Naperville’s North Central College is ending its longstanding “Presented Performance Series,” which over the years has brought in such well-known artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Colbie Caillat and Dionne Warwick.
Officials announced the annual offering of outside shows will be sunsetted this spring because the “significant operational cost of the series no longer made financial sense.”
The series, which has filled out programming at North Central’s Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center since the venue opened 16 years ago, will conclude with a production called “The Let’s Go Science Show” on April 20.
“This decision,” North Central assured “friends and supporters of the arts” in an email Wednesday, “is in no way a reflection of the College’s longstanding commitment to the arts.”
Wentz Concert Hall will still be used to host performances from college partners — DuPage Symphony Orchestra, the Naperville Chorus or the Chicago Sinfonietta, for instance — as well as student-led shows.
In an email to the Sun Friday, NCC Associate Director of Fine Arts Jennifer Berosek added, “the College will continue to host dozens” of events, noting that the Presented Performance Series “has always been just one part of the College’s broader calendar of fine and performing arts events throughout the year.”
When Wentz Concert Hall was first conceived almost two decades ago, it was imagined with the vision to provide “world-class opportunities” to North Central students and to “enrich the local community through arts,” Berosek said.
In fall 2008, as the center prepared to open, then-North Central President Harold Wilde told the Sun, “These facilities allow the college to attract and showcase internationally known artists, along with our award-winning theater, music and art students and our community partners.”
Berosek said the college has been “equally as proud” to host international performers as it has been to give students opportunities to explore their passion in the arts.
“These goals will continue well into the future,” she said.
Berosek declined to say how much the series cost the school annually.
“We can’t share the specifics on the finances of the series,” she said, “but the decision to discontinue the series at the conclusion of the current season will enable the College to reallocate those funds in ways that more directly serve our students.”
She also said the presence of other performance venues nearby — Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, the Paramount in Aurora, the Arcada in St. Charles — was not a factor in the college’s decision.
“There is room for everyone to succeed,” she said. “We’ve always viewed the Wentz Concert Hall as a resource for our students and a destination for the Naperville and West Suburban community, and that will continue to be the case.”
Berosek said the college does not anticipate bringing the Presented Performance Series back in the same model but will “continue to work with new and existing partners alike to bring exciting and enriching performances and performers to our stages.”