One of the nation’s leading professional vocal ensembles, the Kansas City Chorale will perform at the next Fern Lingenfelter Artist Series concert hosted by McPherson College at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 22 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 119 N. Elm Street in McPherson. Admission to the concert is free.

The program will explore American sacred music, drawing from hymns, spirituals, and concert works spanning more than two centuries. Rooted in foundational melodies and reimagined by composers such as Aaron Copland, Moses Hogan, and James Molholland, alongside contemporary voices, the selections trace a living American musical landscape.

Founded in 1982, the Kansas City Chorale is recognized for its refined sound, expressive depth, and artistic excellence. Under the leadership of artistic director Charles Bruffy, the Chorale has earned international acclaim through performances, recordings, and educational initiatives that reflect a deep commitment to both tradition and innovation.

Bruffy has served as artistic director since 1988 and is widely admired for his luminous choral sound, clarity of musical architecture, and deeply expressive interpretations. In addition to his work with the Kansas City Chorale, he has held leadership roles with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus and previously served as artistic director of the Phoenix Chorale.

The Chorale maintains an active performance presence in the Kansas City area and appears on prominent national and international stages, including as at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, as well as festivals aboard such as Incheon Choral Festival in South Korea. Among its many honors, the Chorale has earned six Grammy Awards and 17 nominations for its albums.

Admission to the Lingenfelter concert is free thanks to a generous commitment to McPherson College honoring Fern Lingenfelter. Lingenfelter, an alumna of McPherson College, taught piano in McPherson for many years to college students on campus and younger students at her downtown studio. Her son, Steve Clark, chairman of Clark Investment Group of Wichita, established the fund that supports two annual music performance events with particular emphasis on piano.

A new exhibition featuring the art of Michaela Valli Groeblacher and the poetry of Kim Stanley is now on display at McPherson College’s Friendship Hall Gallery. The public is invited to an opening reception from noon to 1 p.m., Friday, January 30, when the creators will give a gallery talk and answer questions about their work.

The exhibition, To Bee or Not To Be, explores the interconnectedness of humans and nature. It features Valli Groeblacher’s ceramic pieces, paintings, and photographs paired with poetry by Stanley.

“The individual art pieces show how two minds see this interconnectedness with others and with the earth and nature,” said Valli Groeblacher. “As humans we do not exist in a vacuum, we are connected and dependent. Kim and I think that it is therefore fitting that two artists show as one.”

Valli Groeblacher is an associate professor of art and gallery director at McPherson College. Stanley is a professor emeritus of English. Valli Groeblacher has earned recognition for her work at state and national juried art shows, and Stanley has led book discussions and writing workshops for Humanities Kansas.

Each year, McPherson College invites Kansas high school students to exhibit their best art and compete for prizes and scholarships at the Art POP exhibition in Friendship Hall at the college. This year, Ann Zerger, professor emeritus of McPherson College and former art professor, will be the juror.

Art from 15 high schools statewide includes 92 art pieces. The exhibit features work from high school students attending Attica, Atwood-Rawlins County, Concordia, Free State-Lawrence, Herington, Hesston, Hutchinson, Inman, Junction City, McPherson, Moundridge, Pike Valley, Salina Central, Smoky Valley, Uniontown.

The exhibition is open to the public during business hours. A closing reception and awards ceremony are scheduled for Thursday, November 13, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., with the awards announcements beginning at 6 p.m.

A new exhibition featuring photography by Jennifer Ray is on exhibit at McPherson College’s Friendship Hall through February 12. The exhibition titled “Shouting Fire” tackles the country’s violet past and present through photos of objects that have been used as shooting targets and left behind.

“It is an honor to have an artist of Jennifer’s caliber and success exhibit at our institution,” said Michaela Valli Groeblacher, associate professor of art and gallery director at McPherson College. “Some art fits nicely over your coach, while other art, like Jennifer’s photographs, makes you think and feel.”

Ray is associate professor of photo media at Wichita State University and associate director of the School of Art, Design & Creative Industries at WSU. Her work is in many collections including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, among others. She has been selected to show at many national and international exhibitions. Her long term project, “Shouting Fire,”  will be published later this year.

“Though this body of work bears a relationship to traditional documentary, I use lighting and my arrangements to assert particular narratives,” Ray said in her artist statement. “I avoid photographing the shooters themselves. I want to look beyond simple matters of demographics toward the roots of our nation’s obsession. At this critical moment in history, it seems paramount to develop a complex understanding of our history and the contemporary cultural forces shaping major debates.”

A closing reception for the artist is scheduled for Wednesday, February 12 at noon with an artist’s talk at 12:10 p.m. in the gallery.

The Friendship Hall gallery at McPherson College is open to the public during regular business hours, Monday through Friday.

Boston Brass brings its one-of-a-kind musical experience to the McPherson College stage in a Fern Lingenfelter Artist Series Concert on Sunday, January 26, at 7:30 p.m. at McPherson College’s Brown Auditorium. Admission to the concert is free.

McPherson College will also host Boston Brass for a masterclass on Monday, January 27, at 10 a.m. The masterclass is open to all area band students.

Since 1986, Boston Brass has set out to provide an uncommon musical experience. From exciting classical arrangements to burning jazz standards and the best of the original brass quintet repertoire, Boston Brass treats audiences to a unique brand of entertainment. The ensemble’s lively banter, touched with humor and personality, attempts to bridge the ocean of classical formality to delight audiences in an evening of great music and boisterous fun.

The quintet has played to audiences in all 50 U.S. states and over 30 countries. Though it regularly concertizes as a quintet, Boston Brass also performs with orchestras, concert and marching bands, organists, and jazz bands and regularly collaborates with composers to create new works for the brass canon.

Admission to the Lingenfelter concert is free thanks to a generous commitment to McPherson College honoring Fern Lingenfelter. Lingenfelter, an alumna of McPherson College, taught piano in McPherson for many years to college students on campus and younger students at her studio downtown. Her son, Steve Clark, chairman of Clark Investment Group of Wichita, established the fund that supports two annual music performance events with particular emphasis on piano.

The award-winning pianist Stephen Beus is the featured artist at the next Fern Lingenfelter Artist Series concert at McPherson College. In 2016, Beus gave the inaugural recital that launched the Lingenfelter Artist Series and returns to celebrate this milestone with a world-class performance on Sunday, November 3 at 4 p.m. in Mingenback Theatre. Admission to the concert is free.

His program will feature great piano works, including Franz Liszt’s “Notturno No. 3” and “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.”

Beus is one of America’s leading concert pianists. In a space of four months, he won first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first place in the Vendome Prize International Competition in Lisbon, and was awarded the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association.

He made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and has performed as a solo artist across Europe and the U.S. Born on a farm in eastern Washington, Beus began playing the piano at an early age and made his orchestral debut at 9 years old. As a youth, he won numerous national and international competitions. He holds degrees from Whitman College, the Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University. He currently teaches at Brigham Young University.

Admission to the Lingenfelter concert is free thanks to a generous commitment to McPherson College honoring Fern Lingenfelter. Lingenfelter, an alumna of McPherson College, taught piano in McPherson for many years to college students on campus and younger students at her studio downtown. Her son, Steve Clark, chairman of Clark Investment Group of Wichita, established the fund that supports two annual music performance events with particular emphasis on piano.