Please click here to view the 2009-2010 Fine Arts Season Flyer.
Kennedy's Kitchen Traditional Irish Band
Autumn Reverie with Dancers from South Bend, Indiana
Sunday, October 4, 2009, 4:00 p.m. CDT
'Kennedy's Kitchen' is the Midwest ’s premiere traditional Irish band who plays tear-up-the floor,  heart-pumping Irish music.  If it’s tunes you want that will set your foot in motion or songs that pull at your heart strings, you’ll want Kennedy ’s Kitchen in your line up. They have played from Pittsburg to Chicago and from Dayton , Ohio to the Irish Fest in Muskegon , Michigan , entertaining audiences with their own special sound with these instruments: fiddle, whistles, banjo, bouzouki, guitars, bodhran, harmonica and bass. The young whistle player is phenomenal and his personal compositions give the band a creative base for their tunes. The selection of tunes and songs along with a personal involvement, fuels their momentum to provide a stimulating and enjoyable affair for all involved -  whether ye' a player or a listener be! All of the member of the band can be defined as being 'as homegrown as a vine-ripened tomato"!   Kennedy’s Kitchen evolved as some of the participants at the weekly seisuns at Lula 's Cafe in South Bend , Indiana formed a bond, a strong bond that involved an acute interest in the culture of and the performing of traditional Irish music as well as Irish ballads, 'pub' songs and original compositions.  Intermingled in the mix are stories, jokes and astonishingly large lies. Out of their mutual respect for each other's talents came an abiding drive to share their enthusiasm and craft with others.  They have been together since 1998, when they formed on Saint Patrick's Day at Saint Patrick 's Cathedral in South Bend at the suggestion of a little green man (never letting the facts get in the way of a good story). Kennedy 's Kitchen is a great mix of traditional Irish tunes and songs. Rowdy and toe-tapping or sweet and sentimental, you'll have it all.  Their Irish ballads and original compositions will take you to depths and heights of emotions. In 2001, Kennedy 's Kitchen appeared in the Shaheen Music Series at Saint Mary College along with Dervish, Colcannon, and The Baltimore Consort. In 2002 they performed a concert at Notre Dame with world champion step dancer Paul Cusick and USA national champion Caitlin Allen .  The Kitchen has played some of the region's premier venues for acoustic and folk music: The Front Porch in Valparaiso , LVD's in Goshen , Indiana Mainstreet Theatre in Michigan City , IN. They have performed three times on the stage at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center on the Notre Dame Campus in South Bend , IN , to include the finale with The Chieftans.  They returned to the DeBartolo Center for a concert on Sept 15, 2006 sharing the stage with Tommy Makem. The band released their first CD, ‘Kennedy’s Kitchen’, July  2003. It was mastered by Emmy Award winner, David Glasser and selected by WVPE FM 881's The Back Porch as one of the top 25 folk releases of 2003.  Their second CD, a live recording, entitled "Music in theGlen" was released in September of 2004.  The third CD ‘Pocketful of Lint’ released in November 2006 is creative, original and energetic.  The latest CD ‘The Hotting Fire’ released in March 2009 presents to you all of what makes the Kennedy’s Kitchen sound of tune, song and verse unique in the field of creative Traditional Irish Music! For more information on Kennedy's Kitchen, go to www.kennedyskitchen.com.
The photos below were taken during and immediately after the October 4, 2009 performance.
Saint Mary's College Dance Ensemble
New Dances and More from Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana
Sunday, November 8, 2009, 4:00 p.m. CDT
On Sunday, November 8 a program will be presented by the Saint Mary’s College Dance Ensemble from Notre Dame, Indiana, directed by Indi Dieckgrafe, Professor of Dance. The program entitled "New Dances and More" will be a variety of pieces - solos, duets and trios of Latin jazz, modern dance, ballet, improvisations, and dances of Tchaikovsky and Schumann. The program will also include insights into how choreographers develop dances to fit the moment and message.  Come and see how this talented troupe adapts their program to uniquely fit our space, in the friendly environment of the Fireside Room.  The concert will begin at 4:00 p.m. CST ( La Porte time).  Childcare will be provided and a free-will offering will be accepted.  A reception will follow the presentation to meet the dancers.
The photos below were taken during the November 8th performance.
Battle Creek Boychoir and Ars Voce
Cathedral, Court, and Cityscape from Battle Creek, Michigan
Sunday, March 21, 2010, 4:00 p.m. CDT
Battle Creek Boychoir                                                                             Ars Voce
“Cathedral, Court, and Cityscape” will feature two choral ensembles in concert – the Battle Creek Boychoir and Ars Voce, a small group of adult singers specializing in four-part a capella music.  Both choirs are under the organizational umbrella of the Music Center of South Central Michigan and frequently perform together at home and on tour. The Boychoir is composed of 16 to 22 boys ranging in age from 8 to 13 who are drawn from several school districts in southwest Michigan.  As a choir of treble voices, the Boychoir has sung throughout the eastern United States and Canada in concerts and church services.  They have also served as guests with major symphonies in such works as Tosca, Turandot, Carmen, La Boheme, and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.  Their overseas tours have included performances at London’s Westminster Abbey, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, the International Eisteddfod in Wales, and in concert with the Gunma Symphony Orchestra in Takasaki, Japan.  The Boychoir is under the direction of Brooks Grantier.   Ars Voc (“the vocal art”) is made up of 10 to 16 adult singers performing a capella music of many centuries, from sacred classics and madrigals of the Renaissance to the unique music of early America, to contemporary classics, sacred and secular.  Ars Voce has sung to enthusiastic audiences at the Stratford Festival of Canada, and in England at the Royal Northern College of Music and the cathedrals of Chester and Winchester.  Under the direction of Dr. Mark Wells, they are noted for bringing a polished and elegant approach to the vocal art.   Sunday’s concert will feature selections by each of the choirs separately and then together in “The Songs and Cries of London Town”, a contemporary work by Bob Chilcotte.
To see and hear the Battle Creek Boychoir, please click here.
To see and hear Ars Voce, please click here.
Winners' Art Exhibition, works of Linda Crimson and Dee Jamison
April 18 through April 30, 2010, 2:00-4:00 p.m. CDT daily
Opening Reception-Sunday, April 18, 2010, 2:00-4:00 p.m. CDT
Linda Crimson is from South Bend, Indiana, and Dee Jamison is from Chesterton, Indiana.

"Aurora" bronze work by Linda Crimson	"Dizzy" by Dee Jamison
Charles Dairay, Carillonneur from Paris, France
Sunday, June 27 at 4:00 p.m. CST
Charles Dairay previously played The Children's Carillon on June 4, 2006.
Mark Lee,  Carillonneur from Naperville, Illinois
Sunday, July 25 at 4:00 p.m. CST
Mark Lee previously played The Children's Carillon on August 6, 2006.
Tim Sleep,  Carillonneur from Naperville, Illinois
Sunday, August 22 at 4:00 p.m. CST
Tim Sleep previously played The Children's Carillon on August 28, 2005 and August 3, 2008.

All events are handicapped accessible.  Childcare is provided for all inside performances.