Three years after opening, The Prior Performing Arts Center has become a fixture of life at Holy Cross. With concerts by Worcester Public Schools students, collaborations with storied local institutions like Music Worcester, and residencies for Worcester artists, it also plays an increasingly vital role as an arts venue and community hub in the region. At this exciting moment of leadership transition, we invite you to join us in celebrating the center's early years—and dreaming with us about its future. Read on for some highlights of 2024-25!
The Prior plays a central role in each pillar of the College's strategic plan, which envisions a bold future for Holy Cross and its community.
Performances of Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" drew crowds from on- and off-campus, selling out several shows of its run at The Prior.
"Everything/Nothing," an exhibition by Holy Cross Studio Art majors, reflected the work of a rigorous capstone seminar.
Composer Èbùn Oguntola spoke to Professor William Clark’s Montserrat seminar and worked with the Holy Cross Orchestra.
The Prior serves as a gathering place and favorite study spot for arts and non-arts students alike.
Students of Latinidad Identidad perform in the Boroughs Theatre.
Students take the reins producing fashion shows, dance concerts, visiting artist events and more.
The Foley Scene Shop and the Costume Shop are visible to visitors, showcasing traditionally behind-the-scenes labor and expertise. They serve not only as working laboratories but also as classrooms where students can learn the latest technologies in myriad fields.
The Division of Justice, Equity, Belonging and Identity gathered community members before the Prior Presents performance of August Wilson’s "Two Trains Running."
Made up of LGBTQIA+ students and allies, PRIDE is a student-run group working toward increasing visibility and creating an accepting and supportive community for students of all identities.
Members of The Village Worcester, Worcester’s Afrocentric cultural, learning, and healing center, meet in the Beehive for Camille A. Brown & Dancers' performance of "I AM."
Worcester students greeted members of the Sphinx Virtuosi orchestra following their performance in the Luth Concert Hall.
Worcester-based Filmmaker Cyrille Vincent Ndomakette Samba developed a full treatment for his film titled “WHIRLWIND,” telling the story of Worcester resident and 1899 World Bicycling Champion Major Taylor.
The Prior embodies the idea that art has the power to ignite the imagination—to transform thinking and to open a window to the world around us. Its early success inspires us to continue infusing the arts into every aspect of the Holy Cross experience.
The Heidi Brake Smith '82 Fund for the Arts sponsored our Fall 2024 residency with Prior Presents artist Johnny Gandelsman, making artistic excellence accessible to all.
Members of the President’s Council, Holy Cross’ premier annual giving society of alumni, parents and friends, meet in the Beehive.
“The Prior Performing Arts Center is essential to my work as a faculty member at the College of the Holy Cross. With world-class theaters, a fantastic support staff, and thoughtfully designed facilities, it provides an ideal environment to show my students how design plays a vital role in storytelling.” - Anshuman Bhatia, Theatre & Dance Assistant Professor
Prior staff members bring expertise to their work from within academia and from arts institutions beyond.
Says student worker Sophie Sundaram ‘26, “You don’t have to be an art major to get involved. You just need curiosity, openness, and a willingness to be part of something bigger than yourself.”
The Prior is powered by synchronicities between the creative process and the liberal arts ethos: both embrace learning as a springboard to future questions, paths, and opportunities.
Kyle Frisina, Nancy Savage Skinner ‘79 Interim Director
Performances, lectures and exhibitions from the academic arts departments and programs transported us to other worlds.
The Department of Theatre and Dance presented Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" in 2025.
Holy Cross faculty member and writer Leah Hager Cohen was featured in this Faculty Reading event sponsored by the Creative Writing Program.
The Holy Cross Wind Ensemble and Orchestra presented a joint concert featuring iconic melodies from the video game industry, including classics like The Legend of Zelda, Halo and Super Mario, along with selections from lesser-known titles. The performance explored the deep connections between video game music and its classical and cinematic influences.
"Everything/Nothing" was the result of hard work from senior visual arts students throughout their final year on campus. Works from Jane Doyle, Peyton Ellinghaus, Aine Frisch, Jackson MacLeod, Serena McCarthy, Alex Raper, Marley Rehm and Isaac Trius were exhibited at The Prior.
The internationally acclaimed artists of the 2024–25 season embody our vision for artist residencies at The Prior Performing Arts Center, affirming an exciting future for The Prior’s keystone public-facing programming. A sampling of that programming is included below.
The Tony-nominated choreographer, known for co-directing "Fire Shut Up In My Bones" with the Metropolitan Opera (2021) and choreographing Alicia Keys’ musical "Hell’s Kitchen" (2023), explored Black joy in "I AM", an acclaimed new work with her own dance company.
Gandelsman performed from his celebrated suite of commissions “This Is America.” Special guests included members of the Worcester Chamber Music Society. The week after his visit, Gandelsman was awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Award.
The New York Times-bestselling poet and essayist engaged with Holy Cross and Worcester Public School students on the theme of ‘wonder’ across her works, wrapping up her residency with a public lecture and book-signing at The Prior.
This pop-up production from The Huntington Theatre in Boston brought the first chapter of Udofia’s region-wide, nine-play Ufot Family Cycle to The Prior, a homecoming for the Central Massachusetts-raised playwright.
Led by celebrated vocalist Julia Keefe (Nez Perce), this ensemble of Indigenous jazz musicians delighted our audience, worked closely with students, and tracked an album in our Lovelett Ensemble Room & Recording Studio.
The Acting Company’s residency featured a poignant and timely performance of Wilson’s Tony-nominated play followed by masterclasses and workshops with Holy Cross and Burncoat Middle School students.
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Flower performed a new work commissioned by Composer-In-Residence Osvaldo Golijov for modular synthesizer, string quartet, and saxophone.
The architect and lead of MASS Design Group’s Public Memory & Memorial Lab delivered a public lecture and led a workshop on “Imagined Monuments” with students and faculty from the Department of Visual Arts.
The Detroit-based chamber orchestra shared their groundbreaking and genre-bending program “American Form/s” in this co-presentation with local arts presenter Music Worcester.
The Cantor Gallery promotes and supports the intellectual and cultural life of the College through its exhibitions and acquisitions, both historical and contemporary. This year brought Soo Sunny Park's "Boundary Conditions" to the window display, plus a series of exhibitions that complement the permanent collection on campus.
Michael Beatty's "Fabrications" ran at The Cantor from January through April 2025. Beatty taught sculpture and three-dimensional design at Holy Cross for 25 years before retiring in 2023. His retrospective exhibit featured works from 1992 to the present, highlighting his sculptural practice.
"Blue Profundity: Contemporary Artists Revisit a Color" featured works from Adam Chau, Ifé Franklin, Michelle Samour, Heather Evans Smith and Andrea Pettway Williams, who incorporate blue in their work to highlight the symbolic and historic meanings of the color.
"Everything/Nothing" is an exhibition of the work of Holy Cross studio art majors. Throughout their senior year, the students have participated in a rigorous capstone seminar, honing their artistic practice through independent work and experimentation. The exhibit features work by Jane Doyle, Peyton Ellinghaus, Aine Frisch, Jackson MacLeod, Serena McCarthy, Alex Raper, Marley Rehm and Isaac Trius.
In Spring 2025, The Prior and The Cantor launched Art Notes, a new arts journal featuring short, singular perspectives on multidisciplinary arts events at Holy Cross and in the region. Its first issue is anchored by the contributions of four student Arts Writing Fellows. Selected by competitive application, Fellows signed on for a rigorous cycle of drafting and feedback and participated in experiential learning opportunities related to the field of arts criticism.
What I love most about working at The Prior is that every day feels different. I’ve never felt more energized, more supported, or more inspired than I have while working here.
Gracyn Epstein, Class of 2028
The Holy Cross mission to be In and of Worcester is alive and well at The Prior. Through a Scholarship in Action grant, Holy Cross and the Worcester Cultural Coalition host residencies at The Prior for local artists, while other programs connect Worcester students with working artists in collaborative cultural exchange.
Worcester families gather in the Luth Concert Hall in anticipation of the Worcester Public Schools All-Elementary Orchestra and Band concert.
Artists from The Acting Company’s production of August Wilson’s "Two Trains Running" coach Burncoat High School students in monologue performance.
