The guitar drawls. The beat of drums reverberates through the floor and up your feet. Audience members laugh and cheer as Red Molly takes the stage. Known for their gorgeous harmonies and infectious songwriting, Red Molly (Laurie MacAllister, Abbie Gardner and Molly Venter) graced Lewisburg downtown with their presence on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Campus Theatre. This ‘Americana trio’ beautifully weaves together the threads of American music. In their caramel voice and superb three-part harmonies they explore every sound from folk to bluegrass, lamenting ballads to honky-tonks. Laurie, Abbie, and Molly each have wonderfully distinct voices, both in […]

Mohamed Abozekry and his instrumental ensemble Karkadé introduced Lewisburg to the sounds of classical Arabic music, Sufi music of northern Egypt, and secular poetry on Friday,  September 14 in the Weis Center Atrium. Abozekry is a world-renowned Egyptian oud virtuoso. Karkadé is Abozekry’s second ensemble. It is a compositional effort to return to his roots, presenting a more traditional Egyptian style of music infused with a sense of modernity. He released Karkadé’s album in September 2016. Karkadé mixes styles and traditions to describe “a path to an Arab world at peace with its history and turned towards the future.” On Friday night, the Weis […]

In the Atrium of the Weis Center, it’s a full house. The audience watches the sun set through the glass-panel walls as Willie Kelly and David Powers take their position on the stage at the base of the spiraling staircase. After a brief introduction by Kathryn Maguet the musicians lift their instruments and, without wasting another breath, begin to play, transporting the audience back into the history of Ireland. David Power of Ireland and Willie Kelly, a native of New Jersey, brought an uniquely Irish experience the Central Pennsylvania with their free performance on Thursday night, September 6th, at 7:30 […]

Egyptologist Dr. Kathlyn (Kara) Cooney, at first glance, seems like the female Indiana Jones. She studies a civilization so ancient it’s steeped in myth, travels the world, and speaks in forums at distinguished universities. But her work isn’t all about studying stories inscribed in coffins or translating hieroglyphics. In her National Geographic Live presentation “When Women Ruled the World,” sponsored by the Weis Center, Cooney asks a critical question: What can we learn from the women who once ruled Egypt as kings? Dr. Cooney is a professor of Egyptian Art and Architecture at UCLA. Specializing in craft production, coffin studies, […]

Our 30th Anniversary Season is nearing its close and Saturday, April 14 marked the final in-house performance with Grammy Award-winning musical collective the Silkroad Ensemble. Silkroad redefines classical music through the presentation and celebration of artists from different nationalities and musical traditions. The group is comprised of  over three dozen musicians representing countries like Korea, Kazakhstan, China, and the United States. On Saturday we were introduced to ten ensemble members who performed with instruments unique to their cultures including the Spanish bagpipe, the pipa, the violin, the piano, and the gong. Listing all of these instruments as a part of one […]

The Weis Center is no stranger to hosting talented vocal performance groups. Artists representing diverse cultures and vocal styles have graced our stage over the years and while Thursday’s March 1 Lorelei Ensemble performance may fall in the “vocal group” category, the transcendent vocal magic created by the ladies of Lorelei belongs in a category of its own. Lorelei consists of nine all-professional female vocalists whose individual talents and experiences help to define the groups’ sound. Established in 2007 in Boston, Lorelei performs under the direction of artistic director and founder Beth Willer and has commissioned and premiered an impressive […]

Music fans young and old were in for a treat Saturday evening Feb. 3 when globalFEST On The Road made its stop in Lewisburg. globalFEST is a nonprofit musical venture that puts on an annual New York City festival highlighting acclaimed artists of various genres from around the world. Formally titled globalFEST On the Road: The Golden Age of Latin Music, this winter 2018 leg is a curated touring program based off of that very festival and showcases artists Orkesta Mendoza and Las Cafeteras, coheadliners that evening, as well as Mariachi Flor De Toaloache, who rocked the Weis Center this past […]

What a way to welcome the holiday season! Grammy-winning, all-women, African American a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock returned to the Weis Center (they performed in 1992) for a December 1 performance that had everyone “Celebrating the Holydays.” Founded in 1973, and with a few member changes over its forty years, Sweet Honey in the Rock has a mission to educate, entertain, and empower through powerful a capella vocal dynamics and American Sign Language. The current lineup consists of vocalists Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil and Shirley Childress, an American Sign Language Interpreter who has […]

In breaking with traditional concert norms, the Weis Center hosted its first ever Hip Hop Happening. This panel-performance brought to attention many of the political issues most commonly discussed in hip hop music in the past to lead the performers to speculate on the genre’s future in social action. Moderated by Manny Faces, a New York City based hip hop journalist and advocate, the Weis Center welcomed artists Amos Lachman, J Pope and two Bucknell University students Mansa K and Amarachi Ekekwe. Keeping with the themes of social action, the panel discussion opened up with a question from Manny surrounding […]

It is very rare to witness a multitude of moving artistic parts come together so ingeniously in the name of creating one body of work. This is just what occurred at the Weis Center on the evening of Thursday, Nov. 9 with an exquisite performance of a piece entitled the “The Blue Hour” by A Far Cry string orchestra and vocals from Brazilian jazz singer Luciana Souza. The piece was a creative collaboration that came to fruition from the works of five notable female composers – Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw and Sarah Kirkland Snider – and featured […]