September 20, 2016 - 7:30pm
Reginald Robinson is a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Genius Grant recipient who has devoted the last two decades of his career to the exploration and promotion of ragtime, one of America’s most recognizable and influential musical forms. A self-taught musician, he has played with many of Chicago’s jazz ensembles and has scored music for plays and films. A committed music educator, Robinson promises to deliver a program that is informative about musical roots and entertaining in its presentation of this vibrant musical genre.
October 12, 2016 - 7:30pm
Dynamic actor Tim Mooney has thrilled Lewis theatre audiences with Moliere than Thou, a wild compression
of the French playwright’s best known characters and scenes, and Lot O’ Shakespeare, dramatizations of as many audience selected Shakespeare scenes as time allows.
His new endeavor is a creative and quick retelling of the playwright’s most profound play, a performance that will amuse, delight and enable you to see Shakespeare in a whole new light. Mooney tours his shows widely and always likes coming back to the Chicago region and especially to Lewis University.
October 24, 2016 - 7:30pm
Killadelphia takes an unflinching look at the causes of the crime rate and its impact on the community. The playwright and performer Sean Chris–of the prisoners, their victims, the mayor, local rappers, conservative talk show hosts, trauma surgeons, and the citizens of the City of Brotherly Love – and gives each a chance to say their piece. Killadelphia is one of two shows running in repertory at Berwyn’s 16th Street Theatre and this is the fifth collaboration between Lewis and our theatre neighbors. This event has been made possible in part through a generous contribution from Dr. Michael Cunningham.
November 17, 2016 - 7:30pm
Arcomusical offers an exciting look at global music and the creative exchanges of musicians and musical forms throughout the world. The project is a multi-faceted resource for the Afro-Brazilian berimbau (a bowed, stringed instrument) dedicated to performance, publication, research, and community building. Arcomusical has become a publishing entity offering scores ranging from solos to sextets, from concerti to mixed ensembles, and from acoustic to fixed and interactive multi-media compositions. The group's Lewis University appearance gives founder Greg Beyer an opportunity to present his compositions, some done in collabor ation with the famous Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos.
February 14, 2017 - 4pm
American Troubadours: A Presentation of Words and Music is a stunning blend of music, politics, history, and cultural studies, which will entertain and enlighten the audience. Connecting listeners to the history of American popular music, acclaimed author, David Masciotra, and musician, Kev Wright, will demonstrate how art is often inseparable from history, politics, and social movements. They will lead the audience through an accessible and inspirational history of American protest music, emphasizing five of the most famous and recognizable 20th century troubadours: Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and John Mellencamp. American Troubadours: A Presentation of Words and Music is a riveting combination of lecture and musical performance, guaranteed to speak to listeners' hearts, minds, and spirits.
February 28, 2017 - 7:30pm
Salsation Theatre Company, NFP is a 17 year old Latino theatre company whose primary purpose is the presentation and creation of comedic and other theatrical works which consider the role of Latinos in American society and related topics; and to inspire and educate Latinos and non-Latinos in the use of theatrical and other performing arts as a medium for self-expression.
Salsation brings their "Comedy with a LATIN flavor" in their new show "Salsation En Fuego" to Lewis University. In this show they explore what it means to be Latina/o in the 21st century. From immigration to clashes between generations to cultural appropriation, Salsation explores these themes in their own unique way.
March 16, 2017 - 7:30pm
Called a “daredevil” by The New York Times, pianist Shiau-uen Ding brings music from the early eighteenth to late twentieth century to Lewis University. Audience members will be delighted by the lavish use of chromaticism in Bach’s Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue and enthralled with Beethoven’s juxtaposition of sweetness and drama in Sonata No. 30, Op. 109. Also featured on the program will be a picturesque tour of heaven, inferno, and love in Liszt’s magnificent Après une Lecture de Dante as well as the complex and profound piano masterpiece, Lemma-Icon-Pigram, by acclaimed American composer, Brian Ferneyhough.
April 20, 2017 - 7:30pm
Join us for a performance by the dynamic group Magnetic, a newly formed contemporary jazz combo comprised of four elite musicians, as they perform creative, original compositions and inventive interpretations of jazz standards. This Arts & Ideas Performing Arts Series concert will feature original music from Magnetic's forthcoming self-titled recording as well as Magnetic•s unique take on jazz standards by legends Gene DePaul and Wayne Shorter.