Prior Performing Arts Center

Wind Ensemble Pop-Up Concert
2025-11-24 18:00 (America/New_York) | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – The Beehive –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Wind Ensemble Pop-Up Concert

Join the Holy Cross Wind Ensemble for a seasonal pop-up concert in the Beehive. Embrace a moment of levity and seasonal beauty before the rush of finals.
For this concert, music selections will be chosen by the performers.

Details

November 24, 20256 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

The BeehivePrior Performing Arts Center

Holy Cross Laptop Ensemble Federation
2025-12-02 20:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Booth Media Lab –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Holy Cross Laptop Ensemble Federation

Join the Holy Cross Laptop Ensemble Federation (H-CLEF) for a concert of choreographed sound and image showcasing final student projects written for Music 242: Coding Music.

Details

December 2, 20258 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Booth Media LabPrior Performing Arts Center

Forty-Seventh Annual Festival of Lessons & Carols
2025-12-04 20:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – St. Joseph Memorial Chapel –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Forty-Seventh Annual Festival of Lessons & Carols

Please join us for the College’s Annual Festival of Lessons and Carols for Advent.
The service will take place in St. Joseph Memorial Chapel on Thursday, December 4 at 8 p.m.

Details

December 4, 20258 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel

Science Ball
2025-12-05 18:00 | HOLY CROSS COMMUNITY – The Beehive –, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Science Ball

TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT. Walk-up sales will not be available.
Students and faculty have been paired with designers who will elevate a lab coat to reflect their research and science identity. These lab coats will be worn by the scientists in a fashion show. Attendees are invited to decorate a lab coat and hit the runway during a special segment.
The event also features speakers from Holy Cross (Prof. Ann Marie Leshkowich), Boston University (Prof. Lucy Kim – Associate Professor of Art and Painting who received the 2022 Creative Capital Award for her project creating images with melanin produced by live, genetically-modified bacteria) and Tufts University (Prof. Dan Jay – Professor of Biology who creates art pieces from unusual chemicals and chemical reactions).

Details

December 5, 20256 p.m.

Price

Free entry, registration required.

Venue

The BeehivePrior Performing Arts Center

Gamelan Gita Sari Concert
2025-12-06 19:30 | DEPARTMENTS OF MUSIC AND THEATRE & DANCE – Boroughs Theatre –, 1 College St, Worcester, 01610, United States
Departments of Music and Theatre & Dance

Gamelan Gita Sari Concert

Join us for this end-of-semester performance from the students in I Nyoman Catra’s Balinese dance and gamelan classes, in which they will display what they have learned in a delightful evening showcasing the Balinese performing arts.

Details

December 6, 20257:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Boroughs TheatrePrior Performing Arts Center

Traditional Irish Music Hour
2026-01-21 12:00 | Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Traditional Irish Music Hour

Join us for a Irish traditional music concert with Diarmuid Ó Meachair (accordion) & Andrew Caden (fiddle).
Diarmuid Ó Meachair is a traditional Irish accordion and melodeon player from Cúil Aodha, Co. Cork, and is also a sean-nós singer. In 2022, he was awarded the prestigious TG4 Ceoltóir Óg na Bliana (Young Musician of the Year). Diarmuid currently teaches Irish traditional music at College of the Holy Cross. Diarmuid, who has performed with De Dannan internationally since 2022, has released four solo albums and he has been nominated for three RTÉ Folk Awards: Best Instrumentalist (2023 & 2024) and Best Emerging Artist (2023).
Andrew Caden is a fiddle player originally from Bethesda, MD. Andrew is currently based in Dublin, where he works at the Irish Traditional Music Archive. Andrew is completing an MA programme in Archives & Records Management at the University College of Dublin. Andrew, who was taught primarily by New York fiddle player Brian Conway, counts among his greatest musical influences Michael Coleman, James ‘Lad’ O’Beirne, Seán McGuire, and Frankie Gavin. Andrew has performed and taught at many traditional music festivals throughout Ireland, and he has been recognised by numerous established traditional musicians as one of the most promising young Irish fiddle players of today. In June 2025, Andrew released a duet album “Across the Atlantic” with flute player Conor McDonagh (available on Bandcamp), which has been met with critical acclaim from The Journal of Music and The Irish Echo.

Details

January 21, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Impetus: Visual Arts Faculty 2026
2026-02-03 - 2026-04-08 | Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Above: Matthew Gamber and Yael Eban, detail of Formation (5) from Marbre Vivant, 2022, photogram of ink on gelatin silver paper.

Cantor Art Gallery

Impetus: Visual Arts Faculty 2026

The faculty of the Studio Art program at Holy Cross are fundamental to the student creative experience. In addition to teaching and mentoring, these faculty members maintain a vibrant studio practice outside of the classroom and conduct scholarly research in areas ranging from the environment, feminism, the spectacle of religion, the body, memory, and consumerism.
Featuring work by Rachelle Beaudoin, John Carney, Marcus Clarke, Hilary Doyle, Colleen Fitzgerald, Matthew Gamber, Anna McNeary, Victor Pacheco, Cristi Rinklin, and Leslie Schomp.

Exhibition Events

Opening ReceptionTuesday, February 3 | 6:30 p.m.Cantor Art Gallery

Conversations on Contemporary Art and Faith: Marcus Clarke and Peter FritzMonday, March 16 | 12 p.m.Cantor Art Gallery

Treadmill of Information: Art, Influencers and Wellness CultureWednesday, March 18 | 12 p.m.Cantor Art Gallery

Details

February 3-April 8, 2026

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery3rd Floor, The Prior Performing Arts Center

Into The Woods
2026-02-05 - 2026-02-15 | DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DANCE – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, 01610, United States
Department of Theatre & Dance

Into The Woods

Book by James Lapine
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Meaghan Deiter

Buy Tickets

Perhaps the stories we learned as children aren’t as simple as they once seemed.
Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s witty and daring reimagining of classic fairy tales, leaves behind the binary world of good versus evil and right versus wrong to explore what really happens after “happily ever after.” Little Red Riding Hood and Jack the Giant Killer confront the consequences of their choices, and their decisions echo throughout their community, while Cinderella and Rapunzel discover that getting what you want doesn’t always lead to happiness.
Sondheim and Lapine welcome us into an unconventional kind of fairy tale that challenges conventional thinking and the tales we thought we knew. After all, witches can be right and giants can be good. It’s up to us to decide in this production from the Holy Cross Department of Theatre & Dance.

EVENING PRESENTATIONS

February 5 @ 7:30 p.m.February 6 @ 7:30 p.m.February 7 @ 7:30 p.m.February 12 @ 7:30 p.m.February 13 @ 7:30 p.m.February 14 @ 7:30 p.m.

MATINEE PRESENTATIONS

February 8 @ 2 p.m.February 15 @ 2 p.m.

Details

February 5-7, 12-14 @ 7:30 p.m. February 8 & 15 @ 2 p.m.

Price

$20 Public | $15 Holy Cross Community

Venue

Luth Concert HallThe Prior Performing Arts Center

Winter Homecoming Concert: Julianna Stratton ’26, cello & Robert Gardner ’26, piano
2026-02-07 12:00 | Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Winter Homecoming Concert

Julianna Stratton ’26, cello

Robert Gardner ’26, piano

This program explores the complex themes of memory, political resistance, and the formation of identity through place and experience. Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata, a classical example of a composer writing music grappling with the political environment of his time, is paired with a selection from his student, Galina Ustvolskaya’s “Grand Duet,” a work that challenges the normative compositional and musical boundaries of her time.
Together, these works take us on a musical journey of resistance and creativity in the face of oppression, ranging from cosmic, soaring melodies, to angry, hammering, defiance. In the words of Ustvolskaya herself: “The important thing is that the music is genuine and strong.”

Details

February 7, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Cantor Art Gallery3rd Floor, Prior Performing Arts Center

Semiosis Quartet Residency
2026-02-10 19:30 | Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Semiosis Quartet Residency

Florescence
Semiosis QuartetNicole Parks – violinEmma Burge – violinAmelia Hollander Ames – violaOlivia Katz – cello
Semiosis Quartet offers a respite from the February cold with music for string quartet by Holy Cross faculty Matthew Jaskot and Chris Arrell, and more.
Arrell’s Voyagers draws inspiration from breathtaking images of the solar system from the Voyager Interstellar Mission, which began in 1977. The concert includes the premiere performance of Jaskot’s Florescence, which is inspired by a short excerpt of text from Sufi mystic Bawa Muhaiyadeen (translated by Coleman Barks): “You’re the meaning that blooms in the heart. In this world of flowers, in the next world.”
Join us as we navigate through musical terrain to explore florescence in many forms. Sonic blooms, fluid harmonies, moments of stillness, and rhythmic intensity are just a few ways that the evening’s repertoire will transport you to another sound-world full of new and fascinating discoveries!

Details

February 10, 20267:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Makers and Mentors: A Studio Faculty Roundtable
2026-02-11 16:00 | Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Faculty artists at Impetus exhibition opening (February 3, 2026), photo by Troy B. Thompson.

Cantor Art Gallery

Makers and Mentors: A Studio Faculty Roundtable

The ten exhibiting artists featured in Impetus: Visual Arts Faculty 2026 share insights about maintaining a professional creative practice. Facilitated by senior studio art majors at Holy Cross, these faculty members and artists answer questions about nurturing the creative process, balancing personal life and professional work, and how to find joy and motivation while navigating career growth.

Free entry, open to all.

Details

February 11, 20264 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Cantor Art Gallery3rd Floor, Prior Performing Arts Center

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series: American Guild of Organists (Worcester Chapter)
2026-02-15 15:00 | St. Joseph Memorial Chapel, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

American Guild of Organists (Worcester Chapter)

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series

Join us for this Chapel Artist Series presentation featuring Robert Potterton, Robin Dinda and Andrew Sheranian, all members of the Worcester Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Details

February 15, 20263 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel

Lunchtime Concert: Blue in the Beehive
2026-02-18 12:00 | The Beehive in The Prior, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Blue in the Beehive

Lunchtime Concert Series

Chaney Goldstein ‘28, saxophoneChris Maratea ‘28, bassSean Dooley ‘29, piano
Join us for a lunchtime set of jazz standards performed by Chaney Goldstein (saxophone), Sean Dooley (piano), and Chris Maratea (bass), and incorporating styles such as swing, ballads, Latin and funk.

Details

February 18, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

The BeehivePrior Performing Arts Center

Christine Sun Kim | Deaf Death [SOLD OUT]
2026-02-19 18:00 | PRIOR PRESENTS – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Prior Presents 2025–26

Christine Sun Kim

Deaf Death

A co-presentation with the Department of Visual Arts

Reserve Tickets

This presentation is sold out. There is no wait list. Please check back at the reservation link above, as returned tickets will be added back to online sale inventory in real time.
Christine Sun Kim is a Berlin-based artist who works with sound, language, and the complexities of communication. She uses musical notation, infographics, and language—both in her native American Sign Language (ASL) and written English—to create drawings, site-specific murals, paintings, video installations, and sculptures.
In her lecture-performance Deaf Death, Kim explores the frequent autocorrection of “deaf” to “death” in text-based technologies. Through a study of popular media, memes, disability signage, and recent headlines, Kim questions what defines disability, and how different definitions reflect fears and hopes for the future.

Details

Feb 19, 20266 p.m.

Price

Free entry, reservation required.

Venue

Luth Concert Hall
The Prior Performing Arts Center

“Kim’s work . . . is often the first encounter museumgoers have with the question of what it is like to live in a hearing world as a Deaf person — with all the anger, frustration and, most strikingly when it comes to Kim’s work, the humor that it entails.”
Aruna D'Souza
Contributor, The New York Times

Explore More

Cantor Window Exhibition
Christine Sun Kim (b. 1980, active Berlin, Germany), Mind Touch Touch Touch, 2025, digital print of charcoal drawingCourtesy of the artist, François Ghebaly, Los Angeles and New York, and WHITE SPACE, Beijing.
Repetition and iteration define Christine Sun Kim’s work, which distinctly incorporates the visual representation of sign language. This mural was made exclusively for the Cantor’s front window and comes from a body of work that combines text and graphic representations of signs in American Sign Language (ASL). Here, Kim depicts the arc of the hand movement in the sign obsess, which is a compound formed by the signs for mind and touch. Through her practice, Kim foregrounds Deaf culture; explores the relationship between sound, language, and image; and explores the social politics of communication.
CLICK HERE for a video of obsess being signed in ASL.

Brooks Scholars Concert
2026-02-19 19:30 | Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Brooks Scholars Concert

Sophie Rose Riopel ‘29, saxophoneLogan Sherwin Kornilov ‘28, pianoJohn Hannagan ‘28, button accordion Robert Gardner ‘26, piano
The Brooks Scholarship is a four-year, full tuition scholarship offered to a music major or double major in music and another discipline. Recipients demonstrate outstanding accomplishment in their area of musical study as well as significant academic achievement. The Department of Music proudly presents a concert featuring the Brooks Scholars, our most accomplished student artists.

Details

February 19, 20267:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Holy Cross Wind Ensemble & Orchestra: Beloved Classics from Broadway to the Silver Screen
2026-02-25 19:30 | Luth Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Beloved Classics from Broadway to the Silver Screen

Holy Cross Wind Ensemble & Orchestra

Join us for a program featuring some of the greatest show tunes and movie soundtracks arranged for orchestra and wind ensemble.

Details

Feb 25, 20267:30 p.m.

Price

Free entry

Venue

Luth Concert HallPrior Performing Arts Center

Eddie Jenkins ’72 African Art Collection Showing at The Prior
2026-02-26 - 2026-02-28 | Boroughs Theatre (Prior Performing Arts Center), 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
From Benin, Nigeria to Roxbury, MA

How Art Imitates Life–A Painful But Inspired Journey

Eddie Jenkins ’72 African Art Collection Showing at The Prior

With two can’t-miss community concert presentations set to wrap up Black History Month in 2026, The Prior invites patrons to witness a showing of African artwork collected by distinguished alumnus and Holy Cross football legend Eddie Jenkins ’72.
This showing of the Jenkins collection will be on display in the Boroughs Theatre from February 26-28. In addition to an opening event on the evening of February 26, The Prior offers additional, pre-concert viewing opportunities for patrons planning to attend Music Worcester’s presentation of the Aaron Diehl Trio on February 27 and Kingdom Voice & Music’s presentation of their “Courage to Remember” choral program respectively.
Collector’s Presentations on February 26 & 27 will feature performances by rapper Wyatt Johnson (of We Move In Color) and drummer Stephen O’Neal.

Details

Thu Feb 26, 20266:30-8:30 p.m. | Showing7 p.m. | Collector’s Presentation

Fri Feb 27, 20266:30-8:30 p.m. | Showing7 p.m. | Collector’s Presentation

Sat Feb 28, 20264-9 p.m. | Showing4:30 p.m. | Collector’s Presentation

Price

Free entry, open to all.

Venue

Boroughs TheatreThe Prior Performing Arts Center

“African Art parallels African History. Throughout its vast continent of myriad cultures, languages, climates and politics, its people share a ceremonial respect of a spiritual authority; an admiration of nature and the animal kingdom; and an understanding of Slavery’s lasting influence on natural law and order. I believe these commonalities are bound together, and I have collected various pieces that highlight all three after first being introduced to this art in Roxbury, MA by Aboubacar in 1994. Throughout our friendship and trade, I began to understand the Diaspora and the journey of my people.”
Eddie Jenkins '72

Music Worcester at The Prior: Aaron Diehl Trio
2026-02-27 20:00 | Luth Concert Hall – Prior Performing Arts Center, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Music Worcester at The Prior

Aaron Diehl Trio

Buy Tickets

Pianist Aaron Diehl’s nuanced sound bridges the gap between jazz and classical music with sophistication. His trio, known from their Jazz at Lincoln Center performances, builds a program for piano, bass, and drums and explores the creation of musically diverse environments.
Aaron is a staple of the New York jazz scene, collaborating with artists like Benny Golson, Philip Glass, Cécile McLorin Salvant and more. His trio unites jazz standards with classical music, bringing them into focus, and infusing them with his trademark brilliance. His recent collaborations with ensembles like The Knights have invited listeners in for a taste of what Diehl has to offer.
Join Music Worcester at The Prior for a performance that’s fit for any musical palette.

There’s an entire world of jazz in Aaron Diehl’s playing . . . he makes the case that jazz is not one style or genre but many, gliding gorgeously among decades of artistic influences.
Philadelphia Inquirer

Details

February 27, 20268 p.m.

Price

Adults $50-$76Students $20Youths $10

Venue

Luth Concert HallThe Prior Performing Arts Center

Learn More

Eddie Jenkins ’72 African Art Collection Showing

Join us before the Aaron Diehl Trio performance to witness a showing of African artwork collected by distinguished alumnus and Holy Cross football legend Eddie Jenkins ’72. Free entry, open to all.
Boroughs Theatre in The Prior6:30-8:30 p.m. | Showing7 p.m. | Collector’s Presentation

Explore More

About Music Worcester

Celebrating More Than 160 Years of Music and Culture
Music Worcester has been bringing world-renowned musicians and ensembles to Central Massachusetts since its founding in 1858. Today, the organization regularly presents world-renowned orchestras, soloists, and ensembles from the worlds of classical, jazz, folk, world music, and dance to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
In 2024, Music Worcester launched THE COMPLETE BACH, an 11-year project to present live performances of all J.S. Bach’s known works. Music Worcester’s education and outreach initiatives include in-school workshops and masterclasses, and the availability of free and reduced-price tickets. In 2026, Dr. Everett McCorvey will serve as the Artist-in-Residence, a bi-annual program that establishes deep community relationships with an individual artist.
Learn more at MUSICWORCESTER.ORG

Courage to Remember: From Royal Roots to Living Legends - A Black History Month Celebration
2026-02-28 18:00 | Luth Concert Hall – Prior Performing Arts Center, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Courage to Remember

From Royal Roots to Living Legends – A Black History Month Celebration

Buy Tickets

Kingdom Voice & Music will be highlighting powerful stories of Black history that deserve to be remembered and passed down—stories of African royalty, historical heroes, living legends within our communities, and the generational wisdom that continues to shape our future.
Featuring Award winning Storyteller, Valerie Stephens, local choirs, dance groups, and local food vendors will provide a fully immersive experience.
Kingdom Voice & Music is also partnering with the Alzheimer’s Association to shed light on Alzheimer’s and dementia within the African American community, providing both awareness and resources for families affected.

Details

February 28, 20264:30 p.m. | Art Collection Presentation (see below)5:30 p.m. | Pre-Show Presentation6 p.m. | Show8 p.m. | Vendor Exhibition

Price

$29 | $39 | $55

Venue

Luth Concert HallThe Prior Performing Arts Center

Learn More

Eddie Jenkins ’72 African Art Collection Showing

Join us before the Courage To Remember performance to witness a showing of African artwork collected by distinguished alumnus and Holy Cross football legend Eddie Jenkins ’72. Free entry, open to all.

Boroughs Theatre in The Prior4-9 p.m. | Showing4:30 p.m. | Collector’s Presentation

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series: Renee Louprette, Bard College
2026-03-10 19:00 | St. Joseph Memorial Chapel, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Renee Louprette, Bard College

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series

American organist Renée Anne Louprette maintains an international career as recitalist, conductor, collaborative musician, and teacher.
Professor Louprette’s musicianship is renowned worldwide, and this is a recital not to be missed.

Details

March 10, 20267 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel

Kalaf Epalanga Residency: Listening Session
2026-03-12 17:00 | Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Kalaf Epalanga Residency

Listening Session

This March, Angolan musician and writer Kalaf Epalanga joins the Music Department as a 2026 Patrick E. Moriarty Visiting Scholar.
As a musician, Kalaf co-founded the record label Enchufada and is a member of the music collective Buraka Som Sistema. He co-curated the 2023 Africa Writes Book Festival in London (UK) and curated the 2021 Berlin African Book Festival (Germany). “Whites Can Dance Too” is his debut novel, translated to English by Daniel Hahn and published by Faber.
During his two-day residency, Kalaf will host public events and meet with students during in-class visits.

Details

March 12, 20265 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Sunny Jain's Wild Wild East
2026-03-12 19:30 | PRIOR PRESENTS – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Prior Presents 2025–26

Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East

A co-presentation with the Department of Music

Purchase Tickets

The career of composer, drummer and dhol player Sunny Jain is a celebration of cultural diaspora. Its deep-rooted tradition ripples outward, changing – and being changed by – the cultures that it touches. The ease with which Jain braids his sound highlights the interconnectedness of global styles — and that sense of connection goes beyond the music itself, as Jain leads his group across genre borders he knows are arbitrary.
Defined by its restlessness, and daring enough to encompass many different identities, Wild Wild East is raucous, powerful, gorgeous, jubilant, dissonant, and built of a truly American spirit. In other words, it recognizes a world that’s always changing: today’s cowboy or cowgirl learns how to adapt to their conditions, seeing that they’re just as conditional as everything around them.
Called the “Hendrix of dhol” by Manchester Salon (UK), Jain is most known for founding the pioneering band Red Baraat, a frenzied fusion of bhangra, hip-hop, jazz, rock, and sheer, unbridled energy. NPR called them “the best party band in years” and their 2017 NPR Tiny Desk concert was touted as the 8th best TDC of all time by New York Magazine. He and his current five-piece band have toured the country and the world with performances from his Smithsonian Folkways Recordings album Wild Wild East.

Details

Mar 12, 20267:30 p.m.

Price

$35 | $45 | $55

Venue

Luth Concert Hall
The Prior Performing Arts Center

“The indefatigable drummer and dhol player Sunny Jain is an unrepentant maximalist.”
Jay Ruttenberg
Contributor, The New Yorker

Explore More

Kalaf Epalanga Residency: Keynote
2026-03-13 19:00 | Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Kalaf Epalanga Residency

Keynote

This March, Angolan musician and writer Kalaf Epalanga joins the Music Department as a 2026 Patrick E. Moriarty Visiting Scholar.
As a musician, Kalaf co-founded the record label Enchufada and is a member of the music collective Buraka Som Sistema. He co-curated the 2023 Africa Writes Book Festival in London (UK) and curated the 2021 Berlin African Book Festival (Germany). “Whites Can Dance Too” is his debut novel, translated to English by Daniel Hahn and published by Faber.
During his two-day residency, Kalaf will host public events and meet with students during in-class visits.

Details

March 13, 20267 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Conversations on Contemporary Art and Faith: Marcus Clarke and Peter Fritz
2026-03-16 12:00 | Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Cantor Art Gallery

Conversations on Contemporary Art and Faith

Marcus Clarke and Peter Fritz

Exhibiting artist Marcus Clarke is joined by Professor Peter Fritz of the Religious Studies department to discuss the intersections of contemporary art, religion, and theology in society today.
​​Currently on view in Impetus: Visual Arts Faculty 2026, Clarke’s work explores the challenge of creating art that explores religion today, balancing belief, sentimentality, and criticism. Focusing on American Christianity and its varied forms, including Pentecostal worship, megachurch aesthetics, and Catholic devotional traditions, Clarke investigates the spectacle and theatricality of religious rituals.
At Holy Cross, Fritz teaches a wide variety of courses in Catholic and Protestant theology, modern history of Christianity, Catholic social thought, and courses in theological aesthetics and theology and contemporary art.

Free entry, open to all.

Details

March 16, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Cantor Art Gallery3rd Floor, Prior Performing Arts Center

Lunchtime Concert: Enrique Quezada Llanes, Sergio Muñoz Leiva and Mia Beviglia
2026-03-18 12:00 | The Beehive in The Prior, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Enrique Quezada Llanes, Sergio Muñoz Leiva and Mia Beviglia

Lunchtime Concert Series

Three different instrument families. Three different countries. Three different Holy Cross departments and offices. One common goal.
This lunchtime concert showcases the musical talents of members of the Holy Cross community from across campus. Enrique Quezada Llanes (Political Science), Sergio Muñoz Leiva (Music), and Mia Beviglia (’23, J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World) come together to present some of the pioneering works for clarinet, viola, and piano trio by Bruch and Mozart, because our diversity is our strength!
Max BruchAndante and Andante con moto from Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, op. 83
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartKegelstatt Trio, K. 498
Enrique Quezada Llanes, clarinetSergio Muñoz Leiva, violaMia Beviglia, piano

Details

March 18, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

The BeehivePrior Performing Arts Center

Treadmill of Information: Art, Influencers and Wellness Culture
2026-03-18 12:00 | Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Visual Arts

Treadmill of Information: Art, Influencers and Wellness Culture

Join Professor Rachelle Beaudoin, Liz Drexler-Hines (Director of Student Wellness Education), and Jeff Oliver (Head of Olympic Sports Performance) as they discuss Beaudoin’s work in the current exhibition, Impetus: Visual Arts Faculty 2026.
Beaudoin’s work addresses ideas around self-care and wellness, critiquing the online performance of and push towards constant optimization.
Free entry, open to all.

Details

March 18, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Cantor Art Gallery3rd Floor, Prior Performing Arts Center

SW!NG OUT
2026-03-19 19:30 | PRIOR PRESENTS – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Prior Presents 2025–26

SW!NG OUT

Purchase Tickets

Audience participation limited to patrons seated in the orchestra section.
Acclaimed choreographer Caleb Teicher brings the best of the swing dance world to The Prior, with live music by the Eyal Vilner Big Band.
Conceived by Caleb Teicher alongside collaborators Evita Arce, LaTasha Barnes, Nathan Bugh, Macy Sullivan, and Eyal Vilner, SW!NG OUT features exciting Lindy Hop choreography and improvisation. This performance concludes with an on-stage jam session, inviting audiences seated in the orchestra section to join in the fun!

Arrive early for a free swing dance class!
Patrons are encouraged to arrive early to participate in a free swing dance class (beginners welcome!) at 6:30 p.m. taught by Magenta Dance Place‘s Sergiy Georgiyev before the show! More information about this offering will be included in the pre-show email delivered to all ticket holders.

Details

PERFORMANCEMar 19, 20267:30 p.m.

PRE-SHOW DANCE CLASS6:30 p.m.

Price

$35 | $45 | $55Audience participation limited to orchestra seating.

Venue

Luth Concert Hall
The Prior Performing Arts Center

“Sometimes, you can see it in their eyes: A split-second hesitation converts to an effortless spin that twirls along perfectly to the music. These bursts are captivating, even oddly adventurous, and for the audience, a chance to grasp something of the performers’ sensorial secret language.”
Gia Kourlas
Contributor, The New York Times

About The Artists

Caleb Teicher

Caleb Teicher is widely regarded as a leading performer, choreographer, director, musical collaborator, and curator of musically-driven dance and interdisciplinary collaboration.
A two-time Bessie Award winner (and five-time nominee), their work in concert dance and music has played some of the most prestigious venues in North America including Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, New York City Center, Carnegie Hall, the Joyce Theater, and countless others. They’ve performed duets with Regina Spektor and Ben Folds on Broadway, television, and on music albums. They’ve graced the cover of Dance Magazine, and they’re the only dancer to be featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series.
Many shows created by Caleb (SW!NG OUT, Counterpoint, Caleb Teicher & Nic Gareiss, B-Z-Z-Z) regularly tour performing arts centers in North America – their work will be presented in over twenty cities this year.

Eyal Vilner

Eyal Vilner is one of the leading new voices in the New York and global swing scene. Born in Tel Aviv, saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, composer and bandleader Eyal moved to New York in 2007 and started his big band the following year. The Eyal Vilner Big Band has been performing widely in New York City’s landmarks such as Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim, Birdland, Dizzy’s Club, Smalls, Minton’s Playhouse, Harlem Jazzmobile and Central Park SummerStage. Internationally, Eyal has performed at the Red Sea Jazz Festival, Tel Aviv Museum, Jerusalem Theater; Ghent Festival, Belgium; Teatro Alameda, Spain; Théâtre Plaza, Montreal, as well as Paris Jazz Roots, the historical La Bellevilloise, Le Duc des Lombards, and Caveau de la Huchette in Paris, to name a few.
Eyal’s interest in the exchange between sound and movement within the jazz idiom inspired his musical journey and yielded collaborations with acclaimed dancers and choreographers. Among these projects are theater productions, dance festivals and competitions such as the International Lindy Hop Championships, The Xperience, Midsummer Night’s Swing, and the celebrated SW!NG OUT show at the Joyce Theater (co-creator and musical director). This show, which the New York Times has called “Groundbreaking,” has toured throughout the US, in venues such as the Jacob’s Pillow and the LA Music Center.​
The big band performs Eyal’s original compositions as well as his new arrangements of jazz classics. Their music, which derives from the tradition of jazz, swing and the blues, strives to bring a unique voice to this beautiful art form. The big band’s first seven albums: Introducing the Eyal Vilner Big Band, Almost Sunrise, Hanukkah, Swing Out!, Live in Washington Square Park!, The Jam!, and Swingin’ Uptown received rave reviews and made it to the Top Jazz Radio Charts of the US and Canada.

Evita Arce

Evita Arce is a renowned Lindy Hop dancer and teacher based in New York City. Highlights of her career include dancing with Jazz at Lincoln Center, competing on “So You Think You Can Dance“, touring with the Broadway show “SWING!”, and making her Broadway debut in Regina Spektor’s run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Evita was also featured in the Swing documentary “Alive and Kicking” which follows her path in the international Lindy Hop community.
Since 2005 she has taught and performed all over the world including Europe, Asia and Australia. With her dance partner Michael Jagger, they were invited to bring their company “Syncopated City“ to perform at the Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Stage in 2012 and 2013. Evita has danced for Caleb Teicher & Company since 2017, performing in “Meet Ella” and “More Forever” both beautiful new works featuring American dance forms of Tap, Jazz, Swing and improvised partner dancing. Currently, Evita is part of the creative team for “Swing 2020“ which has been postponed and is in process to premiere at the Joyce Theatre in July 2021.
In the strange and difficult time of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, Evita was given a virtual art commission from the Guggenheim’s, “Works & Process” series that premiered June 18. Evita’s teaching experience has spanned across local Swing communities, Ballroom dance studios in L.A., 10 years on staff at Dance Manhattan and 5 years teaching experience in her own online school for Swing dance, SyncopatedCity.com.

LaTasha Barnes

Multi-Bessie award winner (2021/2023), New York Times lauded “Queen of Social Dance” and celebrated Best Dance & Breakout Star (2021) LaTasha Barnes is an internationally awarded and critically-acclaimed artist-scholar, curator, choreographer, and tradition-bearer of Black American Social Dance co-based in Phoenix, AZ and New York. A Richmond, VA native, she is globally celebrated for her musicality, athleticism, and joyful presence throughout the cultural traditions she bears: House Dance, Hip-Hop, Waacking, Authentic Jazz, and Lindy Hop, among them. Barnes’ expansive artistic, performative and wordsmithing skills have made her a frequent collaborator to The New York Times, Summer Dance Forever & Foundation Hip-Hop Center Amsterdam, International Center for Prince Studies, Singapore-based Timbre Arts Group, Jacob’s Pillow and many more.
Barnes’ leadership and business acumen have placed her in positions of service as Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees for Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival®, Directing Board Member of the Black Lindy Hoppers Fund, the Frankie Manning Foundation, and consulting artist to efforts such as the Al Minns Next Generation Project and events like Paris Jazz Roots Festival,Women’s Jazzination (Shanghai) and International Lindy Hop Championships.
Expanding the scope of impact for the communities she serves, Barnes completed her self-designed Masters in Ethnochoreology, Black Studies and Performance Studies thru New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study (2019). Her thesis and continued applied research are working to bridge the gap between communities of practice and academic cultural dance research, performance, preservation and pedagogy as well as expand the reach of dance as a healing tool for disabled US military veterans like herself.
In support of this dialogue, Barnes was honored to be a contributing author to the 2022 National Dance Education Organization Ruth Lovell Murray Book Award winning text Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century – Univ. FL Press (2021). Ensuring future artists and dance scholars maintain authentic cultural context as they move through the world bearing forth Black dance traditions. To further support this effort Barnes joined the esteemed faculty of Arizona State University School of Music, Dance & Theater in Fall 2021. Now Associate Prof. of Dance, Barnes is the second tenured Hip-Hop Dance professor in the US, proudly representing the class of academic educators who actively contribute to the cultures studied. She is also expanding dialogue and critical heritage efforts in service as a 2025 Race, Arts & Democracy Fellow of ASU’s Center for the Study of Race & Democracy.
From the analysis of her research and in deeper concert with the mission to strengthen Black artists reverence for and expression with Jazz, Barnes is honored to be the visionary creator and Artistic Director of the multi-award winning and NYT critically acclaimed intergenerational and intercommunal cultural arts project The Jazz Continuum. First commissioned by Guggenheim Works & Process, further supported by The Joyce Theater (2022) TJC is a recipient of the prestigious NEFA National Dance Project grant (2022), and two Bessie Awards for Outstanding Creation/Choreography & Outstanding Music Direction.
Additionally she is also honored to be a part of the Brain Trust that developed the ground-breaking stage production Sw!ng Out, bringing the passion and power of Lindy Hop and its community to the concert stage. The New York Times said of her collaboration with Caleb Teicher in Swing Out, “Barnes is especially extraordinary for the way the past and the present can pass through her…”
Across all her endeavors, Barnes’ eternal purpose is to inspire fellow artists and arts enthusiasts to champion artivism in their creative expressions and daily lives.

Nathan Bugh

Nathan Bugh is known worldwide for his intimately rhythmic style of Lindy Hop and vernacular jazz. He “rocked the stage” at Carnegie Hall, dancing Lindy Hop with the New York Pops Orchestra; he performed in Harlem’s famous Apollo Theater in Swingin’ Frankie’s Way; and he danced in the CT&Co’s More Forever, at Jacob’s Pillow.
Nathan is also co-creator/choreographer of the Joyce Theater’s SW!NG OUT, one of the greatest theatrical presentations of Lindy Hop in the modern era. His on-film appearances include: “My Fair Wedding” S.3 E.3 Great Gatsby Bride, Making Money w Charles Payne, Fox and Friends Christmas, Rebel In The Rye, and The Weepies – Be My Honey Pie. As a national jazz-dance competitor, Nathan has taken 1st place in Lindy, Slow Dancing, Solo, Team, Jill&Jack, Video, and Cabaret divisions.
Throughout the 2010s he was one of the most eminent solo-jazz contestants in the world, winning both the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown (2012) and International Lindy Hop Championships (2014), as well as achieving 3rd place in the ILHC invitational (2018). He was also the director and choreographer of “Yeah Man,” the 2015 ILHC Team champions.
Nathan is based in New York City, where he performs frequently and teaches social-dance classes. He has taught the Columbia University Swing Club since 2006, and he is adjunct dance faculty at Marymount College.

Explore More

Faculty Recital: Rhythms of Spring
2026-03-21 19:00 | Luth Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Departments of Music and Theatre & Dance

Rhythms of Spring

The Music and Dance Departments at Holy Cross are joining forces for an unforgettable evening of two pianos and dance. Faculty pianists Sonya Ovrutsky Fensome, Matthew Jaskot, and Ulysses Loken share the stage with The Diamonds, a faculty dance group featuring some of the most beloved people on campus.
This performance features André Isaacs (yes, that André Isaacs, Professor of Chemistry who also loves to dance), Carmen Jarrin (Chair of Sociology), Karen Guth (Professor of Religious Studie), and Mary Ebbott (Professor of Classics), plus the Registrar, a medievalist, a psychologist, a mathematician, a biologist and more!
The program features Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche, Chen Yi’s China West Suite, and Igor Stravinsky’s iconic Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), all pieces that abound with folk melodies, complex textures, and energetic rhythms.
Come and join us for this exciting program! Free entry, open to all.

Details

March 21, 20267 p.m.

Price

Free entry

Venue

Luth Concert HallPrior Performing Arts Center

Bradford Chin: Distinguished Visiting Practitioner Residency
2026-03-23 - 2026-03-27 | Alden Trust Performance Studio (3rd Floor, Prior Performing Arts Center), 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Theatre & Dance

Bradford Chin

Distinguished Visiting Practitioner Residency

Presented by Jimena Bermejo, Director of the Dance ProgramSponsored by the Office of the Provost

Bradford Chin is a disabled dance artist and educator whose work focuses on disability justice, accessibility in the arts, and critically inclusive pedagogy. During this residency, Chin will engage with students, faculty, and staff through classes, conversations and public events.

Join us for these public presentations during Chin’s residency:

Public LectureDance and Disability Narratives
March 26 @ 4 p.m.4th Floor Suite A, Hogan Campus CenterFree entry, open to all.

Moderated PanelDisability and the Arts
March 27 @ 1:30 p.m.Room 320, Prior Performing Arts CenterFree entry, open to all.

Details

March 23-27, 2026

Price

Free entry, open to all.

Venue

4th Floor Suite A, Hogan Campus CenterRoom 320, Prior Performing Arts Center

The Mediated Surface: Cristi Rinklin & Matthew Gamber
2026-03-24 11:45 | Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Cantor Art Gallery

The Mediated Surface

Cristi Rinklin & Matthew Gamber

Exhibiting artists Cristi Rinklin and Matthew Gamber discuss the relationship between painting and photography in their respective practices.
They explore how their chosen materials speak to the way they consider the natural environment, mimetic representation, and the cycle of perception and memory.

Details

March 24, 202611:45 a.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Cantor Art Gallery
3rd Floor, Prior Performing Arts Center
