Commissioning works allows Hancher to contribute to the UI’s research mission, academics. On Feb. 25, 1986, Hancher Auditorium hosted the world premiere of its first commissioned work, the Joffrey Ballet’s The Heart of the Matter, which The New York Times said was “bound to be one of the season’s most important ballets.”
Hancher Executive Director Chuck Swanson says that night marked the beginning of a new creative future for the performing arts venue, which has gone on to commission 108 works to date.
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KWWL - Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Common will make two appearances in Iowa City on Saturday, October 6th. Common is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Emmy and Grammy winner, and will hold a book reading and signing for his 2011 memoir "One Day It’ll All Make Sense" at the Englert Theatre. That event will begin at 2:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Later in the day on October 6th, Common will present a lecture titled "Greatness" within Hancher Auditorium on the UI campus. The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be free to University of Iowa students who present their student IDs at the Hancher Box Office beginning this Friday, September 21st. General public tickets will then be available beginning on Monday, September 24th. There will be a two-ticket limit for the lecture per person.
The Gazette - Thursday, September 6, 2018
A capacity crowd heard the band perform with the “wild and crazy guy” for Hancher Auditorium’s gala reopening Sept. 24, 2016. Just shy of two years later, the ensemble — without Martin — is returning to play for a potentially larger crowd in a free concert Sept. 14 on the Hancher Green in Iowa City.
Daily Iowan - Thursday, August 30, 2018
Hancher is set to feature a breadth of speakers and performers this fall.
Press Citizen - Wednesday, August 22, 2018
University of Iowa students are now back on campus for a new academic year.
Just in time, UI's Hancher Auditorium will kickoff its 2018-19 season of amazing musicians, award-winning Broadway shows, legendary symphonies and a long list of entertainment options for students, professors, locals and Iowans from across the state.
With tickets now on sale for the entire season, here are the highlights of what Hancher has to offer in 2018.
Iowa Now - Tuesday, August 14, 2018
As a new school year begins, the University of Iowa is providing a host of educational and entertaining activities to engage new and current Hawkeyes arriving on campus. Events include simulated volcano, Hancher tours, augmented-reality scavenger hunt. Hancher Auditorium, which brings world-famous artists and performances to Iowa City, will host a Hancher is for Hawkeyes open house from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Aug. 23 to welcome students and acquaint them with the newly built venue that is a campus cultural hub.
Press Citizen - Tuesday, July 24, 2018
The new Hancher Footbridge across the Iowa River is open just in time for RAGBRAI.
The 375-foot-long and 12-foot-wide pedestrian bridge opened last week, connecting the northern reaches of the University of Iowa's arts campus with the eastern side of campus.
RAGBRAI riders who plan to camp at City Park during the overnight stop on Friday in Iowa City will be able to use the bridge to make the trek from downtown to the park, since Park Bridge Road is still closed for construction.
The Daily Iowan - Saturday, June 30, 2018
Chuck Swanson has been a member of the University of Iowa community longer than most of the current students have been alive. Hancher has had many homes since his time as a student in the 1970s, and now, under his wing, the auditorium is a beacon of hope and inclusiveness in the 21st century.
Swanson was one of the original committee members who brought the idea of a theme semester to the UI, inspired in part by 20-plus years of success at University of Michigan. The collaborative project is an effort to bring a topic of universal importance to the community to learn about and discuss, and in spring of 2019, the theme will be “Redesigning Our American Dream.”
“I think it’s really important as we go forward in the 21st century that we really look at what the American Dream means to everybody and really try to be as inclusive as possible,” Swanson said. “Because our country is changing, too, the landscape of our country, and people from other countries who come to America, you know, they have their own American dreams, they have their own reason for wanting to be here.”
The Gazette - Thursday, May 24, 2018
Zeshan Bagewadi didn’t need a road map to find the intersection of blues, soul and R&B with the music of India.
He grew up immersed in all of those sounds, through his heritage and his father’s record collection.
Bagewadi, 30, is living in Baltimore while his wife does her medical residency. But he was born in Chicago to Indian Muslim parents who immigrated in search of the American dream, after seeing a relative find success here in the 1960s. Others soon followed.
Daily Iowan - Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Hancher Auditorium unveiled its lineup for the 2018-19 season, cultivating acts from world-renowned musicals to lectures by legendary journalists.
The lineup includes musical acts from Kristin Chenoweth on New Year’s Eve, Tre Voci, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. On the theatrical side of the coin, Cameron Mackintosh will present his version of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables and the Jersey Boys will grace the stage with their satin voices in February.