Rowan University’s College of Performing Arts launched its 2024-2025 performance series this week, with an ever-expanding program of ensemble concerts, MainStage productions, and guest artists coming together to create, collaborate, and perform. Once again, students and faculty from the Departments of Music and Theater & Dance will bring audiences more music, movement, and unforgettable moments.

What you can look forward to:

The MainStage Season
The Department of Theatre and Dance opens the MainStage season in November with The stormShakespeare’s fantastical tale of betrayal, exile, magic and revenge. Told through a mix of dance and theatre, the exiled Prospero, holding his only daughter and mourning the loss of his post, washes up on a tiny forgotten island. Years later, when those who wronged him fall into his clutches, his great game begins. The story raises questions: can there be revenge without violence? Can we be redeemed through art? What happens when the things we have thrown away come back to haunt us?

Then in December the cabaret performance Coming together…inspired by historical accounts and personalities such as Timothy Leary, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the newly conceived dance cabaret will present music from the late 1960s and early 1970s and encourage peaceful cooperation.

Marie Rader presents series
The Marie Rader Series fall offering brings artists to campus who are no strangers to some of the nation’s most iconic stages, including the Kimmel Center, Broadway, and beyond. The series kicks off with a special celebration on September 28th featuring world-renowned pianist Mikhail Voskresensky, and then on October 19th, PHILADANCO! The Philadelphia Dance Company How we are sustainable, that tells the story of natural cycles, continuity, shared purpose and spiritual power. In December, Tony Award-winning New Jersey native Ali Stroker will perform an afternoon concert of Broadway classics with a touch of Christmas flair, as well as special guest singers from Rowan’s theater and dance departments.

For more information about the Marie Rader series, visit go.rowan.edu/marieraderseries

The Music Department
Rowan’s student bands, choirs and orchestras will present their fall concerts and performances throughout the semester, beginning with a collaboration by the Concert Choir and Wind Ensemble on October 13. The two ensembles will perform separate works before coming together for a joint performance of “Meridian” by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo. The collaboration will continue with a collage concert on the 17th, featuring Rowan’s Wind Ensemble, Concert Band and Pride of the Profs Marching Band. The bands will phone home with music from the timeless classic, ET: The extra-terrestrial. Later this fall, the symphony will present works by Korngold and Gershwin on December 5, including a performance by Philadelphia Orchestra artist-in-residence and cellist Udi Bar-David.

In addition, the department’s Spotlight Series continues with special performances by faculty and guest artists throughout the semester. Spotlights include performances by Behn Gillece and Brian Betz, Timothy Schwarz, Earl Phillips Big Band, Denny DiBlasio and Lourin Plant, Alex Davis, the Halcyon Consort, and the Navy Commodores, United States Navy Band.

For a complete list of performances, see go.rowan.edu/tickets.