Skip to content

Songs at the Center – The Wonder Women of Country (Kelly Willis, Brennen Leigh, Melissa Carper)

Songs at the Center is proud to welcome songwriters Kelly Willis, Brennen Leigh, and Melissa Carper to the McConnell Arts Center, alongside our host, Eric Gnezda.

YOUR participation is a key part of the success of our series, having been broadcast to more than 400 PBS stations from coast-to-coast in nine seasons. Bring friends, and feel free to come and go as you please!

This taping is FREE to attend, registration is recommended.

Worthington Chamber Orchestra – An Evening with Schubert: Octet in F major, D. 803

Franz Schubert greatly admired Beethoven and modeled his Octet in F major on Beethoven’s famous Septet, using a similar six-movement structure and instrumentation. However, Schubert added an additional violin to the string complement. Schubert balances entertainment and ambition in his writing through jaunty dances, hummable tunes, and heart-rending moments. Like Beethoven’s Septet, these elements are married with virtuosic moments led by the first violinist and clarinetist. The Octet in F major is the largest of Schubert’s chamber works in instrumentation and duration.

Dr. V’s Generations Band – Folk Music Celebration

Ohio University professor celebrates the work and generosity of one of his recent physician-assistant (PA) graduates, Andi Lamb, PA-C, who provides medical care to vulnerable patients in both Appalachia and Africa.

Jeff Vasiloff (“Dr. V”), who teaches at Ohio University’s Dublin Medical Campus, and his Generations Band will present an evening of beautiful music and words to raise awareness and funds for medical clinics in Uganda operated by Imani Milele at imanimilele.com

The concert will also feature guest vocalist Dr. John McCarthy, Dean of the College of Health Sciences and Profession of Ohio University....

The Worthington Chorus presents: Earthrise

Earth day comes around every year just as the Earth orbits the sun every year. Keeping our planet healthy and safe is a challenge for those in our lifetime. Join The Worthington Chorus as we reflect on our planet and discover how we can create change in ourselves to then change the world.

The Worthington Chorus presents: Earthrise

Earth day comes around every year just as the Earth orbits the sun every year. Keeping our planet healthy and safe is a challenge for those in our lifetime. Join The Worthington Chorus as we reflect on our planet and discover how we can create change in ourselves to then change the world.

Breaking The News (Cinema Columbus Film Festival 2024)

Frustrated by the dearth of women and people of color in the media, Emily Ramshaw wanted to do something radical about the white men dominating newsrooms. So, in 2020, she and a motivated group of women journalists banded together to buck the status quo and launch The 19th* News, a digital news start-up based in Austin, Texas. The film documents the honest discussions at The 19th* around race and gender equity, revealing that change doesn’t come easy, and showcases how one newsroom confronts these challenges both as a workplace and in their journalism.

$10

Lifelong Learning Institute – Paul Beck – The 2024 Election: Current and Prospective

With control of the presidency and Congress at stake in a deeply polarized electorate, and the integrity of the electoral process itself under challenge, 2024 is shaping up as one of the most important elections in American history. By the end of April, the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees should have been decided, pending ratification by their summer national conventions. Many of the parties’ candidates for all 435 House seats and the one-third of Senate seats on the ballot in 2024 also will have been chosen. The class will review the outcomes of these nomination contests and how the different rules by party and by state have governed them. Attention then will turn to the prospective general elections for both the presidency and the Congress...

HuaYun Dance Group – China Revue on Stage! (Cultural Connections)

HuaYun Dance Group - Culturally rich revues featuring a mix of performing arts date back over 2000 years in China. This program will give audiences a taste of some of these arts, including dances, instrumental music, martial-arts, and more. The performances will highlight the unique expressive styles and rhythms of Chinese classical dance and diverse dances of China’s ethnic minority peoples.

$10 – $20

Lifelong Learning Institute – Michael Yonchak – You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me: A Motown Retrospective

Motown played an integral role in American music during the late 1950s into the 1960s. Join Michael Yonchak as he discusses the unique “one stop shop” business model of this independently owned family business. Learn about one of the powerhouse studio bands of the time. Experience legendary Motown artists in action through historical footage and listen to an overview of this golden era of American music with a specially curated playlist. Come enjoy the unforgettable sounds of Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, and more!

Dr. Michael Yonchak is an Associate Professor of Music at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, where he directs the wind ensemble and oversees the newly revamped commercial music area. Dr. Yonchak earned the Bachelor of Music in Education (percussion emphasis) and Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting degrees from the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio, and later completed the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Wind Conducting from the University of Kentucky. His dissertation monograph focused on the wind ensemble compositions of American composer Frank Zappa, which has subsequently led to the publication of journal articles and presentations on this composer, ongoing research into American popular music and culture, and development of academic courses related to the history of rock and roll and current protest music. Prior to his time in Kentucky, Dr. Yonchak taught for five and a half years in the public schools of northeast Ohio. In addition to maintaining an active performance schedule in the greater Columbus area, he is a clinician on innovative educational pedagogy that integrates popular music styles into various teaching disciplines, presenting sessions for the Ohio Music Education Association’s State Conference and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Summer Teacher Institute.

$10

Isaya Oleporuo – Growing Up Maasai (Cultural Connections)

Isaya Oleporuo, a Maasai Warrior from a remote village in northern Tanzania, loves to share his culture with others.  In his interactive “Growing up Maasai” program you will learn about this peaceful, kind and sharing people who live in extended-family homes (bomas).  Maasai life has remained largely unchanged for the past several centuries.  The arts and its symbolism is very rich in Maasai culture.  Isaya will show and demonstrate their traditions, dress, beautiful jewelry (available for purchase to help the Maasai women), dance and song.  He will tell about the roles of elders, young men and women in their culture.  Boys learn from fathers about becoming warriors who are guardians of their cows and servant-leaders for their people.  In the past, girls have become wives and mothers at a very young age.  You will also learn about Isaya’s work to rescue young girls from forced childhood marriage and finding sponsors to help them further their education.

$5 – $10

Dhvani – Magic Bow

Lalgudi Jayaraman (1930-2013) had a unique attribute: a visual imagination. He painted characters and settings on his mindscreen as he composed his music. His compositions became the auditory forms of the visual scenarios he imagined.  He found greater freedom to do this by opting for ragas never used before for the genres he chose.

That is how his jatiswaram in Raga Rasikapriya depicts a shipwrecked couple exploring an uninhabited island, the varnam in Charukesi follows a woman deluded into playing hide- and-seek with the lover - who has never left her side! The tillana in Pahadi has a God dancing on the mountain, protecting nature and the environment, to nourish body and soul.

My script and directorial design grew out of listening to the master bowman’s music from childhood. My understanding acquired more dimensions when I interviewed him and reviewed his concerts as a critic (The Hindu). Now JustUs Repertory combines dance, music and storytelling to recreate the visual scenarios for the music as imagined by the composer. We also roam with him through the village scenes of his childhood which inspired him in his life and music.

$30
Back To Top