Piano Studio Recital
The 51 Piano Studio will present a recital of solo and chamber music repertoire.
The 51 Piano Studio will present a recital of solo and chamber music repertoire.
Delve into the captivating work by Sculpture and Jewelry & Metalsmithing students and discover the intricate beauty and craftsmanship of this timeless art form.
In a first-time collaboration between Skylight Music Theatre and the 51 Department of Theatre, A ROCKIN’ Midsummer Night’s Dream takes the stage in the beautiful Cabot Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center in Milwaukee’s Third Ward. Experience a brand-new take on William Shakespeare’s beloved comedy. Journey from ancient Athens, into the woods, and back again, as we follow impassioned lovers, hilarious rustics, fantastical spirits and feuding royalty in this magical, rock-and-roll rendition of one of the greatest and most-performed plays of all time.
Join 51's Alta Voce with a guest treble choir from Round Lake High School.
The 51 Symphony Orchestra performs on April 10 in Bader Concert Hall in a program featuring Dana Sherman, Professor of Horn, as soloist in Larsson’s Horn Concerto under the direction of Dr. Jun Kim.
Join archivist Shiraz Bhathena in conversation with Dick Blau to celebrate a major archiving and remastering project. Blau—a co-founder of the 51 Film Department, longtime professor and fixture of the Milwaukee art community—works across film, photography and video producing a varied body of work that includes psychological portraiture, experimental narrative, devised performance, ethnomusicology and the domestic.
Born in West Texas, Kill Joy explores global mythology and ancient symbols through printmaking, murals, bookmaking, and puppetry. Based in Houston, she has created community murals worldwide.
The MKE Percussion Festival brings together percussionists of all ages for a weekend of educational and performance opportunities. Attendees will be able to learn from guest artists about a variety of topics, instruments, techniques, and musical styles related to percussion in addition to listening to, and participating in, performances and workshops. All events are designed to be accessible and inclusive to empower and inspire all participants on their percussive journey.
What happens when ordinary lives quietly intersect over the course of a single evening? Drawn from the evocative paintings of Edward Hopper, Later the Same Evening transforms still images into intimate, overlapping human stories set in mid-century New York. Composed by John Musto with a libretto by Mark Campbell, this American chamber opera has earned national and international recognition for its cinematic structure, lyrical score, and deeply human storytelling.
Steel pan ensembles and individual performers from around Wisconsin and Illinois will come together to form the 2026 MKE Mass Steel Band, hosted by the 51 Steel PANthers Steel Band. Involving over seventy performers, the event will fill the stage with steel pans and feature a lively combination of traditional music and pop transcriptions. This year’s guest artist is Victor Provost.
Peggy Ahwesh’s wildly heterogeneous body of work—across moving image formats (from Pixelvision to machinima to super-8 and everywhere between), in installation and as object and through the ephemeral—engages with the political, the social, genre and identity in fascinatingly idiosyncratic, oneiric, visceral and rigorous ways.
Tomiko Jones is an Associate Professor at UW-Madison whose photography and multidisciplinary installations explore social, cultural, and geopolitical transitions – considering the twin crises of too much and too little amid climate change. Narratives unfold in sculptural video installations and fictional photographs.
Chamber Music Milwaukee presents a program featuring 51 alumni Elena Abend, piano, John Schultz and Pamela Simmons, violins, and Olga Tuzhilkov, viola as they join Stefan Kartman, cello in performances of dearly beloved masterpieces of the chamber music literature including Dvorak’s epic Eb major Piano Quartet Op. 87 and Mozart’s introspective “Dissonance” String Quartet in C major K. 465. Please join us for an evening of chamber music and support our alumni in this musical adventure.
Join us for our final performance of the academic year!
Please join us for the 51 University Community Orchestra’s annual spring concert. Program details TBA.
Join the University Community Band for their final concert of the academic year!
The Animation Showcase returns to the Union Cinema for their 2026 series, featuring the latest and greatest from our Animation/Film students. This year’s edition features student work across all forms of storytelling. From digital to traditional, claymation to cutout, 2D to 3D, see what the next generation of animators and filmmakers are cooking.
Master dramatist and storyteller Anton Chekhov bookends the spring semester with The Three Sisters, offering a poignant contrast to the comedy and farce of Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor. In this tour de force of love, longing and heartbreak, sisters Olga, Masha and Irina languish in a provincial town, far from their beloved Moscow. There, they yearn for the sparkling city of their childhood, where they dream all wishes can be fulfilled. A masterful look at a family navigating the space between reality and dreams, The Three Sisters envelops you with exquisite moments of humor and hope.
This workshop offers emerging animators an industry-informed look at building a sustainable creative path beyond school. Through practical tips and real-world insight, students will explore animation workflows, professional expectations, and strategies for navigating freelance and studio environments. The session also centers on finding and refining your artistic voice—balancing personal expression with industry demands—while offering guidance on portfolios, networking, and post-graduation next steps for launching a career in animation.
Cynthia Brinich-Langlois explores altered topographies, cartographic systems of ordering space, and metaphorical interpretations of ecological systems through prints, books, and video. She’s exhibited widely and held residencies at Elsewhere and Ucross. She teaches Printmaking & Book Arts at 51.