New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), and Music Director/Conductor Kirk Muspratt open 2026 with “Broadway Through the Years” Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 1 at 1 and 5 p.m. Featured guest artists include Alisa Jordheim (soprano), Kate Tombaugh (mezzo-soprano), Lorenzo Parnell (tenor), Jonathan Wilson (baritone) and the 60-voice Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus. A free MAC Chat will precede each concert one hour prior to concert start time.
Says Maestro Muspratt, “We’ve assembled a grand selection of the greatest hits from Broadway and a world-class roster of guest artists guaranteed to lure audiences from near and far to join us at the MAC. Past Broadway concerts have repeatedly sold out so this year we added a third performance to meet the demand.”
Maestro Muspratt conducts New Philharmonic and the NISO Chorus. Photo by Venu Bhetanabhotla
The program opens by celebrating some of the most beloved moments in musical theater. The first half journeys through the golden age and beyond, beginning with the rousing title song from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” and the gentle beauty of “Edelweiss” from the duo’s “The Sound of Music.” Audiences will then hear Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s timeless “My Funny Valentine” from “Babes in Arms,” followed by the playful charm of the team’s “Honey Bun” from “South Pacific.” The spirit of classic Broadway continues with the title song from Jerry Herman’s “Hello, Dolly!,” Jule Styne’s tender “Long Before I Knew You” from “Bells Are Ringing” and Meredith Willson’s high-energy “Ya Got Trouble” from “The Music Man.” The first half concludes with a nod to more contemporary favorites, featuring the exuberant title song from “Mamma Mia” by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and Marvin Hamlisch’s stirring “One” from "A Chorus Line."
After intermission, the program turns to some of musical theater’s most emotionally powerful works. The second half opens with John Kander’s reflective “Maybe This Time” from “Cabaret,” followed by Stephen Sondheim’s haunting “Johanna” from “Sweeney Todd” and the poignant “Children Will Listen” from “Into the Woods.” Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sweeping melodies are next, with “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from “Evita” and the romantic duet “All I Ask of You” from “The Phantom of the Opera.” The evening culminates in a moving finale with Bob Krogstad’s arrangement of “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Misérables,” composed by Claude-Michel Schönberg.
Tickets
New Philharmonic presents “Broadway Through the Years” at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage, Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 1 at 1 and 5 p.m. Tickets are $63. $10 tickets available for youth with ID. For tickets visit www.AtTheMAC.org or call 630.942.4000. The McAninch Box Office is open Tuesday – Saturday, noon – 6 p.m. and two hours prior to performance. Holiday hours may vary.
Sullivan Taylor Family Trust is Show Sponsor.
John Rutledge and Betty Joseph are Soprano Soloist Sponsor.
Chicago's Home for Jazz, WDCB 90.9 FM is Media Sponsor.
About New Philharmonic
New Philharmonic, the only professional orchestra based in DuPage County, Ill., has inspired classical music enthusiasts in Chicago and the suburbs for nearly five decades. It continues to thrive with the goal of giving innovative treatment to both classic compositions and modern works while striving to make the music accessible to new audiences and youth through a variety of educational efforts. New Philharmonic was recently honored with the Illinois Council of Orchestras’ 2020 ICO Award in the category Programming of the Year. Today, under the direction of Music Director/Conductor Kirk Muspratt, named 2018 Conductor of the Year (Professional Orchestra) by Illinois Council of Orchestras, and recipient of a 2025 honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Lethbridge, New Philharmonic consists of more than 60 professional musicians and typically performs more than a dozen concerts a year, reaching more than 7,500 from the greater Chicago area annually.
2025-2026 season support for New Philharmonic is provided in part by the DuPage Foundation, a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Brookdale Glen Ellyn; Sullivan Taylor Family Trust, Frank Modruson and Lynne Shigley, Anonymous, and the College of DuPage Foundation. Media sponsor is 90.9 FM WDCB Public Radio.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and a versatile black box Studio Theatre), outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.
The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit www.AtTheMAC.org or @AtTheMAC on Facebook and Instagram.
Support for the McAninch Arts Center is provided in part by Brookdale Senior Living Glen Ellyn, Anonymous, College of DuPage Foundation, Sullivan Taylor Family Trust, DuPage Foundation, Ball Horticultural, Frank Modruson & Lynne Shigley, Enjoy Illinois, Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Media Sponsor is WDCB 90.9 FM, Hotel Sponsor is DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle/Naperville.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit www.foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462.
L-R Alisa Jordheim, Kate Tombaugh, Lorenzo Parnell and Jonathan Wilson
Guest Artist Bios
Alisa Jordheim
MAC audiences have enjoyed Jordheim’s appearances with New Philharmonic in “The Mikado” (2017), “The Merry Widow” (2020), “A Night of Broadway and Opera” (2021) and most recently as Adina in the concert opera presentation of “The Elixir of Love” (2025). Lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle as “vocally resplendent” and possessing “impeccable coloratura,” her other notable roles just in the 2024-2025 season included Violetta in “La Traviata” with Opera Western Reserve, La Fée in “Cendrillon” with Opera Orlando, Daria/Prima Donna in Donizetti's “Viva la Mamma” with Florentine Opera, and the Young Girl in Cipullo's “After Life” with Music of Remembrance in Seattle and San Francisco. She also performed “Carmina Burana” with both the Pacific Symphony and Evansville Philharmonic, and holiday concerts with San Diego Opera and the Spreckels Organ Society. Jordheim recently returned to the role of Gilda in “Rigoletto” with both the Pacific Symphony and Amarillo Opera and made her Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra debut singing Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Prangcharoen’s “Endless Tears.”
Jordheim’s honors and awards include a grand prize winner of the Rose Bampton Award and a Career Development Grant from The Sullivan Foundation Competition, two-time winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions, winner of the Kaleidoscope International Vocal Competition, winner of the Irwin Scherzer Encouragement Award from the George London Foundation, and winner of the Edith Newfield Scholarship in the Musicians Club of Women Music Scholarship Competition.
Kate Tombaugh
MAC audiences have enjoyed Tombaugh in previous New Philharmonic concerts including “New Philharmonic Salutes The Best of Rodgers and Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber,” “Showboat and Show Tunes” (2018), “Holiday Sing-Along" (2020) and “West Side Story in Concert” (2022). Tombaugh premiered the lead mezzo role of The Dough in composer/librettist Rachel J. Peter’s “Companionship” in both the world premiere with Fort Worth Opera, and the orchestral premiere with Virginia Arts Festival-John Duffy Institute for New Music. Other leading roles include two of Rossini’s heroines with Winter Opera St. Louis in “L’italiana in Algeri” (Isabella) and “La Cenerentola” (Angelina), Hansel in Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” (Stockton Opera), “Ariodante” in Handel’s “Ariodante” (Cincinnati Chamber Opera) and Fanny Price in the American premiere of Jonathan Dove’s “Mansfield Park” (Indianapolis Opera).
Career honors include winning the 10th annual Mildred C. Miller International Vocal Competition, hosted by Pittsburgh Festival Opera, performing as a soloist at Carnegie Hall upon winning the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition, winning the Harold Haugh Light Opera Vocal Competition, placing second in the Nicholas Z. Loren Vocal Competition hosted by the Holland Chorale, and being awarded the “Grace Keagy Award” by NYC-based Kurt Weill Foundation in their annual Lotte Lenya Foundation.
Lorenzo Parnell
Parnell, making his MAC debut, has been seen locally as Macy’s Manager/Charlie in “Elf: The Musical” (Drury Lane Theatre) and Porchlight Theater’s “Titanique!” Regional credits include Lola in “Kinky Boots” (Shea’s 710), “Mayor/Ja Keith” in “Rock of Ages” (Kavinoky Theatre), Coalhouse Walker Jr. in “Ragtime” (Musicalfare), Lt. Eddie Souther in “Sister Act: The Musical” (Lancaster Opera House), and Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird” (GEVA Theatre). Parnell was awarded Buffalo Spree’s “Best of WNY 2020” for his Artie award winning performance as Motormouth Maybelle in “HAIRSPRAY” at the Kavinoky Theatre. He received his BA in Voice from SUNY Fredonia.
Jonathan Wilson
MAC audiences have seen Wilson in New Philharmonic’s concert opera presentation of “The Elixir of Love” (2025). Wilson has been praised by the Chicago Classical Review as a "superb actor" with a "resounding and luxurious" voice. An enthusiast of contemporary opera, his performance credits include Robert Dziekański in “I will fly like a bird” (Plant, Wainwright), The Poet in "When Adonis Calls” (Borzoni, de los Santos, Dillard) and “Hannah-Before in As One” (Kaminsky, Campbell, Reed). He has also performed as the title character in Tom Waits' and Kathleen Brennan's adaptation of “Woyzeck” with Chicago Fringe Opera and has premiered many roles for new chamber operas and musical theater productions around the Chicago area. Wilson is also a frequent singer with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Grant Park Chorus, and Lyric Opera Chorus.
Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus (NISO)
Established in 1987, the Chorus has performed everything from requiems to reggae with the Symphony. They provide added texture and versatility to the Symphony’s performance repertoire including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms,” “Requiems” by Fauré, Duruflé and Verdi, Holst’s “The Planets,” Orff’s “Carmina Burana” and Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus” plus Bizet’s “Carmen” with The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. The Chorus, directed by Thomas McNichols, occasionally performs with other orchestras and presents its own concerts of Choral Masterworks in and around Northwest Indiana.