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Milner Library

Illinois State University
Performing Arts Programs

Five dancers in red clothing on a black background

Explore Illinois State (Normal) University’s artistic legacy through current and historical records of musical, theatrical, and dance performances.

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  • Performers in a line wearing red and blue costumes with intricate jewelery

    School of Theatre, Dance, and Film Programs

    Established in 1970, ISU’s theatre program has trained dozens of award-winning actors over the decades through its rigorous and experimental instruction modalities. It absorbed the Department of Health and Physical Education’s dance faculty in 1996. The school’s current name was adopted in 2024 to reflect the growing interest in its Film and Digital Media sequence.

  • collage of actors in costume

    Illinois Shakespeare Festival Programs

    Debuting in 1978 with a futuristic space age reimagining of Twelfth Night, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival stages open-air productions by William Shakespeare and other influential playwrights every summer on the grounds of the Ewing Cultural Center.

  • Illustration of a clown on a blue background

    Gamma Phi Circus Programs

    Gamma Phi started life at IS(N)U as a gymnastics fraternity in 1929. Beginning in 1932 and continuing to the present day, the members stage a yearly performance for campus and community members every spring.

  • black and white illustration of Madrigal performers

    Madrigal Dinner Programs

    The first Yuletide Dinner Concert featuring the ISNU Madrigal Singers was held on December 16, 1956. From the beginning, these productions, which included elaborate decorations and ensembles of singers and actors costumed in Medieval garb, proved incredibly popular with audiences. The Madrigal Singers ended their Christmastime dinner concerts in 2016 after 60 years of performances.

  • Quartet of musicians playing on a dramatically lit stage

    RED NOTE New Music Festival

    Debuting in 2007 as the New Music Festival, this week-long annual celebration features a composition competition, as well as contemporary concert music performances by guest musicians and composers.

  • Collage of a black performer dancing and making music in white clothing

    School of Music Programs

    Music instruction first arrived at Illinois State Normal University with the hire of Professor Frank W. Westhoff in 1901, though an official department wasn’t formally established until the 1930s. Today, the School of Music offers nine majors ranging from Jazz Studies to Music Therapy and its faculty and students hold hundreds of performances a year.

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