season at a glance
spring 2025
Choral Masterworks Concert | pg. 14
Away from the Mirror | pg. 10 Through April 5
PAS: Roomful of Teeth | pg. 4
Ensemble | pg. 14
Head Over Heels | pg. 13 Through May 3
Honors Recital | pg. 14
Orchestra & Concert Band Concert | pg. 14
10th Annual Art Walk | pg. 7
Concert | pg. 14
Spring Choral Concert | pg. 14
welcome from the dean
Dear Friends of the Arts,
Summer can be a quiet time on a college campus, giving us time to reflect on the past season and look ahead with anticipation to the next season of events. As we are preparing to send out this season brochure, we are excited by all the things that are planned!
We’re thrilled to celebrate our 150th Christmas Festival in December 2024. This treasured community event features the talents of all of our musical ensembles in a festival of music and lights. To commemorate this special anniversary, we are proud to be premiering a new hymn setting by Katherine Webb for our combined choirs, band, and orchestra.
The H. F. Johnson Gallery of Art will also feature new works of visual art. This year marks our triennial Faculty Exhibition that highlights the creative artistry of our faculty in studio art and graphic design.
Our award-winning Carthage Theatre program continues its tradition of excellence, recently earning the Rosa Parks Playwriting Award in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. We are thrilled to offer more new works this year, and our 16th work in the New Play Initiative is Life Cycle Of A Star by Ali Viterbi.
This year, our Performing Arts Series enters its 27th year of bringing international guest artists to campus and into the community schools. We’re celebrating with the worldclass ensemble Roomful of Teeth. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with this Grammy-winning ensemble, along with a host of other stellar guests!
Whether you are coming for a play, dance show, musical theatre production, music concert, or art exhibition, we know that you will experience the finest in the visual and performing arts. We know you won’t want to miss these incredible opportunities to celebrate creativity.
Sincerely,
Corinne Ness Dean of Arts and Humanities
performing arts series
INVOKE STRING QUARTET
Oct. 10 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel | Tickets required
This genre-defying ensemble is known for its performance of music from a broad range of traditions including classical, folk, bluegrass, and americana.
ROOMFUL OF TEETH
April 8 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel | Tickets required
Carthage welcomes Roomful of Teeth, a Grammywinning vocal band that is dedicated to reimagining the expressive potential of the human voice.
LAKESIDE PIANO FESTIVAL FEATURING SARA DANESHPOUR
March 21 | 7:30 p.m. | Carthage Piano Concert featuring students and faculty
March 22 | 3 p.m. | Community Piano Workshop and Concert
March 22 | 6 p.m. | Lakeside Piano Festival Master Class
March 23 | 3 p.m. | Concert featuring Sara Daneshpour
A. F. Siebert Chapel | Tickets required
The Carthage Lakeside Piano Festival includes three days of performances by current Carthage faculty, students, and community members. The festival concludes with a dynamic concert featuring the virtuosic talents of award-winning pianist Sara Daneshpour.
CARTHAGE TRIO
Oct. 21 | 7:30 p.m.
H. F. Johnson Recital Hall | Tickets required
The Carthage Trio is a dynamic ensemble known for its performances of timeless master works, compositions by women, and innovative works by American composers.
150 th christmas festival
carthage christmas festival: glory in the highest !
Artistic direction by Margaret Burk
Production direction by Matthew Hougland
Dec. 6 - 7 | 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 8 | 4 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel | Tickets required | Tickets available for purchase Oct. 1
We welcome you to the 150th Carthage Christmas Festival: Glory in the Highest! Join the Carthage Choir, Wind Orchestra, Philharmonic, Lincoln Chamber Singers, Chorale, and Treble Choir as we share in the magic of the holiday season. In this anniversary year, we will celebrate our musical heritage and look to the future with a newly commissioned Christmas work with lyrics by Charles Anthony Silvestri and music by Katherine Webb.
h.f. johnson gallery of art
ages and ages
Aug. 29 – Oct. 11 Exhibition
Sept. 5 | 3:30-6:30 p.m. Opening Reception Sept. 18 | 6:15-7:30 p.m. Artist Talk
Ages and Ages is an exhibition of sculptural ceramics, considering elemental and historical origins of clay. The works featured in this exhibit address the position of contemporary ceramics between their primordial inception into the ahistorical Anthropocene.
the carl tour
Featuring the work of Kevin Stuart
Feb. 5 – March 6 Exhibition
Feb. 14 | 3:30-6:30 p.m. Opening Reception Feb. 19 | 6:15-7:30 p.m. Artist Talk
Curated by Kevin Stuart, a painter who lives and works in Chicago, The Carl Tour is an extension of The Carl, a project Stuart began as an apartment gallery almost a decade ago. In this iteration, Stuart brings his same earnest vision for pairing and presenting challenging contemporary work in a warm and friendly domestic setting.
fibrecate
Oct. 22 – Nov. 22 Exhibition
Oct. 24 | 3:30-6:30 p.m. Opening Reception Oct. 30 | 6:15-7:30 p.m. Artist Talk
Fibrecate entwines the rigor of fiber-based processes through a matrix of unexpected traditional and contemporary mediums. This exhibit seeks to expand our expectations of the traditional techniques as they are applied to paintings and sculptural forms.
faculty exhibition: another working group
Featuring the work of Carthage art faculty
March 20 – April 17 Exhibition
March 27 | 3:30-6:30 p.m. Opening Reception March 26 | 6:15-7:30 p.m. Artist Talk
Curated by Leslie Brothers, the triennial faculty exhibition gathers a nexus of creativity, expertise, inspiration, innovation, and education within our academic and artistic communities. This exhibit showcases the department’s evolution and diversity of creative practices.
visions behind the veil: soviet portraiture and cultural resilience
Exhibition and Interdisciplinary Art Symposium
Curated by Leslie Brothers
Featuring works in the Sam and Berry Shoen Collection of Soviet Art
Dec. 6 - 8, Jan. 8 - 19 Exhibition | gallery closed December 9 through January 7
Jan. 14 - 16 Symposium: Peace, Parity, the New Cold War? Navigating Global Dynamics in the 21st Century
Curated from Carthage’s Samuel and Berry Shoen Collection, the exhibition reveals the resilience of Soviet-era artists in navigating the constraints of state censorship while striving to capture the essence of their subjects. From stoic workers and party officials to artists, performers, and poets, each portrait becomes a window into the complexities of life under the Soviet regime.
carthage studio art student theses
Dec. 6 - Dec. 12 | Opening Reception Dec. 7 | 1-3 p.m. in the Visual and Performing Arts Lab
April 25 - May 3 | Opening Reception April 26 | 1-3 p.m. in the H. F. Johnson Gallery of Art and the Visual and Performing Arts Lab
May 9 - May 17 | Opening Reception May 10 | 1-3 p.m. in the H. F. Johnson Gallery of Art and the Visual and Performing Arts Lab
10th annual art walk
May 10 | 1-3 p.m. Reception at the H. F. Johnson Gallery of Art
Join us for the 10th annual Art Walk at various venues across our beautiful, flowering lakeside campus. Stroll along Lake Michigan, and admire the capstone thesis projects of Carthage studio art and graphic design majors using many different media.
photography and animation
new animation minor launches at carthage
The Art Department at Carthage is launching an animation minor with course offerings in digital art and animation! Students in the program will develop their artistic expression and professional skills to craft impactful animations.
Led by Professor Joshua McGowan, a visual artist specializing in animation and new media, the program provides enriching experience for students interested in digital illustration, character design, traditional 2D animation, motion graphics, and 3D animation.
Students enrolled in the animation courses have access to technology essential for creating digital artwork. The program labs include Windows and Mac computers, digital drawing tablets, and a comprehensive suite of industry-standard software tools.
carthage photography student exhibitions
Ehrler Hospitality Center in the A. F. Siebert Chapel
Fall Exhibition
Nov. 13, 2024 - April 21, 2025
Nov. 14 | 7 p.m. Opening Reception
Spring Exhibition
April 30 - Nov. 2, 2025
May 1 | 7 p.m. Opening Reception
Each year the Photography and Film and New Media Program sponsors two thematic, juried student photography exhibitions. Students whose work is selected participate in a printing, matting and framing workshop to prepare their images for the exhibition. This unique exhibition space was developed through a collaboration by the PFNM Program and the Center for Faith and Spirituality.
LIFE CYCLE OF A STAR
16th work of the New Play Initiative
Written by Ali Viterbi
Directed by Herschel Kruger
Nov. 1 - 2, 7 - 9 | 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 3 | 3 p.m.
Wartburg Theatre
When they were 4 years old, Anna and Lily promised to be best friends for life, to sit side by side in their wheelchairs in the nursing home. But can a childhood promise survive the forces of time and space? Life Cycle Of A Star presents the friendship of Anna and Lily “against the life of the stars,” taking us on a journey from prom to the nursing home, on cross-country road trips and intergalactic space expeditions.
LIFE IS A DREAM
Written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Directed by Neil Scharnick
Feb. 21 - 22, 27 - 28, March 1 | 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 23 | 3 p.m.
Wartburg Theatre
Rosaura, on a quest to save her honor, discovers a lone tower with a mysterious prisoner. Who is he, and why is he here? In this celebrated masterpiece of the Spanish Golden Age, kings and kingdoms, glory and honor, destiny and reality all hang in the balance.
theatre and dance
Nov. 19 - 21 | 7:30 p.m.
Wartburg Theatre
To The Growth Edge explores what is just beyond familiarity, comfort and one’s grasp. Dancing to our growth edges honors these uncharted and complex spaces, and in doing so, reveals our capacity to be surprised by our own possibility.
Away From the Mirror
Oct. 12 | 3 p.m. • Oct. 13 - 14 | 7:30 p.m.
Studio Theatre
Directed by Emily Halfmann
Eleemosynary represents a beautiful tale of love, loss, generational trauma, generational relationships, and what it is to be brilliant and gifted. Eleemosynary provides a relatable look into a nontraditional family home that has been fractured from within.
April 4 & 5 | 7:30 p.m.
Wartburg Theatre
In our annual student dance concert, Carthage’s emerging artists are provided the platform to develop and shape their own dances, share in the development of their own production, and engage in community discourse about their work.
March 27 - 29 | 7:30 p.m.
March 30 | 3 p.m.
Studio Theatre
Directed by Martin McClendon
Step inside the emergency room with healthcare practitioners who work every day to save the lives of shooting victims. This Verbatim Theatre Project is based on interviews with doctors, nurses, surgeons, and mental health providers.
theatre award
theatre earns rosa parks award
The Kenosha Verbatim Project, an original play written by a team of Carthage theatre students and professors about the city’s summer of unrest i n 2020, has won the nationwide Rosa Parks Playwriting Award.
Through its American College Theater Festival, the Kennedy Center presents the award each year in association with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. It recognizes outstanding student- or faculty-written plays that focus on social justice or civil rights topics.
Carthage theatre professors Martin McClendon and Nora Carroll joined forces with students Katie Layendecker ’25 and Rayven Craft ’23 to create The Kenosha Verbatim Project.
Awarded research funding through Carthage’s SURE program in 2022, they interviewed 12 people to get their perspectives on the police shooting of Jacob Blake, the subsequent protests, and the confrontation with Kyle Rittenhouse that left two protesters dead.
The resulting work features frank and searing testimony from Mr. Blake’s uncle, as well as community leaders and national political experts. The Kenosha Verbatim Project premiered on campus as a staged reading in May 2023, with a cast of alumni and other local actors.
As a 2024 recipient of the Rosa Parks Award, fittingly named for one of the great heroes of the civil rights movement, Carthage Theatre finds itself in illustrious company. Past recipients include Yale University, UCLA, and the University of Texas at Austin.
“Of all the plays submitted from around the nation, I’m surprised and grateful ours was picked,” says Prof. McClendon. “It never would have been possible without the participation of our 12 interviewees, who trusted us with their sacred stories.”
The play is dedicated to the late Rev. Kara Baylor, a longtime campus pastor at Carthage, who became a key voice in the nationwide racial reckoning. Carthage has been creating and presenting verbatim plays since 2016.
“Our theatre faculty always bring such a high level of integrity and artistry to their work,” says Professor Corinne Ness, dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities. “This national recognition reinforces that they’re not only committed to the artistic work that they do with students, but also to the power of theatre to create space for change.”
Directed by Matthew Hougland | Music Direction by Yu-Mei Chang
Music and Lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar
Book by Douglas Carter Beane
Oct. 4, 10 - 12 | 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 5 - 6 | 3 p.m.
Wartburg Theatre | Tickets required
Xanadu follows the journey of a magical and beautiful Greek muse, Kira, who descends from the heavens of Mount Olympus to Venice Beach, California in 1980 on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time – the first ROLLER DISCO! (Hey, it’s 1980!)
But, when Kira falls into forbidden love with the mortal Sonny, her jealous sisters take advantage of the situation, and chaos abounds.
xanadu
head over heels
Directed by Bree Beelow | Music Direction by Matthew Hougland
Adaptation by James Magruder | Music and Lyrics by The Go-Go’s
April 25 - 26, May 1 - 3 | 7:30 p.m.
April 27 | 3 p.m.
Wartburg Theatre | Tickets required
Head Over Heels is the bold new musical comedy from the visionaries that rocked Broadway with Hedwig And The Angry Inch, Avenue Q , and Spring Awakening. This laugh-out-loud love story is set to the music of the iconic 1980s all-female rock band The Go-Go’s, including the hit songs, “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” and lead singer Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Mad About You.” A hilarious, exuberant celebration of love, Head Over Heels follows the escapades of a royal family on an outrageous journey to save their beloved kingdom from extinction—only to discover the key to their realm’s survival lies within each of their own hearts.
music concerts
band concerts
Wind Orchestra: Space, the Final Frontier
Oct. 16 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
Concert Band & Percussion Ensemble
Nov. 20 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
Wind Orchestra: Spring into Spring
March 19 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
Jazz Ensemble
April 23 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
Wind Orchestra & Concert Band: Star Wars
May 4 | 2 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
choir concerts
Fall Choral Concert
Oct. 26 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
Masterworks Concert
March 29 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
Spring Choral Concert
May 11 | 2:00 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
homecoming concert
Oct. 5 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
The Music Department brings the Carthage community together at the annual Homecoming Concert. Celebrate Homecoming with the Carthage Choir and the Alumni Choir, as well as the Carthage Philharmonic.
honors recital
April 26 | 2 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
Each year, the Music Department celebrates excellence with the annual Honors Recital. Selected in a competitive audition process, Carthage students demonstrate their artistry in voice, piano, and instrumental music selections.
philharmonic concerts
Fall Concert
Nov. 16 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
Spring Concert
May 10 | 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
MUSIC
Music Composition
Music Education
Music Performance
Musical Theatre
Piano Pedagogy
At Carthage College, you will study with exceptional faculty who set high expectations for the unique, creative individual you are.
areas of study:
THEATRE
Costume Design
Dance
Scenic Design
Stage Management
Theatre Education
Piano Performance and Collaborative
Piano
Theatre Performance
ART Animation
Art Education
Film and New Media
Graphic Design
Photography
Studio Art
support the arts
Empower the next generation of artists! Your generous support for Carthage Visual and Performing Arts helps to ensure accessible and affordable arts education and experiences for our students and community members.
be a friend of the arts (donate $50 – $99)
• Receive two complimentary tickets to a show of your choice.
join the patron’s circle (donate $100 – $249)
• Receive four complimentary tickets to a show of your choice.
join the director’s circle (donate $250 – $999)
• Receive four complimentary tickets to a show of your choice.
• Receive a free season subscription with ticket insurance.
join the arts leadership circle (donate $1,000+)
• Receive four complimentary tickets to a show of your choice.
• Receive a free season subscription with ticket insurance.
• Receive membership in the Carthage Leadership Giving Society.
Special thanks to our donors and foundations that support the arts at Carthage, including:
Patrick Anderson
Mary Dixon
Jack and Judy Fritsch
Grace Kolakowski
Bob E. Lee, Jr. and Linda L. Lee
Wayne and Pam Miller
The Estate of Connie Parli
Trish Petretti
Racine Community Foundation
James Ripley
Saemann Foundation
Janet Salstrom
Susan Salstrom
Ed Simko
John Sladek, Jr.
The Estate of Barbara Woerner
In Slavic folklore, the Firebird burns with flames so bright that it lights up its surroundings — and a single feather from the bird will stay alight with the same magic.
While the Firebird team name is fairly new to Carthage, the College’s long and storied legacy has always held this promise: that every Carthaginian will carry the fire, bringing knowledge to their communities, sharing their talents and skills for the benefit of those around them, and illuminating in their own way their corner of the world.
We’re Carthaginians. We’re Firebirds. And we know that a single feather from a Carthage Firebird does not just stay aglow. It spreads its light to dozens more, hundreds more, thousands more.
Together, we will ensure that Carthage continues to brighten the lives of future Carthaginians, and the lives of all they touch.
Goals and Priorities
priority 1 SCHOLARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID
priority 2 PROGRAM INNOVATION
priority 3 SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE
CAMPAIGN GOAL: $100 MILLION
COLT LUEDTKE ’17
AT CARTHAGE: Majored in theatre production and music. Through his dedication to Carthage’s own New Play Initiative, he won prestigious national honors from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for his stage management work on The Breath of Stars
NOW: Freelance stage manager in New York City for such shows as Broadway’s Funny Girl and Chess, in addition to off-Broadway shows and developmental projects
“The chance to help develop new work with some of the artists who inspired me to pursue this career was deeply fulfilling.”
ALUMNI IN THE SPOTLIGHT
plan your visit
ticket information
Get tickets 24/7 at carthage.edu/tickets or by calling 262-551-6661.
The Visual and Performing Arts Box Office is open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, and is located outside the Wartburg Theatre on the north side of campus. The box office is also open one hour prior to events at the event location. Events are subject to change.
To stay up to date on all visual and performing arts events, please visit us at carthage.edu/arts
Select events will be streamed live: live.carthage.edu
group tickets
Special benefits and discounts are available for group ticket purchases. To order tickets for a group of 10 or more, contact the Box Office at 262-551-6661.
seating accommodations
Patrons who need ADA seating should contact the box office at 262-551-6661 to purchase wheelchair and companion tickets.
late seating
Not all events are able to accommodate late seating, and it is a distraction to performers and patrons. Please arrive 10 minutes prior to the start of the performance. If late seating is available, it is at the discretion of the house manager.
assisted hearing technology
Wartburg Theatre offers Audiofetch, an app that patrons can use with their phone and headphones during mainstage performances. For more information, please visit carthage.edu/arts/box-office/frequently-asked-questions
children
We welcome children old enough to enjoy our events. Please note all guests, regardless of age, are required to have a ticket.
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