KU Presents! is back in 2025-26 with a new director, a new website and an exciting lineup that combines quality with both educational value and audience appeal. The series, held at Kutztown University’s Schaeffer Auditorium, will begin in October and will offer an array of performing arts with something for every age and taste.
Dr. Deborah Justice was hired in March as the director of KU Presents!. She holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Indiana University, Bloomington, and had previously spent nearly 10 years managing the Cornell Concert Series at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
“I’m excited to be back in Central Pennsylvania where I grew up, and to position KU Presents! as an arts driver that creates social bonds and supports campus and community resilience,” Justice said.
The Performing Artists Series kicks off with the Mariachi Herencia de Mexico on Oct. 26. With their distinctive charro suits and large sombreros, mariachi bands — associated with Mexico City and Guadalajara — have a huge following in the United States.
The sounds of the trumpets, violins, guitars — including the bass guitarron — and full-throated singing have been heard in films, television and many venues on both sides of the border, including Chicago, where Mariachi Herencia de Mexico was born and is headquartered.
This new generation of 14 mariachi musicians (ages 18 to 32) debuted their first of five albums, the Latin Grammy-nominated “Nuestra Herencia,” in 2017; “Herederos” was also nominated in 2023.
The series will continue on Nov. 19 with Voctave, an 11-member a cappella vocal group from Florida. Since their founding in 2015 by vocalist/arranger/producer Jamey Ray, they have thrilled audiences with their exquisite harmonies.
Ray’s sophisticated arrangements of popular music are heard in live performances and on 10 albums. These include Disney classics, Broadway hits, Christmas songs and jazz standards. Ray’s vocal arrangements have been heard on albums by Pentatonix, the King’s Singers and the Swingle Singers.
The highly praised acoustic Irish band Lunasa, considered one of Ireland’s hottest bands, will perform on Dec. 5. Founded in 1997, Lunasa has followed in the footsteps of renowned innovators such as The Bothy Band and Clannad, creating a style all their own. Their complex and boundary-breaking arrangements have won them a huge audience all over the world. They have sold a quarter of a million records, including their latest, “Live in Kyoto” (2023).
The Pacifica Quartet (Feb. 12, 2026) will celebrate America’s 250th birthday year by performing three works that create a musical collage based on themes from the American experience. Works by Charles Ives, Erich Korngold and Antonin Dvorak will reflect American hymn tunes, folk music and Hollywood film scores.
Founded in 1994 by violinist Simin Ganatra and cellist Brandon Vamos, the quartet is a multiple Grammy-winner and highly respected touring quartet, as well as quartet-in-residence at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. Having won all the top chamber music awards, they are considered one of the country’s finest string quartets.
For something completely different, Mnozil Brass (March 2), an Austrian brass septet, will combine virtuoso playing with Monty Python-esque humor in a program of folk, classical, jazz and pop. Founded in 1992 in the Mnozil Pub in Vienna by graduates of the Vienna College of Music, this group will leave the audience breathless with equal parts awe and laughter.
Broadway star and recording artist Jessica Vosk (April 1) will perform Broadway songs for fans of musical theater, in what has become a tradition for KU Presents! The New Jersey native is best known for her role as Elphaba in “Wicked” on Broadway from 2018 to 2019, and on the national tour. She also performed on Broadway in “The Bridges of Madison County,” “Finding Neverland,” and the 2015-16 revival of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Renowned jazz trumpeter, bandleader and composer Sean Jones (April 15) will wrap up the series, performing with the Kutztown University Jazz Ensemble I. Jones, appointed by Wynton Marsalis to be the permanent lead trumpeter for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, is chair of Peabody Conservatory and artistic director of Carnegie Hall’s NYO Jazz Ensemble.
The three shows in the Family Series will not only introduce youngsters to new performing art forms, but will entertain adults as well. The fun will begin with the Bindelstiff Family Cirkus (Sept. 20), which re-creates American circus/vaudeville performances popular circa 1900, including juggling, sword-swallowing and other feats of derring-do.
The White Buffalo (March 8) will feature Native American artist Delwin Fiddler Jr., telling the Lakota origin myth through song, dance and storytelling. The Quebec-based Theatre Motus (April 26) will perform “Baobab,” a West African folktale told through music, puppetry and storytelling.
For complete information on the KU Presents! 2025-26 season and to order tickets, visit www.kutztownpresents.org or call the KU Presents! Box Office from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday, at 610-683-4092.
Art
Studio B, 39 E. Philadelphia Ave., Boyertown, has announced the opening of an art exhibit entitled “LIFE” on Friday from 5-7 p.m. featuring a show of works by area artists in all mediums. The exhibit is free and open to the public and will run through Nov. 30.
Artists are challenged to respond to any aspect or life and living. Prize awards will be announced during the reception.
Juror for the exhibit is Kristen T. Woodward. Woodward received her bachelor of fine arts degree in printmaking from Syracuse University and her master’s in studio art from Clemson University. Woodward is a professor of art and the art department chair at Albright College in Reading. Her artworks are in numerous permanent collections.
Reading Public Museum
The Reading Public Museum, 500 Museum Road, invites guests 21 and over to Retro Replay: A 21+ Night at Toytopia on Friday from 6-9 p.m.
Guests will enjoy exclusive access to the Toytopia exhibition, where they can explore oversized and interactive toy installations of Battleship, Lite Brite and Etch-a-Sketch and retro arcade cabinets featuring classic games like Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and more. Encrypted Escape Room West Reading will offer a tabletop escape challenge.
Attendees can eat the snacks of a child’s dreams: pizza, chicken nuggets, soft pretzels and soda. Alcohol will also be available for purchase, including a selection of beverages from local favorites Thistle Finch Distillery and Saucony Creek Brewing Co.
“This event is a fun, nostalgic way for adults to reconnect with their inner child — and each other — through the toys and games they grew up loving,” said Ashley Houston, director of development.
Tickets are on sale at www.readingpublicmuseum.org and will also be available for purchase at the door.
Music
The Reading Pops Big Band will perform on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Green Valley Chateau Tent, 160 Green Valley Road, Lower Heidelberg Township.
The Big Band performs music from the Swing Era all the way up to more contemporary jazz charts, including Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Sammy Nestico, and Neal Hefti, even arrangements from Broadway shows and pop radio tunes.
Books
Thomas M. Malafarina’s second memoir of childhood tales from growing up in Schuylkill County, published by Leesport-based Crave Press, is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and IndieBound as well as select retailer sites.
Growing up in the 1960s in small-town America was an era filled with fun, interesting, humorous and often mischievous stories. Malafarina introduced readers to the stories of his youth in small-town America’s Ashland with his bestselling memoir “Growin’ Up Skook.” He has followed that up with “Growin’ Up Skook 2: More Stories From ‘The Skook.’”
Malafarina, an advanced machining engineering manager, is primarily known as an author of horror fiction. He has published numerous horror novels and collections of horror short stories. He has also published a book of often-strange single panel cartoons. In addition, many of his stories have appeared in anthologies and e-magazines.
He is also an artist, musician, singer and songwriter who lives in western Berks County with his wife, JoAnne.
Oktoberfest
The editors of USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards along with a panel of subject matter experts have chosen Reading Liederkranz Oktoberfest as a nominee for Best Oktoberfest.
The Reading Liederkranz was chosen in 2015 and 2017 by readers of USA Today as the Best Oktoberfest in the United States. It was fourth in the voting last year.
The Reading Liederkranz promotes and celebrates German cultural heritage as well as the cultural heritage of other nations which have had an effect or influence on German culture to our members and the community at large.
Voting continues through Sept. 8 at https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/reading-liederkranz-oktoberfest-reading-pennsylvania.
