The Quad City Symphony Orchestra will present “Two Remain” on Saturday, October 22 at Augustana College’s Brunner Theatre. “Two Remain” is a moving and emotional two-act chamber opera by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer is based on the true stories of two Holocaust survivors. In Act I, Krystyna Żywulska, assisted by ghosts of Auschwitz, shares her story of survival with a journalist. In Act II Gad Beck is haunted by his first love, the poet Manfred Lewin, who perished in Auschwitz. Featuring Ernesto Estigarribia, conductor Presented as Part of Out of Darkness, Holocaust... Read More

For a second year in a row, Augustana College invites the community to Chill on the Hill music festival at the Anderson Pavilion on campus Sept. 25. The free event will feature local bands the White Tornado and Subatlantic. The music will begin at 2:30 p.m. Bring a picnic basket and enjoy some lawn games. Seating is first-come, first-served. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs. The White Tornado is the piano-playing, songwriting alter ego of the mild-mannered Dr. Bill Peterson. The indie rock band Subatlantic features Augustana’s Dr. Adam Kaul and fellow musicians Rebecca Rice, Sean Chapman and Phil... Read More

MWC Press, the publishing imprint of the Midwest Writing Center, is honored to announce the publication of My Cancer Chronicle, the final book of poems from the former Quad City Poet Laureate and long-time Davenport Central High School teacher Richard “Dick” Stahl (1939-2020). A special release party will be held today from 2 to 4 p.m. at Wallenberg Hall on the Augustana College campus, Rock Island. It is free and open to the public. MWC Press is working with Stahl’s family to bring this harrowing and powerful lyric narrative that documents his cancer experience, from initial diagnosis to... Read More

The Augustana College Department of Theatre presents “The Threepenny Opera,” May 5-8, 2022. Set in the impoverished back alleys of Victorian London, “The Threepenny Opera” follows underworld antihero Mack the Knife as he tries to woo Polly Peachum and elude authorities. Created in 1928 Berlin to speak out against capitalist corruption, this musical bluntly addresses issues that remain relevant today. Through epic theatre, theatrical movement, and progressive music, Hauptmann, Weill, and Brecht’s work opens up difficult conversations about greed, oppression, and accountability within our... Read More

The Augustana College Department of Music presents “Messiah”, May 1, 2022 at 3 p.m. in Centennial Hall. George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” will be performed by the Augustana Oratorio Society, conducted by Dr. Jon Hurty, Director of Choral Activities at Augustana College. The Augustana Oratorio Society was formed in 1880 and currently consists of community members, Augustana students, and members of the Augustana Choir.  The ensemble is celebrated for exploring the riches of choral-orchestral literature. “I am excited to bring Messiah back to the community,” says conductor Jon Hurty.... Read More

The Augustana College Department of Music presents “Messiah”, May 1, 2022 at 3 p.m. in Centennial Hall. George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” will be performed by the Augustana Oratorio Society, conducted by Dr. Jon Hurty, Director of Choral Activities at Augustana College. The Augustana Oratorio Society was formed in 1880 and currently consists of community members, Augustana students, and members of the Augustana Choir.  The ensemble is celebrated for exploring the riches of choral-orchestral literature. “I am excited to bring Messiah back to the community,” says conductor... Read More

Applications for our last filmmaking project – Scripted Short Films presented by Sony Pictures – are open now through April 15th and we would love for your youth to join us! Our last filmmaking project of the year is a teen favorite so we have included a program email below that you can easily forward to your students! Make your own Short Film starting April 21st! If you want to make movies, then you won’t want to miss our final weekly filmmaking project, Scripted Short Films, presented by Sony Pictures. Starting April 21st, you’ll work on producing, filming and editing... Read More

The Augustana College Department of Theatre presents “The 39 Steps,” March 10-13, 2022. Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have “The 39 Steps”, a fast-paced, farcical, whodunit spoof. This two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award winner is packed with nonstop laughs and theatrical hijinks galore! By Patrick Barlow and John Buchan, and directed by Jeffrey Coussens. “This play is based on the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name, which is based on a 1915 adventure novel penned by author John Buchan. However, you don’t have... Read More

The next Fresh Films filmmaking project – Roku Change Makers – starts on March 10th and we would love to have some of your youth join us for this amazing documentary filmmaking project! Not only will they learn film and tech skills, but this project offers the opportunity for their films to be streamed on the Roku Network (how cool!)! We have included an email below that you can easily forward along to your students to let them know about this amazing opportunity! Join the Fresh Films Weekly Filmmaking Program for our Next Film Project – Roku Change Makers starting March 10! Every... Read More

Aaron Dworkin will perform his spoken word composition, “The AmericanRhapsody,” on April 8 with the Augustana Symphony Orchestra, Fernanda Lastra conducting.The free public performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Centennial Hall. Tickets are not requiredat this time.Dworkin was a member of the Obama National Arts Policy Committee and is the founder andpresident of the Sphinx Organization, a group that focuses on bringing diversity into the arts.“The American Rhapsody” tells the story of the U.S. through the life and words of GeorgeWashington. The work is set to Samuel Coleridge... Read More