The author of seven books, Tom Santopietro has been hailed by Booklist as “fun to read … perfect for musical-lovers, aspiring moviemakers, and film buffs.” He has written on Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand, as well as the ultimate look inside the making of the Julie Andrews classic, “The Sound of Music.”
Robert Wittman, considered the most famous art detective in the world, has risked his life returning stolen treasures. He founded the FBI’s elite Art Crime Team and recovered more than $225 million worth of art works and antiquities during his 20-year law enforcement career. Notable recoveries include a Rembrandt valued at $36 million.
For decades on Main Street in Downtown Elkhart, Brian Byrn has taken care of the 6,000 items in the Midwest Museum of American Art’s collection. He’s also one of the Four Arts Club’s favorite presenters. For this talk, Brian will focus on the renowned collection of hand-signed lithography by famed artist and illustrator Norman Rockwell.
A native of Germany and a graduate of Concord High School, Evelyn Theinert lets her light shine through the strings of her harp. She is finishing her work as a student at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and her goal is to keep performing. “In real life performance, you only have one chance. I think it’s better that way. You give your best for that one chance.”
Sure to bring spirit and sizzle to the season, Epic Dance Studio students are ready to share their talents. In previous years, Holidaze performances at places like The Lerner have included jazz, ballet, hip hop, and top, including selections featured in Duke Ellington’s “Harlem Nutcracker.” Stephanie Pairitz leads Epic Dance Studio.
Elkhart High School’s premier jazz vocal ensemble is under the direction of Jeff Reinert. The group has competitive auditions and consistently places among the best in Indiana, earning Top 8 rankings at the Indiana State School Music Association’s jazz festival.
Nicholas Roth has been a recording artist, a Beethoven fellow of the American Pianists Association, and a performer on stages throughout the United States and Europe. The Elkhart native is coming home again to showcase his talents for the Four Arts Club.
Sometime during the pandemic, Abbie Thomas came to a critical point in her fast-developing music career. The singer-songwriter made the move to go “all in” and chase her dreams. Whether she’s solo or with her talented band, the Crazy Hearts, Abbie delivers soulful pop reminiscent of great 1970s sounds. She is the 2023 Josie Music Awards female artist of the year.
“Professor Pski” knows modern and vintage fashion, and delivers her knowledge in funny, opinionated and useful ways. She wants to help people bring back style and tasteful beauty to everyday looks. In her day job, she teaches several classes in the history department at the University of Notre Dame.
Add a white suit and red carnation to a talented high school choir teacher, and you’ll get an afternoon with the legendary Cole Porter. Dr. Jason Gornto teaches at Peru High School and plays in a number of jazz bands. His tribute to his town’s favorite son is testament to the strength and enjoyability of the Great American Songbook.
A favorite of the Four Arts Club, Brian Byrn is the executive director and curator of the Midwest Museum of American Art. His talks are as dynamic as the works inside his Main Street destination. He’ll be talking about the upcoming 46th annual Juried Art Regional.
This program has changed from the original listing. The Calabogie Road bluegrass band is unable to perform as scheduled.
The author of seven books, Tom Santopietro has been hailed by Booklist as “fun to read ... perfect for musical lovers, aspiring moviemakers, and film buffs.” He has written on Frank Sinatra, Doris Day and Barbra Streisand. He also has been a tennis pro and a manager of Broadway shows.
The Starlights are the award-winning, all-female show and concert choir of Middlebury Community Schools. This elite group competes around the country, showcasing knowledge of music theory, history and advanced techniques. The group also incorporates movement.
Tom Toro has had more than 200 of his drawings published in the New Yorker since 2010. A cum laude graduate of Yale, he also is an author of short stories and filmmaker. His work also has appeared in Playboy, the Paris Review and American Bystander.
These ambassadors of string music are dedicated to raising the level and reputation of the Indiana University South Bend programs. This performance will showcase seasonal and secular selections.
Challenged by an entrepreneurship class at Notre Dame, Zach Dubois wrote a business plan to become a songwriter. With inspirations from John Denver to John Steinbeck, his music has made its way to CMT video countdown shows.
Sean Hartley directs the musical theater division of New York’s Kaufman Center. He is the host of the Broadway Close Up concert series, and has writing and song credits for several musicials and Disney television series.
It was a political rivalry that shaped a nation - Thomas Jefferson vs. Alexander Hamilton, two imperfect men seeking a more perfect union. Louis Masur is a distinguished professor of American studies at Rutgers University.
Tina Rivers Ryan is an Ivy League-educated curator, art historian and critic. Her focus is art since the 1960s, and she has worked with the world’s leading institutions - The Met, MoMA and Artforum - on their exhibitions,
Based at Elkhart’s Lerner Theatre, Premier Arts is regional leader in providing diverse and professional performing arts entertainment and education. This special presentation will showcase Broadway favorites.
A Four Arts Club favorite, Bob Milne has long been considered the best ragtime and boogie-woogie pianist in the world. In fact, the Library of Congress has declared him a National Treasure, and he is a musical ambassador for the State Department.
The author of 22 books and a best-selling essay series, Phillip Gulley has been a finalist for the cherished Thurber Prize for American humor. The values of the Quaker way bring equity, peace, healing, and hope.
Brian Byrn, the executive director of the Midwest Museum of American Art, is no stranger to the Four Arts Club. His talks provide education and inspiration, and this program will focus specifically on the accomplishments of female artists in the 20th Century.
Ruby Jazayre was a YWCA youth director who didn’t like being at a desk. She saw a belly dancing program and thought she would never do that. From the first lesson, though, she’s been hooked with the movement and the music - and now she teaches classes of all ages across Michiana.
Mary Ann Moran reprises her fabulous one-woman show honoring the iconic Katharine Hepburn. Mary Ann doesn’t perform as an imitation or caricature, but simply with the spirit of the woman as she faced vulnerable moments in her life. Moran’s interpretation was first presented at South Bend Civic Theatre in 2013.
April Lidinsky is women's and gender studies professor at IUSB, as well as director of the master’s program for liberal studies. She’s an expert in feminist activism and advocacy, using her knowledge to bring together both historical and contemporary issues in theoretical and practical ways.
Please note the location change for this event to the Aria Ballroom at the Hotel Elkhart.
Andrew Och started documenting the lives of America’s First Ladies for a 2013 series on C-SPAN. The immense project has made him the foremost expert on the lives and accomplishments of history’s best known women. Andrew will be making his long-awaited trip to Elkhart after postponements in 2020 and ‘21.
Nicholas Roth has been a recording artist, a Beethoven fellow of the American Pianists Association, and a performer on stages throughout the United States and Europe. The Elkhart native is coming home from his current position at Drake University to showcase his talents for the Four Arts Club.
Marc Lapadula, an award-winning film producer and university lecturer, returns to the Four Arts Club stage to examine the works of Alfred Hitchcock. While everyone knows the master for his six decades of suspense on the big screen, Hitchcock deserves more credit for his sophisticated artistic ambition.
Michael Minor is a classically trained vocalist with unique abilities. He can impersonate everyone from Louis Armstrong to Justin Timberlake … as a ventriloquist! Michael impresses with the speed at which he and his “special guests” take turns singing a song together. He’s taken his one-man variety show all over the world.
Sidney Friedman is a master of mind power, and his psychic phenomenon will be on full display for the Four Arts Club in December.
Friedman’s mental feats are real, based on the intuitive abilities he has developed since childhood. He first showed signs of psychic ability at age 5, when he helped his mother find her lost wedding ring. He’s honed his skills, publishing annual predictions with a 72 percent success rate and entertaining clients from corporations to civic groups.
The Four Arts Club welcomes the IUSB Chorale of the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts for a special performance.
Jeshua Franklin leads the students. Prior to his assignment at IUSB, Franklin led Bethel University students on performances at Carnegie Hall and in Europe. He also has taught in Michigan, Illinois and California, and is sought after as an adjudicator and clinician, presenting, in recent years, on choral topics at state, regional, and national level conferences. As artistic director for Musical Arts Indiana, he conducts Vesper Chorale, Vesper Chamber Orchestra, and the Children’s Choir of Michiana.
Indiana’s longest-standing professional ballet company travels from Fort Wayne to perform at the Four Arts Club event in October 2021.
Led by artistic director Karen Gibbons-Brown, the Fort Wayne Ballet achieves its mission to “feed the spirit and spark the imagination through the highest caliber professional and academy performances, dance training, and community engagement.”
Students of all ages demonstrate their passion on stage, delighting audiences with classical performances like the Nutcracker as well as more contemporary takes on familiar stories.
Celebrating more than two decades in music, the Euclid Quartet enjoys one of the most highly regarded reputations of any chamber ensemble of its generation.
Its members constitute a multinational mix representing four continents: violinist Jameson Cooper (Great Britain), violinist Brendan Shea (United States), violist Luis Enrique Vargas (Venezuela), cellist Jacqueline Choi (South Korea).
Captivating audiences and critics ranging from Carnegie Hall to school classrooms, the quartet consistently performs to enthusiastic acclaim throughout the country.
From stage plays to the big screen, Marc Lapadula has made major contributions to the performing arts for nearly 30 years. He is the senior lecturer on film studies at Yale University, a consultant for New Line Films, and produced the Sundance Film Festival award-winning Angel Passing with Hume Cronyn.
His off-Broadway stage credits include StripHer, Not by Name, Two Shakes, Men Like Us, The Rains Change, Serial Killer and In Uniform Thanksgiving. Along with his film work, he provides expert script analysis in major Hollywood lawsuits. His other teaching credits include courses at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University.
