Editor’s note: An additional performance has been added to ELLNORA: The Guitar Festival since the ELLNORA artists were announced. This release has been edited to add information about the appearance of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus will reopen for in-person audiences and performances with ELLNORA: The Guitar Festival on Sept. 17-18. This year’s festival will take place on a smaller scale than previous years of the biennial event, but it will still feature leading guitar artists and a diverse range of musical styles.
ELLNORA will not include the usual opening night party in the Krannert Center lobby this year, due to health considerations for audience members, staff, volunteers and artists.
Tickets for ELLNORA will go on sale, online only, Aug. 31 at 10 a.m.
The festival will open with a free performance at the Krannert Center Amphitheatre by Celisse, a singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and spoken-word artist who performs original rock music tinged with blues. A guitarist who also plays piano, ukulele, bass, drums and other percussion and brass instruments, Celisse has performed with a wide range of musical artists, as well as in the theater and on television. She’ll perform Sept. 17 at 5 p.m.
AJ Ghent played at ELLNORA in 2015 and at Krannert Center’s Opening Night Party in 2018, and he’s back with his Singing Guitar, playing a genre that mixes rock, blues, funk and pop into what he calls Neo Blues. Ghent comes from a long family tradition of playing music in the sacred steel guitar tradition that the family created. He’ll perform Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Tryon Festival Theatre.
The acoustic string quintet Punch Brothers also is returning. The group performed at ELLNORA in 2015, and guitarist Chris Eldridge performed with jazz guitarist Julian Lage at the 2017 ELLNORA. In addition to Eldridge, the quintet includes mandolinist Chris Thile, bassist Paul Kowert, violinist Gabe Witcher and banjoist Noam Pikelny, a graduate of the University of Illinois School of Music. Delivering an eclectic blend of influences that has been described as progressive bluegrass, the quintet will play Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Colwell Playhouse.
Singer-songwriter and guitarist Ben Harper is a three-time Grammy Award winner. He plays a mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock, and tours internationally. He’ll perform Sept. 17 at 9 p.m. at Foellinger Great Hall.
The festival will present an off-site performance at the Rose Bowl Tavern, 106 N. Race St., Urbana, as part of its commitment to local musicians. Big Daddy Pride and The East Side 5 will celebrate an album release with special guests The Dirty Feathers and Devin Frank. The bands will play on the patio, weather permitting, Sept. 17 beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Joe Rauen is a musician and artist who makes musical instruments from everyday objects such as plumbing, sports equipment and items from the hardware store. His creations include a suitcase bass, a tennis racquet banjo and an electric shovel guitar. He will demonstrate his “unlikely musical objects” Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., and Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. at Stage 5 in the Krannert Center lobby.
The second day of ELLNORA will kick off with the Tony Khalife Wellness Gathering. Khalife is a musician, composer, yogi, artist and teacher. His performances blend Indian music, Sufi dances and Western harmonies to promote peace. He’ll present a free music-based wellness workshop Sept. 18 at 9 a.m. at Foellinger Great Hall.
Katie Pruitt uses music to address topics such as mental illness, toxic relationships, and the frustration and shame of growing up gay in the South. The singer, songwriter and guitarist released her debut album, “Expectations,” in 2020, and her music has folk, country and rock influences. She was on NPR’s list of “20 Artists to Watch in 2019.” She’ll perform Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. at Colwell Playhouse.
Flamenco and classical guitarist Adam del Monte has a musical style that is both grounded in tradition and progressive. He’s performed in a Grammy Award-winning opera, with symphony orchestras and on movie soundtracks. He’ll appear with flamenco dancer and choreographer Sonia Olla and flamenco singer Ismael Fernández on Sept. 18 at 3 p.m. at Colwell Playhouse.
Jazz guitarist and Grammy Award nominee Raul Midón has recorded 11 solo albums, as well as collaborating with Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers, and contributing to records by Queen Latifah and Snoop Dogg and to the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s “She Hate Me.” He’ll give a free performance Sept. 18 at 5 p.m. at Foellinger Great Hall.
Isaiah Sharkey began playing in Chicago jazz clubs as a teenager, has toured with John Mayer, worked on a Grammy Award-winning R&B album and is now working on his third solo album. He’ll perform Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Colwell Playhouse.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, with eight platinum and gold albums and nine Top 40 singles. Jett also is a producer with her independent label, Blackheart. She is the subject of a documentary, “Bad Reputation,” and a feature film based on her first band, “The Runaways.” Jett and her band will perform Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. at Tryon Festival Theatre. Tickets for the performance will go on sale online only Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. There is a limit of six tickets per transaction.
Cedric Burnside plays North Mississippi hill country blues, known for its polyrhythmic percussion in place of familiar blues chord progressions – music that Burnside learned from his grandfather, blues musician RL Burnside. Cedric Burnside has been twice nominated for a Grammy Award, and he just released a new studio album. He’ll perform Sept. 18 at 10 p.m. at Colwell Playhouse.
Tickets for 2021-22 Krannert Center events will go on sale one month at a time so the center can respond as needed to changing pandemic conditions. Tickets will be sold online only as mobile or print-at-home tickets, not by phone or at the ticket office. Before buying tickets, visit Krannert Center’s online ticket office at krannertcenter.com to ensure that you have or can create an active account. For questions about ticket buying, contact the ticket office at (217) 333-6280 or kran-tix@illinois.edu.
The sale dates for tickets for the 2021-22 season are:
- Aug. 31 for tickets to September events.
- Sept. 14 for tickets to October events.
- Oct. 5 for tickets to November and December events.
- Dec. 14 for tickets to January events.
- Jan. 12 for tickets to February events.
- Feb. 8 for tickets to March events.
- March 8 for tickets to April and May events.
Face coverings are required in all indoor university spaces, including Krannert Center, in accordance with the university’s COVID-19 safety protocols. In addition, people who are not fully vaccinated are required to wear a face covering outdoors when they cannot practice social distancing. These guidelines may be adjusted during the season as conditions change.