Visual and Performing Arts - NMU Events and Announcements

Visual and Performing Arts

The Opera Theatre Workshop meets once a week to learn about opera! This semester, they will perform excerpts and scenes from Mozart's operas. Jacob Schmeltzer will accompany the solos, duets, and trios, and there will be a live string trio for ensemble pieces.

The operas featured include...
"Così fan tutte"
"The Magic Flute"
"Marriage of Figaro"

See you on Tuesday, November 11 at 7:30 PM for a free evening of opera!

Visual and Performing Arts

The NMU Orchestra (directed by Barbara Rhyneer) and the NMU Choirs (directed by Erin Colwtiz) present "Baroque to the Future" performing selections from the Baroque Era and works from the 21st century.

Special features of this concert include the Guitar Concerto in D Major by Vivaldi with Chirstopher Schoelen as soloist, Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus", and "Fields of Cloverland" (an anthem for U. P.) by Timothy DeMarte- arranged for choir and orchestra by Barbara Rhyneer.

The orchestra will also perform "Emerald Falcon" by Richard Meyer, a rock number "Lady Gaga Hit Mix", and a jazz bossa nova piece "From the Start" by Laufy and Spencer Steward, arranged by Michael Kamuf. Additional works by Handel include the British anthem "Zadok the Priest" and two movements from Concerto Grosso No. 4, Op. 3.

We look forward to seeing you at this exciting collaboration! 

Visual and Performing Arts

The Wildcat Winds are a new ensemble within the Department of Music, coordinated by NMU Director of Bands, Dr. Steven Riley. This ensemble provides a concert experience for instrumentalists in the Wildcat Marching Band and other students who may not be participating in Marching Band during the fall semester. Join us for their first concert on Monday, November 17th, in Reynolds Recital Hall at 7:30 PM!

Visual and Performing Arts

Get ready for an unforgettable night with Northern Arts & Entertainment! Join us in the Northern Center Ballrooms for an evening packed with live music, great vibes, and awesome prizes! Enjoy an opening set by Adam Paddock, then rock out with our headliner iDKHOW (I Don’t Know How But They Found Me)! Don’t miss the party of the semester on November 20th! Doors open at 6 pm and music starts at 7 pm!

Visual and Performing Arts

NMU Faculty, Staff, and Student Colleagues – WNMU-TV is hosting a preview screening event, with a panel discussion around THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, a new Ken Burns six-part, 12-hour documentary series that explores the country’s founding struggle and its eight-year War for Independence.  The screening is open to all and takes place in the Northern Center Ballrooms on the campus of Northern Michigan University, on November 5, 2025, at 7pm.

This opportunity to learn about the founding of the United States' democracy is brought to you as part of NMU's commitment to expand opportunities for civic learning and community engagement by staff, faculty, and students. You can learn more about Strategy 2.2 and its related tactics by reading Our Compass, NMU's strategic plan.

Hosting the event for WNMU-TV is Jim Koski, and the three panelists leading the discussion and question segment are:  Carter Wilson, Ph.D. - Professor and Department Head, Northern Michigan University Department of Political Science & Public Administration; Emily Romeo, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor, Northern Michigan University History Department; and Justin Schapp, LL.M. - Assistant Director of KCP Grant Administration & Faculty/Staff Initiatives, Northern Michigan University Office of Opportunity, Empowerment, & People.  This screening event gives a preview of THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION with time for a panel discussion and questions.

The much-anticipated series, which has been in production for eight years, was directed and produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt and written by long-time collaborator Geoffrey C. Ward and will premiere on Sunday, November 16, and air for six consecutive nights through Friday, November 21st at 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET on WNMU-TV. 

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION examines how America’s founding turned the world upside-down. Thirteen British colonies on the Atlantic Coast rose in rebellion, won their independence, and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired centuries of democratic movements around the globe.  “The American Revolution is one of the most important events in human history.” said Ken Burns. “We went from being subjects to inventing a new concept, citizens, and set in motion democratic revolutions around the globe.  As we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding, I’m hopeful that people throughout the country will come together to discuss the importance of this history and to appreciate even more what our ancestors did to secure our liberty and freedoms.”

Visual and Performing Arts

This cult classic humorously pays homage to B movies from the science fiction and horror genres spanning the 1930s to the early 1960s. The plot follows a newly engaged couple who, after being caught in a storm, find themselves at the mansion of a flamboyant transvestite scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter. There, they encounter his latest creation, Rocky—a Frankenstein-like figure who is a fully grown, physically perfect muscle man with blonde hair and a tan.

• Thursday, October 23rd | 7:30PM | Opening Night Party
• Friday, October 24th  | 7:30PM
• Friday, October 24th | 10:30PM
• Saturday, October 25th | 7:30PM
• Saturday, October 25th  | 10:30PM

FOREST ROBERTS THEATRE

MEANT FOR A MATURE AUDIENCE | APPROXIMATE RUN TIME: 1 HR 45 MINS | NO INTERMISSION

Visual and Performing Arts

Fall 2025 NMU School of Art & Design Senior Exhibition

Graduating seniors from the School of Art and Design present their work. This semester, the exhibition features students concentrating in graphic design—Grace Matthews and Devyn Clark—and in painting—Alayna Storey, Shelby Goode, and Jaylee Pol. 

Closing Reception: Friday, December 12, 7-9 pm

• Awards will be announced at 8pm. 

Annual donors, the Friends of the DeVos Art Museum, sponsor the Gold Award. The NMU School of Art & Design sponsors Silver and Bronze awards.

Visual and Performing Arts

Fall 2025 NMU School of Art & Design Senior Exhibition

Graduating seniors from the School of Art and Design present their work. This semester, the exhibition features students concentrating in graphic design—Grace Matthews and Devyn Clark—and in painting—Alayna Storey, Shelby Goode, and Jaylee Pol. 

Closing Reception: Friday, December 12, 7-9 pm

• Awards will be announced at 8pm. 

Annual donors, the Friends of the DeVos Art Museum, sponsor the Gold Award. The NMU School of Art & Design sponsors Silver and Bronze awards.

Visual and Performing Arts

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center is proud to announce a special historical performance, Storm, featuring maritime historian Ric Mixter and musician Dan Hall. The concert will take place on Friday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Jamrich Hall 1100 on the campus of Northern Michigan University. The event is free and open to the public. Donations will be encouraged and greatly appreciated. 

Gordon Lightfoot turned the Great Lakes’ largest shipwreck into a legend, but his version of the story is more fiction than fact. Historian Ric Mixter has spent thirty years interviewing people who built, sailed, and searched for the “Mighty Fitz” when it vanished 100 miles from Marquette on November 10th, 1975, and his findings have led him to become the most viewed expert on the disaster.

Mixter returns to his hometown of Marquette on October 24th with musician Dan Hall to tell the Fitzgerald story in a most unique way- with Dan’s custom music on key characters in the storm and with Ric’s exclusive interviews from those who were eyewitnesses to the search and discoveries made 550 feet below Lake Superior.  Why didn’t the Fitz make it to Whitefish Point? Ric separates the myths of the loss with data and interviews while narrating incredible new songs about the most famous ship to sail the lakes.

Mixter was the media coordinator for the controversial Delta dive to the shipwreck in July of 1994, and he will share behind the scenes information on the discovery of a lost sailor who was wearing a lifejacket when lost. His frank discussion is done tastefully and the entire event is suitable for the entire family.

Ric and Dan have toured extensively with their concert series STORM, being featured on Mackinac Island, Cheboygan, Traverse City and a half dozen other concert venues. Ric has toured two countries and even NASA telling stories of the Great Lakes, after a 30-year broadcast career that began at WMQT Q-107 and WLUC TV6 back in the early 1980s. He was born at KI Sawyer and even flew the last B-52 from that base when it closed Air Force operations in 1995.

Visual and Performing Arts

Join us on Thursday, October 16 at 6 p.m. for a panel discussion and reception for the art exhibition SAME AS NEVER [anything to get out of here, right?]. 

SAME AS NEVER [anything to get out of here, right?] Art Exhibition Information:

October 16 - December 15

One day, three people were [not] surprised to find themselves thinking the same thing. The artists here consider time, bodies, and architecture as sites of resistance and re-imagination.

This exhibition is curated by Snake House VT, an artist-run collaborative composed of Kate Donnelly, Thatiana Oliveira, and Sumru Tekin. Learn more about Snake House here. Artists include Piper Hill, Zerek Kempf, and Shori Sims.