Springing into a new arts season

The spring 2022 arts season at Rowan University offers audiences an eclectic, exciting lineup that includes Grammy Award-winning musicians, innovative and cutting-edge performances, concerts that showcase the extraordinary talents of Rowan students, faculty and guest artists, and art that honors our connections to the Earth.

Advance tickets and masks are required for all performances and capacities are limited. Additionally, a brief health screening must be submitted by all audience members the day of the event.

Here’s a look at the spring season:

Marie Rader Presenting Series

The Marie Rader Presenting Series this spring offers a multi-faceted mx of performance and outreach events designed to inspire community conversations.

Following their virtual lecture-demonstration on re-defining dance and disability in the fall, the Oakland-based AXIS Dance Company, an acclaimed ensemble of performers with and without disabilities, returned to Rowan for a performance in Pfleeger Concert Hall on Feb. 19. The company also held a master class with Rowan students on Feb. 18.  

The Marie Rader Series continued on Feb. 27 with Symphony in C in Pfleeger. Conducted by Kenneth Bean, the symphony offers a 90-minute program featuring the works of Mozart and Haydn.

Two Grammy Award-winning groups will conclude the spring series.

Rodrigo y Gabriela, an acoustic Mexican guitar duo, will serve as the series headliner on April 16, while Chicago-based Eighth Blackbird, a contemporary chamber ensemble, will perform with the Rowan University Wind Ensemble on April 29. Eighth Blackbird, which presents innovative performances through advocacy for music by living composers, completed a virtual residency with Rowan last November.

Academic Series

The Department of Theatre & Dance Spring Mainstage Line-Up offered up Our Lady of 121 Street by Stephen Adley Giurgis Feb. 24-27 in Tohill Theatre. Directed by Artist-in-Residence Walter DeShields, the production told the story of a funeral home that is in trouble after the body of a beloved community activist and nun is stolen from its viewing room. The story features both tragic and hilarious characters who are emotionally charged and challenged by life.

April 7-10, Christopher Marlow Roche directs The Fest featuring 21 Chump Street by Lin-Manuel Miranda in Tohill Theater (Ticket information will be forthcoming here.) A musical based on a true story, 21 Chump Street is a cautionary tale about a high school student who goes to great lengths to woo a new girl. The boy goes to great lengths to oblige the girl’s request for marijuana only to find that his crush actually is an undercover police officer.

Other spring highlights include, among many others: the 51st annual Rowan Jazz Festival Concert, directed by Denis DiBlasio and featuring guest artist Rufus Reid on Feb. 11; Guest artist Amadi Zaikiwe with the Rowan String Ensemble for Rowan's 2022 Viola Day on Feb. 19; the Rowan Wind Ensemble: Stone of Hope on March 3; and the Rowan University Symphonic Band & Concert Band presenting Beneath the Canopy: An Earth Day Celebration on April 21.

Find the full schedule of all performances by visiting go.rowan.edu/tickets. Rowan students can reserve free tickets for an event by emailing performingarts@rowan.edu or calling the box office at 856-256-4545.

Programs are made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Marie Rader Presenting Series is made possible in part through generous support from the Henry M. Rowan Family Foundation via the Marie F. Rader Memorial Fund.

Rowan Art Gallery

Through March 26, the Rowan Art Gallery, 301 West High St., Glassboro, presents Earth Offerings: Honoring the Gardeners, an exhibit of the works of Syd Carpenter.

Carpenter identifies and honors African American farmers and gardeners with her new series, Farm Bowls. By integrating the universal form of a stoneware bowl with architectural and organic forms observed on farms, Carpenter creates emblems of the African American experience and their connection to the land.

Admission to exhibitions and all Rowan Art Gallery events are free and open to the public. The gallery is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

A special program on Tuesday, Feb. 22, featured a conversation with Carpenter and South Jersey food activists of color. They shared stories of their experiences as growers and speak about their relationship with the land.