One of the country’s premier chamber music ensembles, the American Brass Quintet, will perform at McPherson College as part of the Fern Lingenfelter Artists Series on February 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Brown Auditorium. Admission is free.

Hailed by Newsweek as “the high priests of brass,” the American Brass Quintet is internationally recognized as one of the era’s premier chamber music ensembles. “The most distinguished” of brass quintets (American Record Guide), the group has earned its stellar reputation through its celebrated performances, genre-defining commissioned works, and ongoing commitment to the education of generations of musicians. Committed to the development of brass chamber music through higher education, the American Brass Quintet has served as Ensemble-in-Residence at The Juilliard School since 1987 and at the Aspen Music Festival since 1970.

Since its founding in 1960, the American Brass Quintet has performed on five continents, made nearly 60 recordings, and premiered more than 150 contemporary works for brass.

Admission to the Lingenfelter concert is free thanks to a generous commitment to McPherson College honoring Fern Lingenfelter. Her son, Steve Clark, chairman of Clark Investment Group of Wichita, established the fund that supports two annual music performance events with special emphasis on piano. Lingenfelter, an alumna of McPherson College, taught piano in McPherson for many years to both college students on campus and younger students at her studio downtown.

The American Brass Quintet will also be teaching a master class on February 7 at 1 p.m. in Brown Auditorium. Students from McPherson College and all area high school band students are encouraged to participate. The class is free.

McPherson College continues to require masks for all indoor campus events.

The artwork of Kansas painter and printmaker, Michael Jilg, is currently on display in the McPherson College gallery at Friendship Hall.

The exhibition also features jewelry by Joyce Jilg. The exhibition will be on display through February in Friendship Hall and is open to the public on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gallery visitors are required to comply with the MC health and safety protocols that require wearing a facemask on campus.

“Michael Jilg is one of the most distinguished painters and printmakers in Kansas,” Michaela Valli Groeblacher, gallery director, said. “We are thrilled to have his art on display. Joyce Jilg uses recycled items to make beautiful jewelry and is a perfect complement to her husband’s work.”

Michael Jilg has degrees from Fort Hays State and Wichita State University and spent 30 years as an art professor at Fort Hays State University. A past Governor’s Visual Artist, he has shown his work in more than 200 exhibitions and is represented in museum collections in the United States, England, and Asia.

Dr. Craig Treinen (left) and Randy Crow give a clinic on jazz improvisation.

The sounds of jazz could be heard across the McPherson College campus as more than 350 musicians participated in the eighth annual Jazz Festival on November 4.

This year ensembles from 18 area middle and high schools performed and participated in on-stage clinics with professional jazz educators. The clinicians also led sessions covering jazz improvisation and rhythm section issues. This year’s clinicians were Dr. Craig Treinen and Dr. Tom Morgan from Washburn University; Gregg Walker, retired jazz educator and adjunct of woodwinds at McPherson College; and Randy Crow, a hall-of-fame retired music educator from Wichita.

Schools participating in the event included: Abilene, Dodge City, Goddard, Hesston, Junction City, McPherson, Newton, Nickerson, Osage City, Riley County, Salina Central, Smoky Valley, Sterling, Wichita North, and Winfield high schools; McPherson and Smoky Valley middle schools; and McPherson College.

Director of Bands and associate professor of music at McPherson College, Kyle Hopkins, said the idea for the annual jazz festival came from area band directors asking for quality jazz education opportunities. The festival is held each year in the fall, typically a time when marching band overshadows other aspects of a band program, and has grown in size each year.

“Jazz is the quintessential American art form,” Hopkins said. “In studying jazz, you can’t separate the music from the history of jazz, which is American history. What a great thing to teach our kids!”

Awards were given for outstanding individual musicianship and each group was rated and critiqued on its performance by the clinicians.

McPherson College Theatre will welcome all USD418 elementary schools to campus when it presents “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” Nov. 15-18 in Brown Auditorium. However, the public will have an opportunity to enjoy this unique production on November 11, 12, and 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Mingenback Theatre.

When it’s time for the school Nativity play, the messiest kids decide to participate in what becomes the most memorable school play ever. This unique retelling of the Nativity features multimedia and puppetry mixed with live performing and audience participation. McPherson College first produced the play 30 years ago and it remains a holiday favorite for all ages. This is the 17^th year that McPherson College has collaborated with USD418 to provide a live theatrical experience for elementary students.

“The last time we produced a piece for USD418, it was a brand new theatre piece, and it was our last event before the disruption caused by the pandemic,” Jd Bowman, professor of theatre, said. “Now, we are looking forward to offering this tried and true, classic children’s book come to life. I am ready to share live theatre with our community once again.”

Cast members include Susanne Cunningham, Eli Jordan, Ellery McMurry, Sierra Portenier, Jean McKinney-Chance, Hannah Simmons, Cody Medlock, Sierra Grow, and Shannon Russell. The show is co-directed by Sarah Asher and Bowman.

The theatre is currently offering individual performance and season ticket options by emailing [email protected] or calling 620-242-0444. For more information on the shows, dates, or to purchase tickets online, visit https://www.mcpherson.edu/programs/theatre/season/. This performance does not offer dinner for season-ticket holders and masks will be required for this indoor performance.

A paper and mixed media sculpture is one of several artworks on exhibit in the McPherson College Art Pop 2021 juried art show.

McPherson College is exhibiting the artwork of students from 9 area high schools who have entered the college’s annual high school art competition. The exhibition, Art Pop 2021, is on display now in Friendship Hall until November 12.

The entries are selected by high school art teachers who submitted four to six pieces that represent the best artwork of their students from the current and past semesters. Awards and scholarships will be presented during a closing reception on November 12 from 5-7 p.m.

“I think many people will be surprised by the variety of media and the high quality of craftsmanship displayed by these students,” Michaela Groeblacher, associate professor of art and gallery director at McPherson College, said. “We invite everybody to see the exhibit and celebrate these young, promising artists.”

Student artwork from the following high schools is on display: Goessel, Hesston, Hutchinson, Inman, Little River, McPherson, Moundridge, Smoky Valley, and Uniontown.

The gallery exhibition is on display during regular business hours, Monday through Friday in Friendship Hall at McPherson College.

McPherson Theatre returns to the stage with its first live theatrical performance in more than a year on October 1 when it presents the Kansas premiere of “Puffs or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic.” The season-opening performance will run on October 1-2 at 7:30 p.m. in Brown Auditorium.

“Puffs” is a comic spoof on the Harry Potter stories told by members of the Hufflepuff house. It is the story about everyone else and what they did while the wizarding world hung in the balance between good and evil; its lesson is not everyone can be a hero, but they can still live their own best lives. The performance is part of the McPherson College Homecoming weekend of events.

“Puffs was postponed during last year’s season due to the pandemic,” Jd. Bowman, professor of theatre, said. “We’re so excited to be offering it for Homecoming this season. It’s a delightfully fun show whether people know the Harry Potter series or not.”

The theatre is currently offering individual performance and season ticket options by emailing [email protected] or calling 620-242-0444. For more information on the shows, dates, or to purchase tickets online, visit www.mcpherson.edu/programs/theatre/season. The dinner for season-ticket holders is not offered for this performance and masks will be required for this indoor performance

Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery collection

A variety of paintings and one drawing on loan from the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg are currently on display in the McPherson College gallery at Friendship Hall.

The exhibition featuring artwork from the permanent collection of the Sandzen Gallery will be on display through April 25, 2021. Friendship Hall is open to the public on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gallery visitors are required to comply with the MC health and safety protocols that require wearing a facemask on campus.

“All of us were affected by the pandemic; visual artists stopped exhibiting because art galleries did not offer opportunities for live exhibitions,” Michaela Valli Groeblacher, gallery director, said. “We are just beginning to schedule new exhibitions again, albeit somewhat gingerly.”

Groeblacher said she is thankful to the Sandzen Gallery and its director, Ron Michael, for offering to loan the artwork from its collection for this show.

A gallery exhibit at McPherson College titled, “Who Does She Think She Is?” brings together women artists, poets, and writers from across Kansas to celebrate women and commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the passage of the 19^th Amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women’s constitutional right to vote.

The exhibition features works from both young and old, traditional and contemporary. The works cover a wide range of media including, drawing, painting, graphic design, sculpture, assemblage, textiles, jewelry, photography, ceramics, and more. Poems and writings by women writers from the college also accompany the artwork.

“I was inspired by this year’s celebration of 100 years of women’s suffrage and by the under-representation of women in the arts,” Gallery Director Michaela Valli Groeblacher said. “The genesis of this show is rather organic and spontaneous. I invited women from all over Kansas to exhibit their art, poetry, and prose, focusing on works that many might not have seen before.”

Women artists have been marginalized for centuries, according to Groeblacher. The exhibition cites information from the National Museum of Women in the Arts that says until the 1970s it was nearly impossible to find information about women artists referenced in art history books. Women artists still face obstacles and disparities today and are persistently underrepresented in museum collections and exhibitions.

The exhibition is open now through April 18 in Friendship Hall on the college campus. It is open to the public during regular business hours, Monday through Friday. An artists’ reception will be held on April 18 from 5-7 p.m.

Artists in the exhibition include:

Becky Hyberger – Bennington
Debbie Wagner – Bennington
Roberta Eichenberg – Emporia
Linda Ganstrom – Hays
Julie Unruh – Lin
Lee Becker – Lindsborg
Maleta Forsberg – Lindsborg
Tara Killingsworth – Lindsborg
Phyllis Liljegren-Newson – Lindsborg
Michaela Valli Groeblacher – Lindsborg
Briana Zimmerling – Lindsborg
Geraldine Craig – Manhattan
Dee Erway-Sherwood – McPherson
Jen Pollard – McPherson
Angela Muller – Russell
Ruth Amortize – Salina
Connie Burket – Salina
Karla Prickett – Salina
Sandy Wedel – Salina
Carol Long – St. John
Barbara Waterman-Peters – Topeka
Kelsey Gosset Dennis – Wichita
Marilyn Grisham – Wichita