Krannert Center Top 10 Patron Favorites

Honorable Mentions

These two may not have made it into our Top 10, but they are definitely patron favorites.

Ellnora

ELLNORA

ELLNORA, Krannert Center’s biennial guitar festival, will be celebrating 20 years of iconic guitar performances when it launches its 11th festival next year. Named for Ellnora Krannert, ELLNORA continues to bring guitar lovers together in an inviting and welcoming space to enjoy live music and community. With over 30 votes for ELLNORA performances overall and two that made our top 10, the festival is clearly a patron favorite. 

The Black Chorus

The Black Chorus 

The University of Illinois Black Chorus conducted by Dr. Ollie Watts Davis was another top favorite among patrons that voted. Founded in 1968 by four students, and later under the direction of School of Music faculty, the Black Chorus has sustained a high level of excellence in performance, collaborating with writers, jazz and gospel musicians, chamber orchestra, and dancers. In concert dress or choir robes, the members of the Black Chorus perform the music of Black Americans, ranging from the Negro spiritual, anthems and formal music to traditional and contemporary gospel, jazz, and rhythm and blues. In keeping with its mission to promote African American musical expression, the Black Chorus has hosted the Black Sacred Music Symposium on the Urbana-Champaign campus and has presented prominent artists, including Take 6, Bobby Jones, the Winans, V. Michael McKay, A. Jeffrey LaValley, and Gary Hines, founder and director of the award-winning Sounds of Blackness.

We LOVE to hear from our alumni, patrons, and friends. Here are just a few quotes we wanted to share from the over 340 submissions we received this past summer. Thank you for your continued support and engagement!

“Inconceivable! With *thousands* of performances over the past 50+ years. How to compare the haunting Kronos Quartet performing “Black Angles” with the Theatre Department’s production of Oh, What a Lovely War? Bobby McFarrin to the intimate Venice Baroque Orchestra? Shozo Sato’s Kabuki Madea to Rodrigo y Gabriella twice at the Ellnora Guitar Festival? Compare the Kodo Drummers of Japan to anyone? At best this question needs narrower scope!  Then the task would be reduced to only hopeless.”
—Allan Tuchman (MS ‘91 Computer Science, BS ‘76 Computer Science) 

“We are so fortunate that this was our second time to see Yo-Yo Ma. His music is so beautiful and his interaction with the audience is so genuine…this was a perfect venue for his performance.”
—Cliff Barnes 

“Monét X Change and Alaska 5000 not only filled the room with laughter, but they interacted with various members of the audience. From the disco music to motivating speeches for college students’ and their impact on society, these two truly made the night unforgettable.”
—Kaitlyn Ho (MS ‘24 Business Analytics, BSLAS ‘23 Math) 

“The staging and production for Oh What a Lovely War was so creative. It was in the black box theater and the audience moved with the actors as stories were told. It was so intimate and moving. Great visuals and music too. It made the pain of and scope of WW1 come alive.”
—Christina Whippo 

“I had 4th-row seats to see Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott. and it was amazing not only to hear them but also to see Yo-Yo Ma’s expressions when playing. I love coming to Krannert because it’s such a convenient and affordable place for students to interact with the performing arts. Many of the artists I get to see at Krannert, I wouldn’t be able to afford to see where they might normally perform.”
—Anonymous 

“Ollie Davis and her performers are so awesome and talented! I could have stayed for another hour of their performance. I am amazed at the level of talent we have on campus.”
—Lisa Romero (MS ‘89 Library and Information Sciences) 

“We took our son out of his wheelchair, and he sat in a regular seat. That was important because when those Kodo drums started up he could feel the vibrations in the seat, and the vibrations in the walls, and he just came alive and was enthralled for the entire performance. We didn’t stop to get any merchandise that night, but we decided our son needed the cassette tape that had been offered. The next day was a snowstorm, but my husband walked from our house to Krannert in the snow to buy the tape, and we still play it.”
—Kay Grabow (EDM ‘72, BS ‘70 Elementary Education) 

“Shozo Sato’s Kabuki Medea is what made me fall in love with the arts in general and KCPA – as a student, a tour guide, and now a donor. Being exposed to a classic Greek tragedy done through an ancient Japanese Kabuki lens sums up what a gift my LAS liberal arts degree was at an excellent state-supported institution of higher learning in the middle of central Illinois cornfields – who could have asked for anything better?”
—Howard Walgren (BALAS ‘84 Political Science) 

“Bobby McFerrin had the audience in the palm of his hand. At one point, he got the audience to sing along, in sections doing different parts. I think that he never told the audience what to sing, he just used his loving gift and the incredible attention that he inspired — Be Here Now. Marvelous.”
—J. Michael Felty (BSLAS ‘75 Math & Computer Science) 

“The first time I saw Pavarotti, Pilobolis, and Kodo Drums still has a magical effect on me. Such a delight to think about them again. I have attended many different amazing concerts through the years, but these have stayed with me the longest. Thanks!”
—Anonymous 

“The performance is Neil Simon’s CHAPTER TWO with student actor Bill Mondy sometime between 1982-1986. He was mesmerizing as an actor in that and everything I saw him in. I was a Psych major and had a ‘meaningful cognate’ in theatre. I had just had two Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble members John Malkovich and Terry Kinney drive my bus in high school. That influence and performances I saw with Bill Mondy at the University of Illinois helped shape my desire to graduate and go into arts administration over the next thirty years at places like Lookinglass, Goodman, and Northlight Theatre in the Chicagoland area.”
—Rachel Kraft (BSLAS ‘86 Psychology) 

“The Dizzie Gillespie concert was the second date with my now wife of 52 years.”
—Michael VanBlaricum (PhD ‘76 EE, MS ‘74 EE, BS ‘72 EE)  

“The Bands of the Royal Marines and Scots Guards in 2016. Enjoying a full marching band of bagpipers in a theater setting was impressive enough, but the best part was sharing the experience with my mom. The evening out with dinner was a gift to her and it’s a memory I will always cherish.”
—Kim Rutledge 

“Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem on May 3, 1987. This was a great performance of one of the most powerful works of music of the 20th century. University soloists were superb, the choirs were all excellent, and the conductor, Paul Vermel, was the finest leader of this work I have ever heard.”
—Anonymous 

“Grand Opening at the Great Hall on April 19, 1969. It was the day after my 19th birthday. I was a member of KCSA, in charge of special tours, but actually seeing and hearing a performance in the Great Hall was very different from walking through giving a tour. The sound was magnificent and mesmerizing. I’d never heard anything like it.”
—Joan Tunnel (BS ‘72 Elementary Education)