Fesler-Lampert Performing Arts Series
The Fesler-Lampert and Acoustic Roots Performing Arts Series
feature an exciting array of musicians and entertainers.
Events are open to the public.
Buy Tickets Now!
All performances take place on campus in historic Newhall Auditorium and begin at 7:30 p.m. (unless noted). For additional assistance, please call the SSM box office at 507-333-1620 or email feslerlampert@s-sm.org.
The OK factor
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Tickets: $20 (Adults), $12 (Students)
Playful and unexpected, new-classical crossover duo The OK Factor writes and performs folk-inspired music influenced by multiple genres, with an artistry that reveals their classical training. Cellist Olivia Diercks and violinist Karla Colahan find great joy in defying expectations and delivering an experience outside of what audiences anticipate from a cello and violin combo. Organic and genuine, their original compositions feel both comfortingly familiar and uniquely fresh, and have been described as "genre-bending" (Julie Amacher, MPR) and "pure magic" (Wausau Pilot & Review). The ease with which they write and perform and their passion for educational outreach has caught the attention of the Minnesota music community in which they live and work, bringing them success on stages such as The Cedar Cultural Center, as frequent featured artists with Minnesota Public Radio, and as finalists for the McKnight Fellowships for Musicians in 2018. Olivia and Karla invite audiences to explore music and cultivate a curiosity about its role in their lives.
good morning bedlam
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Tickets: $15 (Adults), $5 (Students)
Good Morning Bedlam has become a staying force in the folk genre with a 200 plus show tour in 2019 before the COVID-19 shutdown, claiming the first-place title at the John Hartford Memorial Festival Band Competition, and being finalists at the NWSS Band Competition. Their shows are known for their wild energy and stunning harmonies. GMB has played at festivals alongside artists such as Shakey Graves, Sam Bush, Jason Isabell, The Infamous Stringdusters, Trampled By Turtles, and others. In 2021, GMB ran a successful Kickstarter in July of 2021 for their much anticipated third full-length record ‘Lulu’ where fans from around the world pledged a total of $34,000. GMB has been featured on Bluegrass Today, Relix Magazine, Glide Magazine, and Paste Magazine.
Ames quartet
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Tickets: $15 (Adults), $5 (Students)
In various iterations, the Ames Piano Quartet has been the ensemble-in-residence at Iowa State University since its inception in 1976. One of the few regularly constituted piano quartets in the world, the Ames Quartet briefly became the Amara Quartet in 2012, upon the retirement of two of its long-term members. Wishing to reconnect with more than thirty years of tradition, the Quartet has now returned to its original name of Ames. The Ames Quartet has appeared in concert throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in France, Austria, Taiwan, South Africa, and Russia. One of its most notable concert tours occurred in 2003 when it traveled to Cuba, the first American chamber ensemble to be invited to perform there since the country’s 1959 revolution. Radio appearances by the Quartet include “St. Paul Sunday,” “Music at First Hearing,” “The Listening Room,” and “Performance Today.”
dessa
Friday, March 31, 2023
Tickets: $25 (Adults), $15 (Students)
Singer, rapper, and writer Dessa has made a career of bucking genres and defying expectations—her résumé as a musician includes performances at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, co-compositions for 100-voice choir, performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, and top-200 entries on the Billboard charts. She contributed to the #1 album The Hamilton Mixtape and the RBG documentary; her track, “Congratulations,” has notched over 20 million streams. As a writer, she’s been published by The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio, and published a memoir-in-essays (My Own Devices, 2018) in addition to two literary collections. As a speaker, Dessa has delivered keynote speeches and presentations on art, science, and entrepreneurship; guest lectures at universities and colleges across the US; and a TED Talk about her science experiment on how to fall out of love. She’s also the host of Deeply Human, a podcast created by the BBC and American Public Media. Dessa has been covered by Pitchfork, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal amongst others. The LA Times says she “sounds like no one else.” NPR’s All Songs Considered calls her “a national treasure.” On the stage and on the page, Dessa’s style is defined by ferocity, wit, tenderness, and candor.