Spanning eras, countries, and cultures, the 2020–21 season offers a diverse selection of dance, music, theater, and art. There is sure to be something for everyone.
Due to the frequently changing nature of this season, please visit our Events Calendar for the most up-to-date information on which events are available for streaming or will be live.
Find an event to attend by type, or browse the different series, below.
View the Events Calendar for Lively Arts.
Due to challenges associated with COVID, only single tickets will be available for purchase this season. No subscriptions will be sold. Single tickets will be put on sale approximately two weeks prior to the show date. Get more information on purchasing tickets.
Once described by the late musical icon Prince as having “a voice that could melt snow,” Kandace Springs will kick off the 2021 Ovations Series. This singer, songwriter, and keyboardist’s refined mix of R&B, jazz, and pop has been showcased on three albums released on the legendary Blue Note record label. This Nashville-based artist counts such stylists as Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack, and Norah Jones as her heroes, but, as evidenced by her sparkling Blue Note Records debut Soul Eyes, mimics none of them. She has a style all her own. Other full-length albums include Indigo, which was released September 2018. Her most recent album, The Women Who Raised Me, was released March 2020.
Washington DC, 1950. State Department employees Bob and Nora find themselves at the forefront of the moment when the Red Scare adds shades of Lavender. In other words, along with rooting out potential Communists, the couple must now investigate “deviants,” i.e., gays. Unfortunately for Bob and Nora, they are also gay and their marriage is a cover for their actual partners who also pretend to be a married couple. Hilarious screwball misdirection eventually gives way to a sober examination of gay rights and American values.
After a well-received and dynamic performance of Handel’s “Messiah” in 2018, the Lively Arts is delighted to invite the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra for a return visit to perform “I Sing America,” a patriotic salute highlighting the contribution of female composers. Designed to complement a gallery of women artists, this program from the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra Principal String Quartet showcases the melodic and energetic works of women composers, including famed suffragette Ethel Smyth, award-winning American composers Gabriela Lena Frank and Jessie Montgomery, as well as the evocative music of George Walker. The program concludes with a youthful quartet of Beethoven.
Collaborating once again, Holly Boda-Sutton and Michael Kingan present the always popular “An Evening of Dance and Percussion” bringing back 10 favorite pieces from previous productions dating back to 2009.
This young driving force in Nordic world music draws inspiration from folk and traditional Scandinavian music and reshapes it with an endlessly innovated and contemporary approach.
The Dreamers’ Circus trio musicians Nikolaj Busk (Denmark, piano and accordion), Ale Carr (Sweden cittern), and Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (Demark, violin)—display inventiveness and talent in their approach to performances. Based in music from Denmark and Sweden as well as Iceland, Finland, and the far reaches of the windswept Faroe Islands, they view these traditional roots merely as a point of departure from which to expand. In playing, they seek to unlock imaginations and allow the mind to wander to a place where stories unfold.
The name of the band is no accident. The magical feel upon entering the circus tent, surrounded by vividly colored memories… Dreamers’ Circus strives to engage your senses and invoke a place of freedom, somewhere for our imagination to play in and a space for dreaming.
Written by Adam Gwon, Ordinary Days tells the story of four young New Yorkers whose lives intersect as they search for fulfillment, happiness, love, and cabs. It is an original musical for anyone who’s ever struggled to appreciate the simple things in a complex place. With equal doses of humor and poignancy, it celebrates how 8.3 million individual stories combine in unexpected ways to make New York City such a unique and extraordinary home.
Join IUP Dance Theater as they unfold their unique rendition of It’s Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus. On Halloween night, the Sanderson Sisters are brought back from the dead by curious youth who then find themselves pursued by the sisters. Throughout the night, the youth and a cat named Binx attempt to defeat the Sanderson Sisters. Under the direction of Holly Boda-Sutton, IUP Dance Theater will tell their tale through original choreography on the Zink Dance Auditorium stage.
The 20th annual IUP Jazz Festival, featuring the IUP Jazz Band and the IUP Jazz Ensemble. The IUP Jazz band is led by James Flowers. Kevin Eisensmith directs the IUP Jazz Ensemble. The guest artist for this event will be trumpeter Scotty Barnhart. Scotty is the director of the Count Basie Orchestra and a renowned trumpet player.
Broadway Extravaganza
Thursday, December 5, Sound Choices
60’s 70’s 80’s: Artist Legacy of IUP
September 10–November 6, University Museum
The Awakening of Spring
October 25 - November 2, Theater-by-the-Grove