Ovations! is IUP's premier performing arts series, with 2011-2012 marking its inaugural season of touring artists from across the globe.

Ovations! will take you from Broadway to New Orleans; Philadelphia to Boston; the heritage of Japan to the traditions of India; the cultures of Latin America to the hills of Ireland and the forests of Transylvania. With musicals, jazz, dance, bluegrass, world folk, classical and new music, this will be a journey that everyone can enjoy and in which everyone can engage.

Helping to make Ovations! possible and keep tickets affordable are many sponsors, donors, and partners.

View the Events Calendar for Lively Arts.

José Franch-Ballester, Clarinet
October 11, 2011
From Spain, this stunning and multi-award winning clarinetist is well on his way of being one of the world's finest classical chamber artists, and performing a work with IUP faculty member David Martynuik.

In the Heights
October 21, 2011
Winner of four Tony Awards in 2008, including Best Musical and Best Original Score, and one Grammy; a timeless story of life, love, struggles, and dreams, set in the New York City neighborhood of Washington Heights and filled with high-energy rhythms and dance.

Mystical Arts of Tibet: Sacred Music Sacred Dance
October 29, 2011
The Tibetan monks return to Indiana, including a ten-day residency to create a spiritual sand Mandala and to present a colorful and traditional performance that will delight all ages. Also presented as part of Family Weekend at IUP.

Yamato: The Drummers of Japan
November 8, 2011
Based near Osaka, Japan, this stunningly theatrical taiko drumming troupe regularly sells out its concerts held around the world and offers a performance that rattles the tribal rhythms inside all of us—a tremendously engaging and theatrical performance.

Eileen Ivers: An Irish Christmas
December 6, 2011
A highly awarded Celtic fiddler in a style of music and performance rarely ever seen in our area, Eileen Ivers engages the audience with her high-energy virtuosity and electric personality. Celebrating Irish Christmas traditions, Ivers is joined by her band, Immigrant Soul, and the area's popular gospel choir, Voices of Joy.

Cedric Watson et Bijou Creole
February 7, 2012
Another rare treat for Indiana and just in time for Mardi Gras season, Cedric Watson brings his group for some authentic Louisiana Creole music triggered by Cajun and Zydeco music traditions.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
February 22, 2012
One of the world's finest orchestral organizations, the PSO continues its partnership with IUP and will include Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, often referred to as “The Pathetique.”

DePue Brothers Band
February 29, 2012
This Philly-based, seven-member band, including brothers, brings a highly trained yet free-wheeling and eminently entertaining style of performance to the stage, combining bluegrass with jazz, blues, and classical.

India Jazz Suites
March 23, 2012
With live musicians and two dancers, American tap and jazz combines with traditional dance and music from India in a show which crescendos to a dueling dancers finale, including eight live musicians and some surprises for everyone.

Mnozil Brass
March 29, 2012
A hilarious, heavily talent-laden brass septet from Austria that hits the ground running with charisma and humor that quickly bring the audience into its entertaining corner.

Cordis
April 9, 2012
A unique contemporary chamber ensemble that performs with keyboard, cello, percussion, and the less-known but highly mesmerizing cimbalom.

Young Frankenstein
April 16, 2012
A wickedly inspired hit Broadway musical from the zaniness of Mel Brooks and his incarnation of equally slapstick and slightly bawdy movie of the same name. It's alive at the Lively Arts!

Bernadette Peters
Helwig Distinguished Artist
May 4, 2012
A Broadway icon, film actress, humanitarian, and multi-award winner, Bernadette Peters performs as the Helwig Distinguished Artist and with a full twenty-eight-piece big band orchestra (originally scheduled for September 15, 2011).