WORLD PREMIERE
HERSHEY FELDER
PUCCINI
LIVE from FLORENCE
Virtual Live Performance from Italy with
Nathan Gunn, Gianna Corbisiero, Ekaterina Siurina and Charles Castronovo
Sun, March 14, 7 pm*
Tickets* | CLICK HERE
*Tickets include extended on-demand viewing access of the recording through Sunday, March 21!
Filmed, performed and streamed live on location in Lucca Italy, in the home where Giacomo Puccini was born, this world premiere features Hershey Felder and three world-renowned opera stars, including University of Illinois' Nathan Gunn, promises to be a very special event.
Hershey Felder, PUCCINI is the story of a young musician in love with the world of opera, and in particular Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly. When, through a series of unusual circumstances, the young musician meets the musical master himself, secrets are revealed that send the young man soaring.
With special guests, Baritone Nathan Gunn, who recently performed live at Peoria Riverfront Museum during an interview with Ed Sutkowski, as well as Soprano Gianna Corbisiero, Soprano Ekaterina Siurina and Tenor Charles Castronovo, this new Hershey Felder creation, will spur the imagination and move the musical soul.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
HERSEY FELDER
Hershey Felder (Writer & Performer). Named to TIME magazine’s 2016 Top 10 Plays and Musicals, Hershey Felder has played over 6,000 performances of his self-created solo productions at some of the world’s most prestigious theatres, consistently breaking box office records. American Theatre magazine has said, “Hershey Felder is in a category all his own.” His shows include: George Gershwin Alone (Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theatre, West End’s Duchess Theatre); Monsieur Chopin; Beethoven; Maestro (Leonard Bernstein); Franz Liszt in Musik; Lincoln: An American Story; Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin; Our Great Tchaikovsky; and A Paris Love Story. His compositions and recordings include Aliyah, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra; Fairytale, a musical; Les Anges de Paris, Suite for Violin and Piano; Song Settings; Saltimbanques for Piano and Orchestra; Etudes Thematiques for Piano; and An American Story for Actor and Orchestra. Hershey is the adaptor, director and designer for the internationally performed play-with-music The Pianist of Willesden Lane with Steinway artist Mona Golabek; producer and designer for the musical Louis and Keely: ‘Live’ at the Sahara, directed by Taylor Hackford; and writer and director for Flying Solo, featuring opera legend Nathan Gunn.
Hershey has operated a full-service production company since 2001, and in 2020 created a new brand, Live from Florence, that operates a “theatre at home broadcast company,” based in Florence, Italy. Previous broadcasts have included Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin; Hershey Felder, Beethoven; Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone; Hershey Felder as Claude Debussy in A Paris Love Story; Hershey Felder, Tchaikovsky; Hershey Felder as Sholem Aleichem in Before Fiddler; Hershey Felder, Backstory – The Story Behind the Creation of Berlin, Gershwin & Bernstein; and Cooking French in Florence with Jeff Thickman & Hershey Felder. The Hershey Felder Presents - Live from Florence 2020-21 Season of broadcasts will also include Hershey Felder as Sergei Rachmaninoff in Anna & Sergei. Hershey has been a scholar-in-residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music and is married to Kim Campbell, the first female Prime Minister of Canada.
NATHAN GUNN
South Bend, Indiana native Nathan Gunn is a professor and Swandlund Chair at the University of Illinois where he is co-director of Lyric Theatre @ Illinois, a comprehensive program embracing a broad continuum of opera and musical theatre, as well as the development of new works. At the Lyric Theatre @ Illinois, Gunn developed and founded the first ever Bachelor of Musical Arts in Lyric Theatre curriculum in the nation. The program is part of the School of Music at the University of Illinois and housed in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.
Gunn recently performed live with his wife, fellow professor and opera singer Julie Jordan Gunn, at the Peoria Riverfront Museum during a virtual live interview hosted by Interesting People's Ed Sutkowski.
Gunn has performed many of opera and musical theatre’s greatest roles on the world’s most prestigious stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Royal Opera in London, Paris Opéra, Bavarian State Opera Munich, Theater an der Wien Vienna, Teatro Real Madrid, and Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie Brussels. He has been seen and heard on television, radio, video, and live simulcast performances, including the first ever Met in HD broadcast (The Magic Flute), in which he sang Papageno, one of his signature roles. Nathan has reinterpreted other classic roles such as Billy Budd, Figaro, and Don Giovanni, garnering awards including the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording (Billy Budd) and the Metropolitan Opera’s first ever Beverly Sills Award. Gunn has also been widely acclaimed for his ability to cross over into musical theatre, including performances with the New York Philharmonic in Carousel and Camelot, the televised celebration of Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday, and collaborations with musical theatre stars including Mandy Patinkin, Kelli O’Hara, Audra McDonald, and Kristin Chenoweth. Gunn’s one-man autobiographical show Flying Solo, produced and written by Hershey Felder, has been lauded as a “riveting autobiographical musical [that] is a stunner both with its touching, relatable, family-centric narrative and Gunn’s entertaining, charismatic performing style.” (Broadway World).
In addition to life as a performer, educator and arts advocate, Gunn is an avid patron of the arts. Nathan and Julie Gunn consistently support pre-college music education and sponsor local cultural events in order to secure the future of the art form. The family resides in Champaign, Illinois.
GIANNA CORBISIERO
Declared “luminous” by Opera News, Gianna Corbisiero has performed the title roles in Tosca, La bohème, La traviata, Pagliacci, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Carmen, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Falstaff at major opera houses throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, under the baton of conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, and Charles Dutoit. She has performed with Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming, and Marcelo Alvarez. For Bravo Canada she recorded episodes of television’s “Opera Easy,” performing excerpts from La bohème, La traviata, Tosca and Norma, and made her cinema debut singing “O mio babbino caro” in the film Elephant Song, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Corbisiero’s many honors and awards include a special prize from the Luciano Pavarotti International Vocal Competition, Top Prize in the Canadian Music Competition, and First Prize from the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation.
CHARLES CASTRONOVO
Charles Castronovo has been acclaimed internationally as one of the finest lyric tenors of his generation. Castronovo has sung at most of the world’s leading opera houses, including San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera. Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Paris Opera, Bavarian State Opera Munich, Theatre Royale de la Monnaie Brussels, and many others. He starred in the title role of Daniel Catan’s Il Postino opposite Placido Domingo in the work’s World Premiere in Los Angeles, as well as in Paris and Santiago. His repertoire spans from the great Mozart tenor roles in Don Giovanni, Cosí fan tutte and Die Zauberflöte, to Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore and Alfredo in La traviata. In recent seasons, Castronovo won wide acclaim for his performances as the title role in Faust, Romeo in Roméo et Juliette, the Duke in Rigoletto, Rodolfo in La bohème and Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress.
Tickets* | CLICK HERE
*Tickets include extended on-demand viewing access of the recording through Sunday, March 21!
FREE with General Admission
Join us at the Peoria Riverfront Museum and make the most of your visit with tours and storytimes themed around current exhibition The World's Largest Dinosaurs , presented by the Gilmore Foundation.
Earn passport points on each activity. Learn more about the Peoria Riverfront Museums Achievement Passport and how your family can win a trip to New York City today!
Dino-Mite Storytimes | 11 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. every Thursday and Saturday
A gallery guide will take you into The World's Largest Dinosaurs, presented by the Gilmore Foundation for a short storytime under the amazing, true to life models of the largest dinosaurs to ever walk the earth. After the story, explore the world of Sauropods, the titans of the dinosaur world! Earn 10 achievement passport points per storytime
Dig Deep Dino Tours | 1 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Four special tours through The World's Largest Dinosaurs, presented by the Gilmore Foundation! Completely all four Dig Deep Dino Tours and receive a FREE ticket to our Dino Family Trivia event on August 2, 2025. All Deep Dive Dino Tours are worth 100 achievement passport points.
Tours:
Dino Diet- Learn about what the Sauropods ate to sustain their massive bodies
Dino Giants- Learn why these amazing animals grew to their huge size.
Dino Differences- Learn about the differences between dinosaurs, and what makes a sauropod so special among so many amazing species
Dino Detectives- Ever wonder about how these pieces of history were found? Put on your detective hat and learn more about the Paleontology profession!
Sponsored by Visionary Society and Family Fun Club
Saturday, August 16, 2025 | Reception at 5:30 p.m., Program begins at 6:30 p.m.
Experience silent film as never before in the first-ever partnership between the Peoria Riverfront Museum and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, featuring new restorations from MoMA’s renowned collection.
The Peoria Riverfront Museum is proud to present a digitally restored version of Ernst Lubitsch’s 1925 Lady Windermere’s Fan with live musical accompaniment featuring the Peoria Symphony Orchestra. This special performance offers an extraordinary evening combining the art of film with a live musical score that elevates the cinema into a truly immersive experience.
Saturday, August 16, 2025
5:30 p.m. - Welcome reception with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres
6:30 p.m. – Performance begins in the Giant Screen Theater
Tickets $50 for members, $65 for non-members
Lady Windermere's Fan. 1925. USA. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Screenplay by Julien Josephson, based on the play by Oscar Wilde. With Ronald Colman, May McAvoy, Bert Lytell, Irene Rich. Restored by The Museum of Modern Art, with the financial support of Matthew and Natalie Bernstein. Accompanied by a new score compiled, synchronized, and edited by Gillian B. Anderson, based on a cue sheet issued by the Tax-Free Music Co. compiled by Michael Hoffman for the original release. 94 minutes.
This film program is organized by Dave Kehr, Curator of Film, Sean Egan, Senior Producer, Film Exhibitions and Projects, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Live musical accompaniment featuring the Peoria Symphony Orchestra
Presented by Flo and Sid Banwart
In partnership with the Fine Arts Society of Peoria
Wednesday, August 20, 2025 | Lecture begins at 6:30 p.m.
Join us at the Peoria Riverfront Museum as we partner with the Fine Arts Society of Peoria to bring graphic novel expert Dr. Randy Duncan to the Peoria Riverfront Museum.
Dr. Duncan will be discussing with us the significance of the graphic novel as an art form, with an approach focused principally on American comic books, with the acknowledgement of the international talents that have come to influence them. Comic books are a significant American art form, which has found itself as a chief pillar in American pop culture, leading to media empires like Marvel Studios, and a profound literary and artistic impact on America's national identity.
Tickets
Adult - $10
Child - $5
Senior (60) - $10
Free for Peoria Riverfront Museum members and Fine Arts Society of Peoria members!
Get tickets HERE
Dr. Randy Duncan is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Henderson State University and former Director of the Center for Comics Studies. He has co-authored two widely used textbooks, and co-edited three others. In 2012, Duncan received the Inkpot Award for Achievement in Comics Arts.
Sponsored by Visionary Society, Friends of Art, Illinois Arts Council
Presented by Commerce Bank
May 15, 2025 - September 25, 2024 | Thursday Nights | Doors Open at 6 p.m., Performance at 7 p.m.
Join us on the Peoria Riverfront Museum's Sun Plaza for a summer music series featuring local and regional jazz artists, inspired by Preston Jackson's Bronzeville to Harlem: An American Story . This series event will take place select Thursdays from May 15, 2025 to September 25, 2025, featuring artists from the Chicago area as well as regional and local musicians. Get down and boogie with us!
Cash bar available. Food available for purchase from WRap City, founded by Branden "Chef B-Doe" Jackson. Menu items will include wraps, mac n' cheese and more!
Ticket prices
Members- $10
Non-Members- $15
Student- $7
Visionary Society-$7
Ticket price includes admission to Preston Jackson's Bronzeville to Harlem: An American Story.
Schedule of events
August 28, 2025 | Lenard Simpson Quartet
Get tickets HERE
Lenard Simpson is a saxophonist, composer and educator from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lenard was mostly self-taught through high school, but his natural ability and musicianship earned him accolades such as membership in the esteemed Grammy Camp Jazz Session, and an outstanding soloist award at the Mingus Jazz Competition in New York City. Lenard has had the opportunity to play and travel with artists such as pianist and composer-Billy Childs, Kurt Elling, Marquis Hill, and Clayton Cameron. Lenard received a B.M in Jazz performance at Northern Illinois University. While studying at NIU, Lenard was awarded first place in Chicago’s esteemed Luminarts Jazz Competition. Upon graduation, Lenard moved to Chicago and soon became one of the city’s top call saxophonists playing sideman to legendary local drummers, George Fludas and Charles Heath. Lenard’s trio has appeared at premier clubs and jazz festivals throughout the Chicago and Milwaukee area. Lenard recently graduated from the Thelonious Monk Institute Fellowship, which has since been renamed to the Herbie Hancock Institute where he was selected by a panel of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, James Newton and Ambrose Akinmusire.
September 25, 2025 | Preston Jackson and Friends | Season Finale!
Get tickets HERE
American painter, sculptor, educator, and musician, Preston Jackson is bringing some of the best of Peoria's jazz scene to the grand finale of Rhumboogie on the Plaza. We’re ending our Rhumboogie 2025 series by highlighting the inspiration of the entire series: Preston Jackson’s Bronzeville to Harlem: An American Story. Joined by some of the most experienced musicians in the area, Preston Jackson and Friends performing at the Peoria Riverfront Museum is always a delight. See Preston himself, Judy Page, Mike Nellas, Manny Lopez II, Manny Lopez III and John Miller in the final sendoff of summer, right here at the Peoria Riverfront Museum.
Rhumboogie on the Plaza is presented by Commerce Bank
Sponsored by Linda Beth and Ed Sutkowski, Visionary Society, Friends of Bronzeville to Harlem and Friends of Performance
Saturday, August 30, 2025 at 2:30 p.m. | FREE with General Admission
Join art collectors Jim and Beth Arient, as well as their son Matt, as they take you behind the scenes, sharing their story on how they began collecting folk art, and the relationships that they made with artists across the years. One such relationship was with Howard Finster, who painted a portrait of Jim and Beth early on in his career. Finster's works are currently on display at the museum in current exhibition Friends of Folk: Freedom and Expression.
The Arients, as well as curator for the Center for American Decoys, Zac Zetterberg, will then take you on a tour of Friends of Folk: Freedom and Expression.
For all little artists, there will be a craft in the lobby prior to the tour, so that they can stretch their creativity.
Schedule:
Folk Art Craft | 12 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Talk and Tour | 2:30 p.m.
Reserve your tickets HERE
Sponsored by Visionary Society, Folk Art and Decoy Club, Illinois Arts Council
