Weis Center for the Performing Arts Blog
Bringing the performing arts to Central Pennsylvania for more than 35 years
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A Look Back at How the Weis Center Came to Be
As the Weis Center kicks off its 30th Anniversary season and celebration, we wanted to begin an online celebration of our own by exploring the history and stories behind this historic venue. We thought it best to begin by looking into the events leading up the Center’s inaugural performance on April 4, 1988. The Sigmund and Claire Weis Center for the Performing Arts was constructed between 1985 and early 1988 with a projected total cost of approximately $9.7 million. The bulk of the funds came from a…
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All-Woman Mariachi Group to Perform at Weis Center
New York-based world music ensemble Mariachi Flor de Toloache will perform on Thursday, September 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Weis Center for the Performing Arts. There will be a free lecture and demonstration with the artists on the same day as the performance at 1 p.m. in the Weis Center Atrium Lobby. Latin Grammy nominees Mariachi Flor de Toloache make New York City history as its first and only all-woman mariachi group. Founded in 2008, Mariachi Flor de Toloache is led by singers Mireya…
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Sea Island Gullah Music Comes to Weis Center in Free Outdoor Concert
Sea Island Gullah music by Ranky Tanky will be featured on Thursday, September 7 at 6 p.m. outside on the Weis Center Plaza. The family-friendly performance is free and tickets are not required. The rain location is the Weis Center Atrium Lobby. Patrons are encouraged to bring a lawn chair, blanket and picnic. A free pre-performance lecture and demonstration with the artists will take place the same day from 5:15-5:45 p.m. in the Weis Center Atrium Lobby. The performance is sponsored, in part, by the…
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Zydeco Music Kicks-Off Weis Center’s 30th Anniversary Season with Free Outdoor Concert
Zydeco innovator Corey Ledet and his Zydeco Band will kick-off the Weis Center’s 30th Anniversary season on Friday, August 25 at 6 p.m. outside on the Weis Center Plaza. The family-friendly performance is free and tickets are not required. The rain location is the Weis Center Atrium Lobby. Patrons are encouraged to bring a lawn chair, blanket and picnic. A free pre-performance lecture and demonstration with the artist will take place the same day at 12 noon in the Weis Center Atrium Lobby. The performance…
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Guitar-Themed Photography Exhibit Comes to the Weis Center
Image: Les Paul, Ralph Gibson, 2000, Gelatin Silver Print on Paper. Gift of Douglas Smith, Class of 1984 The Weis Center for the Performing Arts, in collaboration with the Samek Art Museum at Bucknell University, will host a free guitar-themed photography exhibit now through Friday, June 22, 2018 in its Atrium Lobby. Entitled State of the Axe, the exhibit includes 30 photographs which were drawn from the collection of the Samek Art Museum by photographer Ralph Gibson. The images depict guitar masters and the intimate relationship…
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Weis Center’s New Season Features 33 Professional Performances
The 30th Anniversary season at the Weis Center for the Performing Arts at Bucknell University features 33 events from across the United States and around the globe and includes Americana/roots, bluegrass, zydeco, classical, jazz, blues, world music, dance, and Family Discovery performances. Ten performances are free. Performances begin in late August 2017 and continue through April 2018. The season will kick-off on Friday, August 25 at 6 p.m. with a free outdoor concert on the Weis Center Plaza by Grammy-nominated Zydeco innovator Corey Ledet &…
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New Brochure Cover Revealed
Our 30th Anniversary brochure is at the printer! Check out the gorgeous cover – we hope you like it as much as we do. Once again, we will offer 30+ professional performances. The brochure will be available to the public (for free!) in late July. Patrons and subscribers will receive it in mid-July.
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Pulitzer Winning ‘Anthracite Fields’ Coming to The Weis Center
On Saturday, April 1st, Julia Wolfe, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Bucknell University Camerata and Lycoming College Chamber Choir conducted by Dr. Beth Willer will come together to present Anthracite Fields — the next performance installment of Coal Collections: Local, National, and International Stories. Anthracite Fields is an oratorio — a large-scale musical piece consisting of orchestra and voices with a narrative theme performed without costumes or scenery. The show follows the lives of early 20th century coal miners in Pennsylvania, using music to illustrate the hardships…
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Dust and Light: A Coal Region Retrospective
From up-close portraits of coal miners and their families to landscapes of Pennsylvania’s coal region, Jack Delano’s photographs provide a retrospective of life in rural Pennsylvania during the 1930s. This photo series, Dust and Light, is currently on display at the Weis Center in partnership with the Samek Art Museum as part of the University’s year-long Coal Collections series. The black and white photos are presented in twos, as if they were pages in a scrapbook, giving a rustic, familiar feel to the exhibition. Delano,…
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The Bad Plus Brings NYC Jazz to PA
With glowing reviews from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker, The Bad Plus was welcomed to the Weis Center by a crowd ready to hear some good jazz on an unseasonably warm Saturday evening. The jazz trio based in New York City includes a delightful mix of piano from Ethan Iverson, bass guitar from Reid Anderson, and drums from Dave King. The group began by playing several original songs. Some were melodic and piano heavy while others highlighted rhythm from the…
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