Lineup features figures from music, dance & more
Local figures from the fields of music, dance, and more will share their art and their wisdom in the 2024-2025 season of Luminaries, the weekday speaker series presented by the Center for the Performing Arts.
Luminaries presentations take place at 2 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every other month at the Palladium, 1 Carter Green, Carmel. The cost is only $10, which includes light refreshments. Tickets and more information are available at (317) 843-3800 or TheCenterPresents.org/Luminaries.
The 2024-2025 schedule features:
Aug. 27 – Lindsay Moy, painter & professional opera singer
The Intersection of Visual and Performing Arts
The term Gesamtkunstwerk, popularized by German opera composer Richard Wagner, translates to “total work of art” and refers to the thrilling synergy created by the coming together of design, performance and a live audience. Opera as an art form exemplifies this idea, merging the worlds of music and art into a feast for the senses. Join professional opera singer and visual artist Lyndsay Moy as she speaks about her work as a painter and performer, sharing stories and lessons from her experience at the intersection of visual and performing arts.
Sept. 24 – Rob Heighway, pipe organ builder
History and Mystery of the Pipe Organ
Rob Heighway has spent half of his life building pipe organs, and he has stories to tell. His will cover a bit of the history and enlighten us about the “hidden” world of pipe organs. He’ll discuss different types of pipe organs and the challenges of an industry that requires expertise in high-end woodworking, metalworking, solid-state control systems, and music. See the role pipe organs play in the musical, mechanical, architectural and spiritual worlds as both a fascinating machine and an inspirational musical instrument.
Nov. 26 – Gregory Glade Hancock of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre
Gregory Glade Hancock, Executive Director of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, the resident professional dance company at the Center for the Performing Arts will share his journey through a life of art. Mr. Hancock will relate stories of how he surrounds himself with art and how he has taken personal experiences and challenges and transformed them into beauty. He will also discuss his creative process and how he draws inspiration from the world around him.
Jan. 28 – Trevor Conerly, musician & producer
The Music and Lives of African American Classical Composers
African American composers have made important contributions to the world of classical music, often blending lush harmonies originating from jazz, hymns, and spirituals into classical form. Along with their beautiful pieces, they also have their lives, stories and accomplishments to tell as well. Join saxophonist Trevor Conerly and pianist Andrew Brown as they perform several rich musical pieces while highlighting the lives, challenges and stories of their composers.
March 25 – Iris Rosa Santiago, choreographer & IU professor emerita
Choreographing Dance Narratives: What Inspires My Creativity
Iris Rosa Santiago is an Afro-Puerto Rican immigrant who attended college at Indiana University Bloomington and taught there for 43 years. Her presentation will focus on various ideas, philosophies, thoughts, feelings and lived experiences that inspire her storytelling in the dance discipline. Dance narratives can be political, historical, social, and cultural, and this provides a plethora of material from which to choose. She will share some videos of past choreographic pieces that illustrate her creative work.
May 27 – Mary Anne Barothy, former assistant to Doris Day
Mary Anne Barothy takes us on her sentimental journey from growing up in Indianapolis in the 1950s to 1960s to following her “Day dream” – working for and living with America’s sweetheart, Doris Day. Barothy served for four years as Day’s personal secretary in the 1970s while the actress was filming her hit TV show at CBS, then lived with the screen legend in her Beverly Hills home for two years.
For more information on the series, call (317) 819-3516 or email Outreach@TheCenterPresents.org.
About the Center for the Performing Arts
The mission of the nonprofit Center for the Performing Arts is to engage and inspire the Indiana community through enriching arts experiences. Its campus in Carmel includes the 1,500-seat Palladium concert hall, the 500-seat Tarkington proscenium theater and the black-box Studio Theater. The Center presents and hosts hundreds of events each year, including the Center Presents performance series, featuring the best in classical, jazz, pop, rock, country, comedy and other genres. Educational and experiential programming for all ages includes children’s concerts and camps, book clubs, lectures, and classes in music and dance. The Center is home to the affiliated Great American Songbook Foundation and provides space and support services for six resident arts companies. More information is available at TheCenterPresents.org.