FINE ARTS SERIES I: FRI/SAT OCTOBER 9 & 10 – 7:00 PM – $20/PP
“BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA”
A Play in Two Acts starring Tim and Francie Robu
John and his daughter Caitlyn are birders. As they scan the skies over their backyard in suburban Maryland looking for elusive birds, years go by. Relationships begin and end. Children grow up and parents age. The climate and the world change in small and vast ways. BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA takes a close look at the relationship of a father and daughter over the course of a decade as they struggle to understand the parts of one another that defy understanding.
Dessert served at intermission.
FINE ARTS SERIES II: SAT/NOV 14 at 7:00 PM
ORGAN CONCERT with JAN KRAYBILL
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the installation of Plymouth’s Schantz Pipe Organ
GRAMMY-nominated artist Jan Kraybill is a concert organist, pianist, and harpsichordist; a dynamic speaker, educator, church musician, and consultant; and an enthusiastic cheerleader for the power of music to change lives for the better. In addition to maintaining a very active concert schedule, Dr. Kraybill is organ conservator at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri, USA; organist-in-residence at the international headquarters of Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri; and organist at Village on Antioch Presbyterian Church in Overland Park, Kansas. In these roles she plays and oversees the care of three of the Kansas City metro area’s largest pipe organs: the 113-rank Aeolian-Skinner (1959) and 102-rank Casavant (1993) at Community of Christ’s Auditorium and Temple, and the Kauffman Center’s 102-rank Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant (2012).
Dr. Kraybill’s degrees in music education and piano and organ performance were earned at Kansas State University and the Conservatory of Music and Dance in Kansas City. In 2010 she achieved the distinction of Fellow of the AGO, the highest certification level available for organists. She has served in many local, regional, and national roles in the AGO, The Hymn Society, and the Master Teacher Institute, most recently as Executive Director of The Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada. She is a member of Mensa. Her extra-musical interests include antiquing, lace making, and riding her Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
FINE ARTS SERIES III: FRI APRIL – 5:30 TO 8:00 PM – FIRST FRIDAY ART EXHIBIT
“VISUALIZING PALESTINE” Photographs from Palestine –
A [Photographic] Chronicle of Colonialism and the Struggle for Liberation, we are working towards a world in which “these visuals are obsolete, not because they need to be updated with even more dire figures, but because the fundamental conditions of oppression have given way to justice.”
On October 25, 2023, Egyptian-Canadian journalist and writer Omar El Akkad wrote about the growing genocide in Gaza: “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.”
The truth of this statement, proven countless times throughout history, is only possible because of those who “record for future generations to tell them this is what truly happened,” as Asmaa Abu Mezeid writes in Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire. Recording the injustices that Palestinians face daily exposes, for the world to see, the crimes of the Israeli military, who act with unconditional support from the U.S. government and other complicit governments and actors. While the act of recording the truth has increasingly made Palestinian journalists and storytellers targets, they refuse to be silenced. VP and AFSC believe that these injustices will end, and that people of conscience all over the world have a role to play in realizing Palestinian liberation. We share a deep respect for the storytellers who narrate the painful realities of Palestinians who cannot yet live in dignity and freedom, and we invite visitors to this exhibit to witness the truths of the past, the heartbreak of the present, and the possibilities of the future.
The exhibit is divided into three themes of the Palestinian experience:
Displacement
Fragmentation
Return and future visioning
As the viewer looks at photographs from Palestine right after the Nakba, or “catastrophe” of 1948, and learns, or relearns, from VP’s visuals the truths of Israeli military occupation, settler colonialism, apartheid, and genocide, we invite them to consider what they might do to hold accountable those responsible before it is too late. As VP mentions in its book, Visualizing Palestine: A Chronicle of Colonialism and the Struggle for Liberation, we are working towards a world in which “these visuals are obsolete, not because they need to be updated with even more dire figures, but because the fundamental conditions of oppression have given way to justice.”
Alithea Mime Company 2026
SAT / JAN 24 / 7 PM
FREE ADMISSION – Reception to follow.
The Alithea Mime Theatre is a company committed to a continuing vision of mime theatre as a single discipline and multidiscipline with an emphasis on group choreography. After accepting the invitation to co-find the Goldston School for Mime while engaging in parallel training in dance, Johnson established an artistic identity in the mime theatre with a talent for company choreography. In 1994, Johnson, with Sabrina Vasquez as associate artistic director, established the Alithea Mime Theatre and embarked on a creative journey that continues today. In 1999, Alithea became a professional company in residence at Wichita State University.
“Sing for the Cure” 2025
SAT / SEPT 27 / 7 PM
With Annette Lawless and Max Dutton, narrators
“Sing for the Cure” is a choral collection based on true stories of breast cancer survivors. 2025 marks the 25th Anniversary of the premiere by the Turtle Creek Chorale under the direction of Dr. Tim Seelig, who will also be our guest conductor for this performance.
Sing Glory to the Name of God 2025
THU / OCT 16 / 7:30 PM
The Plymouth Choir from First Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, brings a message of hope in a hymn festival celebrating the many names we offer God. All who attend will be invited to raise their voices in beloved hymns of faith, and the choir will sing spiritually powerful, expressive music by Margaret Bonds, André Thomas, and conductor Tom Trenney. The Plymouth Choir has been heard more than 16 million times across the world through its outreach on YouTube, and they are grateful for this opportunity to share their ministry in Wichita for the first time.
2024 – 2025
“A Night of High Notes”
Featuring four spectacular sopranos: Lydia Bechtel, Carter Tholl, Victoria Olson, and Holly Swartzendruber.
‘Saxophone and Organ Duo’
An evening of music for saxophone and organ. Plymouth organist Christopher Shaw will be joined by saxophonist Nick May.
2023 – 2024
“Songs of Wisdom”
With guest conductor, Dr. Tim Seelig. Tim Seelig will lead choirs from Plymouth Congregational Church, College Hill United Methodist church, Grace Presbyterian Church, and Bethel College in Joseph. Martin’s “Song of Wisdom from Old Turtle.” The piece will be accompanied by a chamber orchestra and narrated by Tim and Karen Robu.
“Bach, Beer and Brats”
Bach, Beer, and Brats is an evening full of good food, good beverages, and excellent music from by Johann Sebastian Bach, featuring our own Plymouth musicians in addition to local artists.
‘A Taste of Ireland: An Evening of Irish Food and Music by Mead’s Ghost’
“Mead’s Ghost” is a long-standing “old-timey music” and Irish jam that has been playing around Wichita for many years. Long nameless, it acquired its moniker when its regular jam site at Mead’s Corner was razed. The group previously “jammed” at many locations including Plymouth Congregational Church, The Anchor, the American Legion, and the Donut Whole.
Sponsorships
Up to $249 – You will get your name in the program for all three events.
$250 to $499 – You will get your name in the program for all three events and two commemorative scarves from ‘Sing for the Cure”.
$500 and above – You will get your name in the program for all three events, two commemorative scarves from “Sing for the Cure”, and dinner with the Oct. 16th choir.
