Chip for the Arts 

Friday, September 20

Grant Park Golf Course

Rick Wakeman 

presented by ACG

Saturday, October 19, 2025, 8PM

After studying piano privately for 12 years, Rick gained a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where he studied piano, clarinet and orchestration. In March 2012, Prince Charles presented him with his Fellowship of the RCM. He was also made a Professor at the London College of Music.

As a much sought after session musician in the late sixties and early seventies, he played on more than 2,000 records, including such hits as Cat Stevens’ Morning Has Broken and David Bowie’s Space Oddity and Life on Mars, and worked with a real eclectic mixture of other notable artistes, such as Donovan, Cilla Black, Marc Bolan, Black Sabbath, Lou Reed, Mary Hopkin, Dana, Al Stewart, Elton John and John Williams.

In March 1970, he joined Strawbs. His first album with them, Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios, paved the way for ‘folk-rock’ and reviews from their concert at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on July 11th of that year did much to take Rick’s career to a new level.

He joined YES in August of 1971 and has been in and out of that band on quite a few occasions! (One journalist likened the relationship to that of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, in as much as they can’t live with each other, but in the same breath, can’t live without each other! Rick told the journalist he didn’t disagree as long as it was accepted that he was ‘Richard Burton’!)

Both as a solo artist and with YES, he has sold more than 50,000,000 albums, although he says that only past management would be able to tell you where the royalties went!

He has written two film scores for Ken Russell, (Lisztomania and Crimes of Passion), two scores for Harry Palmer films starring Michael Caine, (Bullet to Beijing and Midnight in St Petersburg), and the award-winning White Rock, as well as Gole, Hero, A Day After The Fair and two horror films, Creepshow 2 and The Burning.

At the start of 2023, Rick released a new album, The Gallery of The Imagination, and also performed with the English Rock Ensemble and the English Chamber Choir at the prestigious London Palladium theatre over two nights. Rick Wakeman will be performing solo. 

Read more about Rick

Premium seats $81 (includes $6 fee) and all other seats $59 (includes $4 fee).

Official Artist Website

Video

Piano Men: Generations

Friday, October 25, 8:00 pm

Presented by T2

Get ready for an electrifying musical extravaganza like no other! Introducing “PIANO MEN: GENERATIONS,” a sensational celebration of the legendary Billy Joel and Elton John, brought to life by the extraordinary father and son duo of Terry and Nick Davies and their exceptional band. These two virtuosos are about to take you on a mesmerizing journey through the timeless hits that have captured the hearts of music lovers for decades.

Run Time: 120 minutes including intermission

Big Shot Video

Circle of Life Video

Tickets

Premium $65 + $5/ticket fee
Mid-level $55 + $4/ticket fee
Side seats $45 + $4/ticket fee

Seniors
Premium $55 + $5/ticket fee
Mid-level $45 + $4/ticket fee
Side seats $35 + $4/ticket fee

For the smoothest ticket purchase experience, use a computer versus your phone. To ensure the quickest seating at the event, paper tickets are best. We cannot guarantee functioning cell service and in the event of a seating dispute, paper is best to show our house managers to help resolve.

SistaStrings

Friday, November 22, 7:00 PM

presented in celebration of our 20th Anniversary by South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

A Celebration of Community & the Arts

SistaStrings plays Stradivarius instruments at Library of Congress

Chauntee and Monique Ross’s unique blend of classical training, soulful melodies, and contemporary sounds create the beautiful alchemy of SistaStrings. Born and raised in Milwaukee, they embarked on a remarkable journey fusing their classical training with their deep-rooted love for R&B, hip-hop, and gospel. Now residing in Nashville, the sisters are a formidable and highly sought-after duo, earning “best instrumentalist” for the Americana Music Association’s 2023 honors.

As members of Brandi Carlile’s touring band, SistaStrings branched out of Milwaukee and have performed at iconic venues such as Madison Square Garden, The Kennedy Center, Newport Folk Festival and Saturday Night Live. They’ve performed with an eclectic array of artists such as Ed Sheeran, Maggie Rogers, Margo Price, and most recently with Joni Mitchell at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, Andrea Bocelli at the 2024 Academy Awards, and a host of artists that included Elton John, Annie Lennox, and Garth Brooks at the Gershwin Honors at The Library of Congress.

Run time: 75 min, no intermission

Video

For the smoothest ticket purchase experience, use a computer versus your phone. To ensure the quickest seating at the event, paper tickets are best. We can not guarantee functioning cell service and in the event of a seating dispute, paper is best to show our house managers to help resolve.

SMPAC in Partnership with SMHS Alumni present

Musical Theatre Cabaret

Saturday, January 11, 7:00 PM

presented in celebration of our 20th Anniversary by South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

Celebrating 20 Years of Musical Theatre

Join us for a musical stroll down memory lane since the first South Milwaukee high school production, Oklahoma! was performed here in 2005. You’ll enjoy music from a variety of other shows such as selections from Grease, Fame, Bye Bye Birdie, Hairspray, In the Heights, Fly by Night, The Sound of Music and the most recent 2024 production of Legally Blonde. You may even see some folks you recognize, as we proudly welcome back SMHS performing arts alumni for this cast. Some of these actors have been away for decades, while others graduated just a year ago. They all have a passion for musical theatre and can’t wait to perform for you!

This 20th anniversary Musical Theatre Cabaret stands to be the largest musical bonanza staged here by our alumni and students, and is designed to pay tribute to our community’s long-standing tradition of excellence in high school musical theatre. This show is produced by the talented and fearless SMHS Theatre Director, Tim Backes, and is sponsored by the SMPAC Council, a 501c3 organization.

Tessa Lark, Joshua Roman and Edgar Meyer

Wednesday, March 26, 7:30 PM

presented in celebration of our 20th Anniversary by South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

A Masterful Strings Trio

This new collaboration of three artistically like-minded artists, each carving out their own niche in American music, tours together for the first time featuring Bach and original compositions from Edgar Meyer. These fresh interpretations of existing and new music will feature Tessa Lark on violin, Joshua Roman on cello and Edgar Meyer on bass. Violinist Tessa Lark is one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility, and musical elegance. She was nominated in 2020 for a GRAMMY® in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category. Joshua Roman is a cello soloist and composer, hailed by the New York Times for his “effortlessly expressive tone... and playful zest for exploration.” Edgar Meyer is acclaimed by The New Yorker as “...the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument,”whose uniqueness in the field was recognized when he became the only bassist to be awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in addition to a MacArthur Award. He has received seven GRAMMY® Awards and 13 nominations.

Video Lark

Video Roman

Video Meyer

For the smoothest ticket purchase experience, use a computer versus your phone. To ensure the quickest seating at the event, paper tickets are best. We can not guarantee functioning cell service and in the event of a seating dispute, paper is best to show our house managers to help resolve.

Jesse Cook Live 

presented by ACG

Thursday, May 1, 2025, 7:30PM

Jesse Cook will be joined by his full band.

A career spanning over twenty five years has brought this Canadian guitarist multiple accolades including a coveted Acoustic Guitar Magazine ‘Player’s Choice Silver Award’, eleven Juno Award nominations (he won for 2001’s ‘Free Fall’), a Gemini Award and, most impressively, ten platinum and gold studio albums.

Moreover, he has sold out concert halls the world over, produced five PBS television specials and five live CD’s. Not a bad legacy for a guy who never planned to release an album.

"If you had asked me at age 22, I would have said that I would never, never make music for the public," Jesse Cook says with a laugh. "I would have told you that the public is much too fickle — they may love you one minute and forget you the next. Well, it turns out I did the thing I said I'd never do, and somehow it's worked out."

Jesse Cook, clearly, has many more years of memorable performances ahead of him. To read more, go to jessecook.com.

Premium seats $76 (includes $6 fee) and all other seats $49 (includes $4 fee).

Official Artist Website

Video