opportunity and the power of live music is truly an honor.”
Zelisko says the school reached out in the early stages of development.
“A guy from Nashville who used to be Amy Grant’s manager pointed them in my direction,” he says. “They’d gone to his facility, the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Belmont University while visiting performing arts centers to get an idea of what they wanted.”
When school officials reached out to Zelisko, they said they planned to build an auditorium and a recording studio with video capabilities, asking, “Would you like to help us out? You wanna book some shows in there? You got any ideas?”
He said yes to all those questions.
“For the most part, I rent places that are already built,” Zelisko says.
“In this case, it was interesting. They said, ‘We’d like your input as to what do artists want? What kind of gear? What should it look like backstage?’ All the things that go with having a venue and putting on shows. My main thing was, ‘It’s gotta have good in-house sound and lights so that no matter what the band is, you’re gonna have more than adequate equipment.”
Zelisko says he’ll be encouraging the acts he brings to Litchfield Park to take an active role in working with the students.
“What we’re gonna be asking the bands to do is to either have kids in for the soundcheck or a question-and-answer period, some meet-and-greets with the students,” he says.
“We’re gonna be encouraging some students who are in the production area to be on call and help set up things. We’ll get people involved in marketing. Instead of us just going in and renting a building and doing what we do, we’re gonna be encouraging and getting assistance and input from the school itself as well as the students.”
As excited as he is to be involved in inspiring a new generation of music professionals, the school’s location also sparked his interest.
West Valley needs this: ‘There’s a lot of people who live out there’
“It’s all the way out on the west side and there’s a lot of people who live out there who if they want to see a show, they’ve gotta drive all the way into Phoenix,” Zelisko says. “It’s not that far, but sometimes it’s further than you want to go. I’m hoping they will pay attention to what’s being offered there, whether it’s student-oriented productions, national acts or anything in between.”
Location is often a deciding factor for music fans who may be on the fence about going to a concert. Zelisko’s hope is that having a venue on the west side of the Valley will knock “It’s just too far to drive” off the list of potential considerations for music fans who live on that side of the Valley.
Commuting from Goodyear or Buckeye to a show at Talking Stick Resort or Mesa Arts Center can start to feel like too much bother for anything less than a bucket-list occasion.
“Most of my shows appeal to the over-50 set,” Zelisko says.
“Things change as you get older. When you’re 20, 30 years old and going to a show, you want to know where all the bars are around the facility that you can go to before and after or what other activities are there because you’re younger. You’ve got more energy. You’ve got more time. Hopefully, you’ve got more money to spend. That audience is different than one like ours.”
Having a venue that far west, he says, will serve a large market that hasn’t been served.
“If they want to go somewhere to do something, they’re used to driving,” Zelisko says. “But now, for good concerts, they won’t have to.”
Although Zelisko will serve as the primary booking agent for the venue, it’s not an exclusive arrangement.
“If somebody’s got something I don’t book, they’re welcome to bring it in,” he says.
Tickets on sale for first concerts at Hilltop Theatre & Concert Hall
The Righteous Brothers will open The Hilltop Theatre and Concert Hall on Saturday, Oct. 10, as part of their Lovin’ Feelin’ Farewell Tour.
An Oct. 23 appearance by Samantha Fish, a guitarist who topped the Billboard blues chart with 2023’s Grammy-nominated “Death With Blues,” has also been announced.
Tickets for both shows go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, June 26, at DZPLIVE.com.
Reporting by Ed Masley, Arizona Republic
