Accelerate Faculty

Alverno Presents, the performing arts series of Alverno College, will conclude its 56-year history on Saturday, April 30 with The Jones Family Singers. The final performance will take place at the Pitman Theatre at 8 p.m.

Made up of five sisters, two brothers and their father, The Jones Family Singers have been tearing up churches and festivals for over two decades. The Wall Street Journal declared them “modern practitioners of a long musical tradition … infusing their joyful, reverent songs with elements of vintage soul and R&B.” Fans of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Vintage Trouble will find a hip-shaking and spiritually uplifting workout at the core of their gospel music. Both Rolling Stone and NPR called them “a must-see act” at SXSW 2014.

Over the years, the program has carved out a niche for itself bringing contemporary dance, world music, jazz and avant garde performances to the Pitman Theatre stage, and it has garnered both local and national acclaim. “Under the visionary leadership of Sr. Laura Lampe and then David Ravel, Alverno Presents has become amongst the most remarkable university-based performing arts presenters in the nation,” said Aaron Greenwald, executive director of Duke Performances at Duke University. “Alverno Presents will be missed - it was the rare performing arts series committed to engaging its patrons while striving to foreground the world's finest performing arts.”

Tickets for Saturday's show are still available for $30 at http://alvernopresents.alverno.edu or at the Alverno Presents box office at 414-382-6044. The box office is open Monday-Friday from noon to 6 p.m., and on the day of the performance from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

History of Alverno Presents

In 1960, Sister Laura Lampe, SSSF, founded Alverno's Society of Fine Arts (SOFA), the precursor to Alverno Presents. Lampe, who taught in Alverno's music department, used her knowledge and contacts within the fine arts community to contract world renowned performers for the Alverno theater stage. Her vision to bring quality fine arts programming to a smaller Milwaukee venue has lived on for nearly 60 years. Some of the artists Lampe brought to Alverno include Merce Cunningham, Robin McCabe, Jose Limon, Joshua Bell, Odetta, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.