This is the moment you’ve been waiting for!

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is happy to announce the 2023-24 performance season, featuring emerging artists, returning favorites, and the tenth edition of ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival. Events from September to May showcase national and international artists as well as university student performances in music, theatre, lyric theatre, dance, and more.

The complete season listing is at the bottom of this article.

Guitar festivals haven’t traditionally been family-friendly events. Krannert Center’s ELLNORA Guitar Festival, held on Friday, September 8 and Saturday, September 9, is different. From the very first edition back in 2005, Krannert Center has made family participation a cornerstone of ELLNORA. In addition to all the great music – both ticketed performances and free concerts -- there’s plenty to do for everyone that make ELLNORA the perfect family event.

Farce, tragedy, and evenings of classic favorites will be included in Lyric Theatre @ Illinois’ 2023-24 season. Julie Gunn, Co-Director of Lyric Theatre since 2013, says the mission remains the same: give students the venue and opportunity to enchant the audience.

Intermezzo cafe will be temporarily closed in August for deep cleaning. The cafe will close at end of day on Friday, August 4, and will reopen on Monday, August 14. 

The Krannert Center ticket office will close at 2:30pm on Friday, August 4 and will resume normal hours on Monday, August 7.

The Krannert Center Ticket Office will be temporarily closed for the next week, so our ticketing staff can enjoy an extended Thanksgiving holiday with their families. 

The Ticket Office will re-open at 10am on Tuesday, November 29.

The winter of Krannert Center’s culinary discontent is coming to an end.

After being shuttered since the end of the Spring 2022 semester in mid-May, Intermezzo, the popular Krannert Center café and coffee spot, has a new chef at the helm. Amy Thomas began on October 24, and hit the ground running on day one, taking care of her top priority: good coffee.

“Columbia Street Roastery was here yesterday. I got our first order of coffees and syrups in. I’ve worked with them for years.”

Like virtually every other arts intitution, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts relies on sponsorships and contributions to help further our mission of providing access to the arts to all members of our community. In the latest edition of Dimension, the annual magazine of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois, Amy Karagiannakis introduces us to Michael and Susan Haney, supporters of Krannert Center since 2010.

Let’s face it: Krannert Center is a big place, and a lot of people work, learn, and perform here. We try hard to highlight all the departments and production partners who put on performances and teach under our roof.

Few things are better before a great performance than a great meal. Krannert Center’s Intermezzo cafe has been serving up delicious delights for many years, making Krannert Center a perfect one-stop cultural destination. We know that the current closure of Intermezzo has put a damper on your taste buds for the summer; here’s the latest update on the re-opening:

The 2022-23 season at Krannert Center is almost upon us, and that means it’s time to start thinking about tickets! Ticket sales for a complete series subscription secure you a seat to some of your favorite classical music performances.