Medusa
Fri, Oct. 3, 2025 | 7:30 p.m. | Harper Hall
With their Canadian Folk Music Award (CFMA)-nominated debut album, Medusa’s dynamic arrangement style cross-pollinates the sounds of Middle Eastern, Scandinavian, Celtic, Appalachian, and Eastern European music, as well as original tunes, to create something previously unheard. Medusa is Georgia Hathaway, Lea Kirstein, Marta Sołek, and Saskia Tomkins. For these four seasoned string players, whose collective experience as side players in successful bands spans decades, Medusa is a refuge for natural creation.
Harlem Quartet
Fri, Oct. 17, 2025 | 7:30 p.m. | Harper Hall
Grammy-winning Harlem Quartet, featuring Ilmar Gavilán, Melissa White, Jaime Amador, and Felix Umansky, has earned acclaim for its dynamic performances and fresh approach to classical music. The New York Times praised their “panache,” while the Cincinnati Enquirer lauded their “new attitude to classical music.” They are most well-known for their innovative programming, both through their own work and collaborations, which seamlessly mixes classical repertoire with jazz, and Latin, as well as contemporary works by composers from underrepresented backgrounds, championing diversity in classical music.
Buy Tickets for the Performing Arts Series!
Tickets can be purchased online or over the phone during the academic year at 920-832-6749.
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Lucía
Fri, Nov. 7, 2025 | 7:30 p.m. | Memorial Chapel
Three years ago, singer Lucía was a finalist at the prestigious Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, and the first Mexican artist to enter the contest. When it came time to select the song that she would perform in the final round, she picked a standard that reflected her musical sensibility, colored in equal parts by the beauty of jazz and the Latin American songbook. “We played ‘What a Difference a Day Makes,’ which was popularized by Dinah Washington, but in its initial incarnation was a bolero written in Spanish by María Grever,” she says from her home in New York City. “We started it as a jazz ballad in English, then switched to Spanish and added some zapateado dancing.” “What a Difference a Day Makes” is now the opening cut of the self-titled Lucía, an exquisite debut album that showcases the luminous qualities of her voice, and her superb technique and versatility.
Ari Hoenig, jazz drummer
With the Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble and Lawrence jazz faculty
Sat, Nov. 8, 2025 | 7:30 p.m. | Memorial Chapel
Ari Hoenig is a jazz drummer, composer, and educator known for his unusual and intense approach to drumming emphasizing complex rhythms in direct harmony with other group members. Hoenig is widely noted particularly for his drumming not being relegated to just keeping tempo or being a side issue to the music he plays in, but rather for elevating drumming as an indispensable part of the performance. The LU Jazz Ensemble will be under the direction of Patty Darling ’85.
Nomfusi
Mon, Feb. 2, 2026 | 8 p.m. | Harper Hall
The soul of Mama Afrika meets the fire of Motown and Soul—in a pint-sized packet of dynamite. After a mere six years in the industry, and with over 20 international tours under her belt, Nomfusi has become one of South Africa’s most sought-after performers worldwide. Indeed, there is nothing small about the tiny songstress with the gigantic voice and tons of charm. With sheer will and determination, she has risen from the squalor of South African squatter camps to some of the finest stages of the world.
Marc Ribot Quartet: Hurry Red Telephone
Sat, Feb. 21, 2026 | 7:30 p.m. | Memorial Chapel
Marc Ribot (pronounced REE-bow) was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1954. After moving to New York City in 1978, Ribot was a member of the soul/punk Realtones, and from 1984 to 1989, of John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards. Between 1979 and 1985, Ribot also worked as a side musician with Brother Jack McDuff, Wilson Pickett, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Chuck Berry, and many others. Ribot’s Spiritual Unity worked together for several years in the early ’00s, continuing their Albert Ayler-tinged trajectory as Grimes Taylor Ribot Trio after the death of trumpet player Roy Campbell Jr, and until Grimes’ failing health forced an end to their legendary performances in 2018. “Those gigs with Henry were the best music I’ve ever played on... or heard…” said Ribot of their last run of Trio gigs. Ribot and drummer Chad Taylor had been looking for a format to continue this work ever since. With Hurry Red Telephone, they’ve found it.
Zoie Reams ’ 14, mezzo-soprano
Fri, Apr. 10, 2026 | 7:30 p.m. | Memorial Chapel
American mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams, a Lawrence University Class of 2014 alumna, has been lauded by Opera News for her “velvety mezzo” and for how she “phrase[s] with elegance and articulate[s] coloratura nimbly.”
Lone Piñon
Mon, Apr. 13, 2026 | 8 p.m. | Harper Hall
Lone Piñon is a New Mexican string band, or “orquesta típica,” whose music celebrates the integrity and diversity of their region's cultural roots. With fiddles, upright bass, guitars, accordions, vihuela, and bilingual vocals, they play a wide spectrum of the traditional music that is at home in New Mexico.
Andy Akiho & Imani Winds
Fri, Apr. 17, 2026 | 7:30 p.m. | Memorial Chapel
Andy Akiho is a Grammy-nominated and Pulitzer Prize finalist composer whose bold works unravel intricate and unexpected patterns while surpassing preconceived boundaries of classical music. He is an in-demand composer who has earned international acclaim for his large-scale works that emphasize the natural theatricality of live performance. The Grammy Award-winning Imani Winds is celebrating a quarter century of music making. The group has led a revolution and evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, imaginative collaborations, and outreach endeavors. This collaboration will include Akiho’s BeLoud, BeLoved, BeLonging, a powerful piece commissioned by Imani Winds.
ARTEMIS
Ft. Renee Rosnes, Ingrid Jensen, Nicole GLover, Noriko Ueda, Allison Miller
Fri, May 15, 2026 | 7:30 p.m. | Memorial Chapel
Founded by pianist and composer Renee Rosnes, ARTEMIS is a powerful ensemble of instrumental virtuosos. Along with Rosnes, the quintet consists of trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, saxophonist Nicole Glover, bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller. Performances across North America and Europe at major venues and festivals have garnered high praise from audiences and critics alike.