(GLASSBORO, NJ) – Making world-class arts programming accessible in South Jersey, Rowan University's upcoming Arts at Rowan season showcases the institution's commitment to offering compelling art, music, dance, and theatre – with easy parking, close to home!
The Marie Rader Series (MRS) at Rowan University is a curated performing arts series that uplifts the region’s cultural landscape. Now kicking off its 17th season, MRS has established itself as a regular host to Grammy-winners, Tony-winners, and inspiring performers from a wide range of genres.
As the visual arts component of this vibrant cultural destination, Rowan University Art Gallery & Museum offers thought-provoking curated art exhibitions by professional artists from the global community. Its contemporary art programming enriches the quality of life for local residents and students and functions as a resource for visual art throughout the region.
“While some may still be surprised to discover that Rowan is truly an arts destination for the region, we’ve outgrown our ‘best kept secret’ status,” says Marie Rader Series Artistic Director Debbie Shapiro. “We are officially on the map of influential arts presenters, and we are thrilled to see our audiences are growing.”
View the full season lineup below.
A WORLD FROM HOME: THE 25|26 MARIE RADER PRESENTING SERIES
From the solar system and back to Mexico, India, Vienna, and a Philadelphia finish, this season’s Marie Rader Series (MRS) offers a culturally rich journey around the world.
This season, Rowan University’s Pfleeger Concert Hall offers easy access to stunning folk and classical dance, music, and crowd-pleasing children’s theatre – all with free parking, close to home.
Saturday, September 20, 2025 @ 11:00am & 4:00pm | The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System, A TheaterWorks USA Production | Pfleeger Concert Hall. Families will love watching their favorite characters from the classic book & TV series explore the atmosphere on Mercury, Venus, and Mars on an epic interplanetary field trip. Guided by Ms. Frizzle, the class must pull together to find their way across the galaxy while learning as much about teamwork as they do about the solar system. Hop on the Magic School Bus for a ride in this musical adaptation based on the original book series published by Scholastic!
Recommended for ages 4-10. Runtime is approximately 60 minutes with no intermission. Accessibility: This event will offer closed captioning in addition to their standard accommodations. GA $30 / Eligible Discounts $20 / FREE for 12 and under.
Sunday, November 2, 2025 @ 3:00pm | Calpulli Mexican Dance Company: Día de Muertos | Pfleeger Concert Hall. Calpulli Mexican Dance Company celebrates the past and present of Mexican-American culture through universal messages of love and hope. Using both folk and classical music and dance, Día de Muertos explores a love story that spans the boundary between the living and the departed, and offers a new, family-friendly holiday classic for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. A loving couple falls victim to treachery and is separated, seemingly forever. The young woman enters Mictlán- the underworld of Aztec mythology- where the mesmerizing Catrina reigns as queen.
Runtime is 1 hour 45 minutes with one 5-minute pause and one 15-minute intermission. GA $30 / Eligible Discounts $20 / FREE for 12 and under
Saturday, January 31, 2026 @ 7:30pm | Ragamala Dance Company: Sacred Earth, Ramee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy, Artistic Co-Directors | Pfleeger Concert Hall. *Join them for a pre-show talk & post-show Q&A. Performed with live music, Ragamala’s stunning Bharatanatyam dancers create a sacred space to honor the divinity in the natural world and the sustenance we derive from it. Inspired by the ephemeral arts of kolam rice flour ritual, indigenous Warli painting, and the Tamil Sangam literature of India, Sacred Earth is co-Artistic Directors Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy’s singular vision of the beautiful, fragile relationship between nature and man. GA $35 / Eligible Discounts $25 / 18 and under $10
Saturday February 28, 2026 @ 7:30pm | Mnozil Brass: Strau$$ | Pfleeger Concert Hall. *Join them for a post-show talk immediately following this performance. For over thirty years, the seven brass masters of Mnozil Brass have effortlessly waltzed between genres, gliding from Johann Strauss to Frank Sinatra, Shostakovich to Prince, Schubert to Queen. They embrace the grandeur of classical music and the irresistible charm of pop with equal joy, never afraid to mix the sublime with the playful. Now, Mnozil Brass ties it all together in their latest stage sensation: Strau$$. The “King of the Waltz” was admired by Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, Gershwin — and just about everyone else. A true pioneer, Strauss composed hit after hit, revolutionized music distribution, and became a mass phenomenon—not to mention a financial genius. With Strau$$, Mnozil Brass lays it all bare. Every flourish, every secret, every last twist and turn of the waltz’s golden age—until nothing remains but the naked truth. GA $35 / Eligible Discounts $25 / 18 and under $10
Saturday March 14, 2026 @ 3:00pm | The Philly Pops: Blockbusters in the ‘Burbs | Pfleeger Concert Hall. For an encore performance, the Philly Pops are bringing back Blockbusters in the ‘Burbs, and THIS TIME they’re headed to Rowan University. Conducted by newly appointed Music Director, Chris Dragon, YOUR Philly Pops will take the stage to perform some of cinema’s most cherished scores. Gather your friends and family and join us for a performance that’ll have you feeling like you’ve been transported to Times Square. GA $35 / Eligible Discounts $25 / 18 and under $10
ROWAN UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY+ MUSEUM. All exhibits are FREE and open to the public. The gallery is located at 301 High Street West in Glassboro, New Jersey. Gallery hours are Monday - Friday: 10:00am - 5:00pm; and Saturday: 11:00am - 5:00pm.
September 2 - November 1, 2025 | vanessa german - Breathe from the Diaphragm: our eyes are in our lungs. This exhibit offers respite from the external volatility in the world today. With work that focuses on selflessness, love, and the alignment of heart and mind, this exhibition serves as a platform to explore the healing power of art and the journey back to wholeness. Establishing her own self-taught approach and distinctive artistic language, German’s influential practice employs mineral crystals, beads, glass, found objects, and other sourced material to create expressive figurative sculptures that resound through the physical and metaphysical worlds. German has been featured in multiple museum exhibitions, and her work is held in many prestigious collections across the country.
November 10, 2025 - January 10, 2026 | Qualeasha Wood: code_anima (Guest curator Leandra - Juliet Kelley). Qualeasha Wood: code_anima explores identity, physical and digital boundaries, and the process of individuation through analysis of complex and socially accepted paradoxes. The digital collages of her tapestries are embedded with a “code,” serving as a symbol for the inner workings of the dual experiences felt by Black people and the multifaceted online identities that mirror or oppose their physical existence. Born and raised in Long Branch, New Jersey, Wood has exhibited nationally and internationally in museums and galleries, and her work is included in many public collections. She is currently represented by Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK.
January 26 - March 21, 2026 | Devan Shimoyama. Devan Shimoyama is a visual artist who works primarily in painting and self-portraiture, with works inspired as much by classical mythology as by the culture of his youth. Through his depictions of the queer black male form, Shimoyama investigates the politics of queer culture while navigating his own personal narratives. Shimoyama was born in Philadelphia and lives and works in Pittsburgh. He is currently represented by De Buck Gallery in New York, and is the Cooper-Siegel Assistant Professor of Art in the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University.
April 6 - July 30, 2026 | Jazlyne Sabree | The Spectrum of Resilience. The Spectrum of Resilience reveals moments of strength, tenacity, vigor, and adaptation as experienced by members of the African Diaspora and the artist’s own African ancestry and genealogy. Resilience is expressed in the collage work that captures the authentic spirit of the subjects while calling for acceptance of their ancestral history in a time when their truths are being erased and distorted. Jazlyne Sabree is an interdisciplinary artist based in the Greater Philadelphia area. She has exhibited nationally and internationally in many museums and galleries.
