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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Source: Todd R. Holmberg, 785-532-6425, trholm@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/mccain/
Photos available: Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415.
News release prepared by: Andy Badeker, 785-532-6415, abadeker@k-state.edu

Monday, July 21, 2008

MCCAIN PERFORMANCE SERIES FOR 2008-09 STRETCHES BOUNDARIES AT K-STATE

MANHATTAN -- In his first year as executive director of McCain Auditorium at Kansas State University, Todd R. Holmberg has engineered a performance schedule that embraces Americana as well as contemporary satire, sharp-tongued comedy along with razor-keen musical theater, Irish step dancing and urban opera.

"One of my overarching goals for the coming year was to change the university's and the community's perception of the McCain Performance Series," Holmberg said. "There was a noticeable perception that the series needed a breath of fresh air."

To do that, Holmberg came up with more ways to engage the community and the university.

The auditorium's 2008-09 Performance Series will include such high-profile national acts as Garrison Keillor, Sept. 22, and political satirists the Capitol Steps, Oct. 19. Music genres range from the big band sound of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, April 18, 2009, to the 13-year-old prodigy Conrad Tao, Feb. 7, 2009, who will play one of his own compositions from this year.

"A lot of people have asked, 'Are you going to take the series in a different direction?'" Holmberg said. His answer is that it is going in many different directions, but with a common destination: engagement of diverse audiences.

"The goal is to attract new audiences but also to challenge your current audiences," Holmberg said. "We're here to educate, expose, engage and inspire, not just entertain.

"Being program director in an educational setting, that mission is foremost in my mind," he said. "If a popular show such as 'Nunsense,' starring Sally Struthers, Jan. 22, 2009, fills every one of McCain's 1,650 seats, that's great, but it's only one element in the bigger mission."

A string quartet playing contemporary music might draw far fewer people, Holmberg said, but the question should be, "Are these people being transformed in some way? If the answer is 'yes,' then we've succeeded."

Even so, the overall schedule is far from esoteric. "Sweeney Todd," Sept. 25, and "Hairspray," March 11, 2009, are touring musicals spun off recent film successes, and the McCain season opener is the family-pleasing Golden Dragon Acrobats from China, Aug. 28.

Most acts illustrate Holmberg's underlying theme for the season, "The Spirit of America." The East Village Opera Company, Sept. 18, brings a thoroughly American rock 'n' roll attitude to the stage. Cherryholmes, Oct. 9, is a chart-topping family band that plays bluegrass, "a uniquely American art form," Holmberg said. Savion Glover, Nov. 2, is a wizard of tap, a dance form with slave roots. The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Nov. 6, will pay tribute to two great Jewish American composers, Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland. Riders in the Sky will revive America's tradition of show-biz cowpokery in "Christmas the Cowboy Way," Dec. 4.

"I'm looking forward to the totality of the series," said Holmberg, who started booking acts for K-State even as he was packing to leave his previous post as executive director for the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra in Texas. "I really get to use the creative part of my brain, even though I sit behind a desk from 8 to 5 every day."

Already he's deep into planning the 2009-10 season and beyond.

"The auditorium also houses numerous K-State theater, music and dance performances, along with the Landon Lecture Series and various other activities, so we need to have our series in place earlier to be a resource for all the entities that need McCain," Holmberg said.

The complete schedule is available at McCain's revamped Web site at http://www.k-state.edu/mccain/ that now allows patrons to select their seats electronically and buy tickets in real time. Tickets also can be ordered by phone at 785-532-6428 or by stopping by the McCain box office. Discounts are available to faculty, staff and students.