Join us for an evening of outstanding jazz performed by one of the hottest pianists currently playing in Chicagoland. Born in Buenos Aires, Leandro López Várady has been a staple in the Chicago jazz scene since 2000, and this concert will feature music from his latest album, Third Stream, which includes original jazz arrangements of traditional Ukrainian folk music commissioned by the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Arts. López Várady performs regularly at the Green Mill, Jazz Showcase, and Andy's Jazz Club among many other prestigious performance halls including Symphony Center, Harris Theater, and the Auditorium Theater. An international performer, López Várady has performed at festivals around the world, including the Chicago Jazz Festival; Taste of Chicago; South Shore Jazz Festival; Hyde Park Jazz Festival; Detroit Jazz Festival; Made in Chicago Festival in Poznan, Poland; Havana Jazz Festival in Havana, Cuba; Jazz y Pop Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the 57th International Festival in Ruse, Bulgaria. The recipient of a Gold Record Award for his participation in Mietek Szcześniak's Nierówmi" album, López Várady is currently the pianist for the Orbert Davis' Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. He also is a member of Doug Lofstrom & New Quartet, Steve Hashimoto's "Sueños", Juli Wood's "Chicago Calling" and the Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre Music Ensemble.

Described as "Syria's leading young pianist" by International Piano, Riyad Nicolas has already established himself as a leading pianist of his generation having performed for audiences around the globe. Join Mr. Nicolas in the St. Charles Borromeo Convocation Hall for a concert featuring piano music written by Syrian composer. Through his performance and music from his homeland, learn how Mr. Nicolas has been promoting peace and raising awareness for the struggles and challenges of the Syrian people.

This event is supported by:

An inspiring one-woman show, Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day is a moving dramatic portrait of one of the most outspoken and influential American Catholics of the 20th century. The production incorporates all the wit and prophetic grit of Dorothy's own words about war, peace, American society, compassion, and protest in the Spirit of Jesus.

Jack Helbig of New City proclaimed Haunted by God "a charming and compelling warts-and-all portrait," adding that "Wagner's performance is so riveting-she plays, with equal ease, Day as a young Greenwich Village bohemian, as middle-aged radical, and as an elderly wise leader-that even those not entirely sympathetic with Day's sadly unfashionable views on U.S. imperialism and feeding the poor will be moved."

A truly a Chicago jazz "supergroup," the Raven Sextet brings together some of Chicago's greatest jazz pioneers with some of today's most innovative emerging musicians. This concert will feature original compositions from leader Mira Raven, as well as compositions from other members including Robert Irving III and Kevin King. Inspired by Wayne Shorter, Thelonius Monk, and Miles Davis the sextet is a tribute to the legacy of jazz while also a pioneering spirit foraging ahead to build its innovation future. Enjoy new and innovative music that finds a balance between familiarity and experimentation.

Featuring:
Mira Raven-Vocals
Kevin King-Alto Saxophone/Flute
David Boykin-Tenor Saxophone
Robert Irving III-Piano
Ernie Adams-Drums
Josh Ramos-Bass

The internationally acclaimed Ensemble Chaconne transports the audience to Shakespeare's world with Measure for Measure: The Music of Shakespeare's Plays. The concert features music by leading composers of Shakespeare's time (Robert Johnson, Thomas Morley, John Dowland, and others) with songs from As You Like It, Twelfth Night, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and other plays. The ensemble members are Peter H. Bloom, renaissance flute; Carol Lewis, viola da gamba; Olav Chris Henriksen, renaissance lute; and mezzo-soprano Burcu Gulec. Their Shakespeare concert has been called "the perfect Elizabethan evening" (The Portland Press Herald).

Mike Sobczyk graduated from Lewis College (now Lewis University) in 1970. He became interested in ethnographic art, mostly from New Guinea, by frequently visiting the Field Museum from a young age. Mike gained more knowledge on New Guinea and contemporary art when an architect friend recommended that he visit the many Chicago art galleries. This exhibition consists of works collected from the late 1970's through the present time.

Michael Pantuso is a celebrated graphic designer and fine artist from Chicago, known for his skillful integration of classical techniques with modern aesthetics. His work, showcased across global platforms, resonates with a wide audience for its distinctive visual narrative. A true innovator, Michael's career is a testament to the relentless pursuit of artistic excellence, shaping a dynamic and lasting legacy.

"My work reflects the dramatic effect of a lack of funding in depressed areas throughout the country. It's based on my own experience living and being raised in Chicago's Inner City." Jesse Howard

The Lewis University Department of Art and Design is proud to present the Senior Capstone Exhibition. This biannual art show coincides with the capstone course, Senior Project. The course challenges graduating students to put their newly acquired skills and understanding of art to the test by participating in a professional exhibition experience.

Paul Simmons is a Chicago-based artist and professor. His work explores the possibilities for invention within the printed image using the xerox printer as a starting point. An accumulated personal library of visual information collected over the last thirty years, is deconstructed, manipulated and rearranged to create paintings that present a visual language in an evolving context.

The President’s Annual Art Exhibition highlights the top artwork from Lewis Students and Alumni. This important juried exhibition is hosted by the Department of Art and Design and sponsored by Dr. David Livingston, President of Lewis University.

The Lewis University Department of Art and Design is proud to present the Senior Capstone Exhibition. This biannual art show coincides with the capstone course, Senior Project. The course challenges graduating students to put their newly acquired skills and understanding of art to the test by participating in a professional exhibition experience.

Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tracy Letts weaves a heart-warming and humorous tale of unlikely friendships in one of Chicago's most diverse neighborhoods.

Arthur Przybyszewski's Superior Donuts has been a community hub for decades and both the neglected storefront and its rundown owner are evidence to that. The decrepit donut shop sits in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. Its wear and tear is evident, but when Franco Wicks, a young fast-talking dreamer, bounds into the shop, becoming the shop's only employee, the writing is on the wall that things are going to change—maybe even for the better. This comedy-drama explores the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive power of friendship.

For seven years a certain boy wizard went to a certain Wizard School and conquered evil. This, however, is not his story. This is the story of the Puffs... who just happened to be there too. A tale for anyone who has never been destined to save the world.

This clever and inventive play "never goes more than a minute without a laugh" (Nerdist) giving you a new look at a familiar adventure from the perspective of three potential heroes just trying to make it through a magic school that proves to be very dangerous for children. Alongside them are the Puffs, a group of well-meaning, loyal outsiders with a thing for badgers "who are so lovable and relatable, you'll leave the theater wishing they were in the stories all along" (Hollywood Life). Their "hilariously heartfelt!" (Metro) and epic journey takes the classic story to new places and reimagines what a boy wizard hero can be.

Welcome to Colchester, a small town where everybody knows each other and the pace of life allows the pursuit of love to take up as much space as it needs. Our tour guide is Suzanne, the town photographer, who lets us peek into her neighbors' lives to catch glimpses of romance in all its stages of development. A play about love, nostalgia, the seasons and how we learn to say goodbye. Kodachrome is a beautiful play that highlights the mundane and shows how little moments create huge ones, and yet, still chooses to focus on the mundane to showcase how beautiful tiny moments can be in one's life. Written by playwright, Adam Szymkowicz.

Part comedy, part tragedy—and wholly unexpected—in this hilarious, outlandish, and wildly imaginative story, it delivers surprises at every turn.

The lives of six teenagers from a Canadian chamber choir are cut short in a freak accident aboard a roller coaster. When they awake in limbo, a mechanical fortune teller invites each to tell their story of a life interrupted—offering a prize like no other — the chance to come to terms with their fates & possibly the chance to return to life.

At once quirky and smart, edgy and beautiful, Ride the Cyclone ultimately reveals the resilience of the human spirit in spite of senseless tragedy. This popular musical is a funny, moving look at what makes a life well-lived!

Kate Schuenke-Lucien Director for Haiti and Senior Associate Director for Strategic Planning at the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (University of Notre Dame) will speak about her research and work in Haiti over the past decade, which focuses on activating local faith-based systems to support child development in the absence of an effective state presence.

Join Br. Peter Hannon and Dr. Mark Schultz of the history department as they discuss and debate the meaning of the 2nd amendment to the US Constitution, the right to bear arms.

Presented by the LUPD and JLPSS Series on Safety, this event will present a basic overview of threat assessment including risk factors and observable behaviors and provide steps for intervention.

What kind of thing is water? How do we know water, scientifically, experientially, and ethically? This lecture and conversation explore the manytextures and designations for fresh waters, including its life-giving and pollution-carrying dimensions in the Chicago area in recentvears. It describes the Catholic Church's theological and ethical identification of access to clean fresh water as a human right (as well as the complications that notion, especially in the legislative and judicial contexts of the United States). Finally, through the topic of fresh waters but also beyond, this lecture-discussion explores how the Catholic Church in the current era under Pope Francis engages environmental science in formulating ethical norms.

Christiana Zenner, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Theology, Science, and Ethics and affiliated faculty in Environmental Studies at Fordham University- Lincoln Center. A scholar of the intersections between ecological science and religious ethics, Dr. Zenner is the author of the book, Just Water: Theology, Ethics, and Global Fresh Water Crises, an expert on the Catholic Church's turn to ecological justice, co-editor of two scholarly books on bioethics and sustainability, author of more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles on fresh water values, climate justice, and religious ethics, and a prominent interpreter of Laudato Si.