Winter Arts Guide 2026
5 Points Art Gallery
Acacia Theatre Company
The Alice Wilds
All In Productions
Alverno Art & Cultures Gallery
Arts @ Large
Bach Chamber Choir
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Arise, Shine, for Your Light has Come: Epiphany Concert, Jan. 4 (Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church) — Top off the holiday season with chorales from George Handel’s Messiah (1742), one of the Baroque era’s most enduring works as performed by the Bach Chamber Choir accompanied by a chamber orchestra. (David Luhrssen)
Bay View Gallery Night
Bel Canto Chorus
Black Arts MKE
Boerner Botanical Gardens
Bombshell Theatre Co.
- Honky-Tonk Angels, Jan. 14-18
- Avenue Q, Feb. 26-March 15 — The musical comedy starring puppets and humans, an adult-oriented parody of “Sesame Street,” took a Tony Award in 2004. (Morton Shlabotnik)
Boulevard Theatre
The Box Theatre Co.
Bronzeville Arts Ensemble
Cabaret Milwaukee
Carroll Players
Carthage College Theatre
carthage.edu/arts/experience-the-arts/theatre-dance-performances/
- Dear Elizabeth, Feb. 25, Feb. 27-28
Catey Ott Dance Collective
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
- Wednesday Concert Series
Cedarburg Cultural Center
- The Little Show: 2025-26 Annual Exhibit, through Jan. 11
- Spectacular Elftacular! through Jan. 11
Cedarburg Performing Arts Center
- John McGivern’s A Man for All Seasons, Jan. 10
- The Stepcrew, Feb. 28
Chant Claire Chamber Choir
Charles Allis Art Museum
Chazen Museum of Art (UW-Madison)
Choral Arts Society of Southeastern Wisconsin
Civic Music MKE
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High School Competition Showcase Recital, Feb. 15 (Milwaukee Youth Arts Center)
The Constructivists
Concord Chamber Orchestra
- In Good Company, Jan. 25 (Central United Methodist Church)
DanceCircus
Danceworks Performance MKE
David Barnett Gallery
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The Artwork of Marc Chagall, Featuring New Acquisitions, through Jan. 13 — Few 20th century artists painted as distinctively as Marc Chagall. He was a modernist grounded in a tradition—the landscape and folkways of Russia’s Pale of Jewish Settlement. His figures often float, literally, as if dreaming of places lost forever. (David Luhrssen)
Dawn Springer Dance Project
Dead Man's Carnival
Early Music Now
- Trio Medieval: Folk Songs, Jan. 17 (St. Joseph Chapel) — The Grammy-nominated Swedish/Norwegian vocal trio specialize in medieval polyphonic music but have expanded their repertoire to include contemporary composers. For their EMN concert, they will focus on songs from Scandinavia. (Morton Shlabotnik)
Ex Fabula
- StorySlam: Brave, Jan. 6 (Pilot Project Brewing)
- AfterDark: For the Culture, Feb. 12 (Radio Milwaukee)
Falls Patio Players
Festival City Symphony
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Mendelssohn’s Discovery, Jan. 24 (Bradley Symphony Center) — Great Britain became Felix Mendelssohn’s second county. While visiting Scotland in 1829, he visited a cave in the Hebrides Islands, inspiring his Hebrides Overture, which transports listeners to a rugged place where waves wash against rocky shores.
Fine Arts Quartet
First Stage
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Lovabye Dragon, Jan. 21-Feb. 15
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Peter Pan and Wendy, Feb. 20-March 22 — Disney called it Peter Pan, but Edwardian novelist-playwright J.M. Barrie titled his story Peter and Wendy, a meditation on the inevitability of leaving childhood behind with Wendy as the protagonist. First Stage’s Jeff Frank’s adaptation promises a whimsical journey to Neverland. (David Luhrssen)
Florentine Opera
- Elixir of Love, Jan. 12-22 (SC Johnson Golden Rondelle Theater, Racine)
- Elixir of Love, Jan. 28, Sharon Lynne Wilscon Center for the Arts)
Forte Theatre Company
Four Seasons Theatre, Madison
Frankly Music
Fresco Opera Theatre, Madison
Gallery Night and Day, Jan 16-17
- Milwaukee’s original art hop happens quarterly with a focus on galleries in the Third Ward, East Town and Walker’s Point. (Morton Shlabotnik)
Germantown Performing Arts Center
Green Gallery
Greendale Community Theatre
Grohmann Museum
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Dave Clay’s Industrial Atmospheres, Jan. 16-April 26 — Milwaukee native Dave Clay is an artist, software architect, engineer and musician working in a variety of media including digital collage, metal, large-scale interactive sculpture and painting. “I met Dave Clay through Tom Crawford at WMSE. Tom knew him from the local band scene when Dave still lived in Milwaukee. He is in Seattle now,” says Grohmann Museum director James Kieselburg. “His work is a perfect fit for the Grohmann—industrial interiors with an otherworldly look, like they could have been pulled from Omni or some other sci-fi magazine.” (David Luhrssen)
Grove Gallery
Haggerty Museum of Art
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This Side of the Stars: Robert Rauschenberg’s Stoned Moon in the Company of Kite, Paglen and Yi, Jan. 22-May 16
Harley-Davidson Museum
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“Creating a Legend: Art & Engineering at Harley-Davidson,” through spring 2027
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“Ezy Ryders: History & Tradition, Heart & Soul,” through 2026 — Photographer Cate Dingley’s book Ezy Ryders focuses on New York City’s Black riding culture today. Images and text from her book have been chosen for the new exhibition at the Harley-Davidson Museum. All of Dingley’s photographs are in black and white. “There’s a sense of timelessness to them, black and white can be a very expressive medium,” curator Ann Sinfield says. (David Luhrssen)
H. F. Johnson Gallery of Art
Hover Craft
Hyperlocal MKE
Impressions Fine Arts Gallery
Inspiration Studios Art Gallery
James May Gallery
Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts
- Free Improvisation, Saturdays
- Milwaukee Jazz Institute, Sundays
- Open Gallery Exhibition, Thursdays
- Pilgrims Crossing, through Jan. 17
Jewish Museum Milwaukee
- Violins of Hope: Strings of Jewish Resistance and Resilience, Nov. 5-Jan. 25 — “Jewish Museum Milwaukee is honored to be the only Jewish institution exhibiting these instruments during this incredible residency, through the lens of Jewish identity and with the respect these vessels of memory deserve,” says Molly Dubin, chief curator. “We are especially excited to welcome guest curators from the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center, who bring expertise in Holocaust education, teaching about Jewish culture, and ways to engage K-12 audiences.” (David Luhrssen)
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
- Watts Towers in Focus, through Jan. 4
- Ashwini Bhat: Reverberating Self, through Jan. 11, 2026
- Sarah Rowe: Water Ledger, through Jan. 25
- Heidelbergology: Is it Art Now, through Feb. 15
- Small Ensembles, through Feb. 15
- Familiar Texture: The Fibers of Childhood and Home, through April 5
- A Beautiful Experience: The Midwest Grotto Tradition, through May 10 — “Madeline Buol’s grotto is a part of a lineage that continues today, and the exhibition brings this tradition of Midwestern grottos to life with other artifacts from our permanent collection as well as new commissions by artists Stephanie H. Shih and E. Saffronia Downing who reimagine the (grotto) tradition in a contemporary context,” says curator Laura Bickford. (Michael Muckian)
- Silvio Barile, through Spring
- Recent Acquisition: Roger Brown Study Collection, through Spring
Kettle Moraine Symphony
Kim Storage Gallery
- Susan Hall: Balance, Jan. 2-Feb. 14
- Gabrielle Marie Stone, Feb. 27-April 10
Kith and Kin Theatre Collective
Kneeland-Walker House
wauwatosahistoricalsociety.org
Kohler Memorial Theater
Ko-Thi Dance Company
Lake Arts Project
Lake Country Playhouse
- The Book of Will, Jan. 16-Feb. 1
- Love & Legacy Jazz Concert, Feb. 6
- Sense and Sensibility, Feb. 19-March 1
Lakefront Festival of Art
Latino Arts, Inc.
- 13th Annual Guitar Festival Concert, Feb. 7
- Adversidades Cromaticas/Chromatic Adversities, through Feb. 20
Lutheran A Capella Choir of Milwaukee
Lynden Sculpture Garden
- Faythe Levine: Time is Running Out, through March 14
Madison Ballet
- Pointes of View, Feb. 13-15 (Overture Center)
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
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A Broad Sweep of Sky, through March 29
Madison Theatre Guild
Making Music Vocal Arts
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Chorale Showcase, April 2-4, April 6 (Milwaukee Youth Arts Center)
Marcus Performing Arts Center
- Celtic Throne II: Psalter of Ireland, Jan. 15
- Hamilton, Jan. 20-Feb. 1
- Hellenika: The Musical, Jan. 30-31
- DRUMLine Live, Feb. 5
- Stomp, Feb. 14
- Kimberly Akimbo, Feb. 17-22
- Peter Pan and Wendy, Feb. 20-March 22 (First Stage)
- On a Winter’s Night, Feb. 26
- Jazz at the Lincoln Center Presents: Great American Crooners, Feb. 27 — Crooning was made possible by technology—microphones that allowed an emotionally intimate style that relied on nuance rather than great gulping projection. The Lincoln Center’s vocal trio promises an evening of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and the young man who followed in their steps in the late ‘50s, Bobby Darin. (David Luhrssen)
- Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Feb. 28
MARN Art + Culture Hub
Marquette University Players Society
marquette.presence.io/organization/Marquette-players-society
Marquette University Theatre
Master Singers of Milwaukee
- Not the Same Old Song and Dance, Feb. 22 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
Material Studios + Gallery
Memories Dinner Theatre
Menomonee Falls Symphony
MIAD Frederick Layton Gallery
- The Circle that Unites Us, Jan. 12-March 6
MIAD Gallery at the Ave
Milwaukee Art Museum
- Bradley Collection of Modern Art: A Bold Vision for Milwaukee, through Jan. 18
- Looking Forward: New Gifts of Art, through Feb. 15
Milwaukee Ballet
- Encore, Jan. 30-Feb. 8 (WE Energies Performance Studio) — An evening that surveys the breadth of MB’s abilities from classic through contemporary work. (Morton Shlabotnik)
Milwaukee Chamber Theater
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I Am My Own Wife, Jan. 23-Feb. 8 — Doug Wright’s one-actor play I Am My Own Wife is directed by Alexander Coddington and features Jonathan Riker. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play explores the life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a trans antiques collector and fixture of the East Berlin queer scene, who has endured both the Nazi and Communist regimes. Her story is of queer survival at almost any price. (Paul Masterson)
Milwaukee Children's Choir
Milwaukee Comedy
Milwaukee Festival Brass
Milwaukee Film
Milwaukee Fringe Festival
Milwaukee Irish Arts
Milwaukee Jazz Institute
Milwaukee Jazz Orchestra
Milwaukee Makers Market
Milwaukee Musaik
Milwaukee Opera Theatre
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Maybe We’ll Fly, Jan. 16-18 (Florentine Opera Leuders Opera Center)
Milwaukee Repertory Theater
- The Fisherman’s Daughters, Jan. 9-March 1 (Stackner Cabaret)
- The Lehman Trilogy, Jan. 13-Feb. 8 (Checota Powerhouse Theater)
- McNeal, Feb. 10-March 22 (Herro-Franke Studio Theater) — Raised in Milwaukee, Ayad Akhtar earned a Pulitzer Prize for his 2012 play Disgraced. Since then, the Pakistani American won additional prizes for work that addresses assimilation, immigration, identity and the nation’s corrupt economy. His latest, the darkly comedic Broadway hit McNeal, concerns “art and ambition in the age of AI.” (David Luhrssen)
- August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, Feb. 24-March 22 (Checota Powerhouse Theater)
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
- Beethoven & Haydn, Jan. 23-24
- Trailblazers: A Celebration of the American Spirit, Jan. 25
- Zeitouni Conducts Mozart, Jan. 31-Feb. 1
- Saint-Saens “Organ” Symphony, Feb. 6-7
- A Simply Swingin’ Valentine, Feb. 13-15
- Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, Feb. 20-21 — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky became ballet’s most esteemed composer, and the sheer beauty of his music transcends the demands of dancers and the stories they enact. Some have called The Sleeping Beauty his best work for ballet. Britain’s Alpesh Chauhan, music director of the Birmingham Opera Company, will conduct the MSO. (David Luhrssen)
- The Sound of Gospel, Feb. 22
- Joyce Yang Plays Tchaikovsky, Feb. 27-March 1
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Milwaukee Youth Theatre
MKE Black Theatre Festival
MKE Studio Tour
Morning Star Productions
Museum of Wisconsin Art
- Members Show 2025, through Jan. 11
- Frank Lloyd Wright: Modern Chair Design, Taliesin to Usonia, through Jan. 25 — Even some of the most ardent Frank Lloyd Wright fans know little about one of the most significant aspects of the 20th century American architect’s storied career—furniture design. The Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) in West Bend aims to rectify the situation with its upcoming exhibit Frank Lloyd Wright: Modern Chair Design. This is a unique exploration of 40 of the hundreds of pieces of furniture designed by Wright during his career. (Michael Muckian)
- Chad Alexander Matha: Everything to Build With, through March 1
MOWA | DTN (Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel)
MOWA on the Lake (St. John’s on the Lake)
- Mac Bo Ross: Ancestral Layers, through Feb. 15
Next Act Theatre
- Swing State, Feb. 11-March 8 — Rebecca Gilman is no stranger to Milwaukee theatergoers; her plays have been performed at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre and Renaissance Theaterworks. Her latest, Swing State, is a comedy set in rural Wisconsin where an out-of-state energy company buys farmland and threatens the community that lives there. The Chicago Tribune called it “the best play since COVID to tap into our divided nation.” (David Luhrssen)
Nō Studios
North Shore Academy of the Arts
Northern Sky Theater
Oak Creek Performing Arts and Education Center
Oconomowoc Arts Center
Optimist Theatre
Outskirts Theatre
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The Producers, Jan. 9-18 (Waukesha Civic Theatre) — Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, a pair of Broadway schemers, produce a play that’s certain to bomb, Springtime for Hitler, and are flummoxed when it becomes a hit. Working with Thomas Meehan, Mel Brooks rewrote his 1967 film as a Broadway musical—and was pleased to score another hit. (David Luhrssen)
Over Our Head Players
- Snowdance 2026, Feb. 6-8, Feb. 12-15, Feb. 19-22, Feb. 26-March 1
Paint Cedarburg: A Plein Air Painting Event
Philomusica Quartet
Portrait Society Gallery
Present Music
- Avant Garden of Love (2nd Edition), Feb. 13-14 (Jan Serr Studio) — For their Valentine’s concert, Present Music offers a world premiere by Cory Dargel. The classically trained composer’s recent albums easily cross over into synth pop, including Other People’s Love Songs set to 13 lyrics commissioned from real-life couples. (David Luhrssen)
Prometheus Trio
Quasimondo Physical Theatre
Racine Art Museum
- Fool Me Once: The Trompe L’oeil Sculpture of Karen Dahl and James Doran, through Jan. 10
- On Fire Part II: Surveying Women in Glass in the Late-Twentieth Century, through Jan. 24
- RAM Collects: Contemporary Perfume Bottles, through Feb. 21
- Monumental: Larger than Life Size, through Feb. 28
- RAM Showcase: Bodies, through March 14
- From the Archives, through March 14
Racine Symphony Orchestra
- Young Artist Competition, Feb. 15 (Frances Bedford Concert Hall, Kenosha)
Racine Theatre Guild
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Ripcord, Jan. 16-Feb. 1 — Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire wrote the book and lyrics for Shrek the Musical and has won numerous prizes, including a Pulitzer. His Ripcord is a serious comedy set in a senior center, where two residents engage in a late life power struggle. (David Luhrssen)
Re:Craft and Relic
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Winter Market, Jan. 31-Feb. 1 (Milwaukee County Sports Complex)
Real Tinsel Gallery
- Kyle Seis and Joe Stiner: Paintings, Jan. 16-March 8.
Renaissance Theaterworks
- Cardboard Piano, Jan. 11-Feb. 1 — Hansol Jung’s “war-torn love story” stars Tyler Cruz, Dimonte Henning, Ethan Hightire and Rebecca Kent. (Morton Shlabotnik)
Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel
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“Zurich by Late Afternoon: Collage at the Intersection of Form and Image,” through Jan. 11 — Milwaukee’s Leonard Beck found refuge at the Layton School of Art, eventually producing collages influenced by modernists such as George Grosz, Max Ernst and Alexander Rodchenko. The exhibit also includes work by contemporary Midwest artists Dan Devening, Amy Sacksteder and Scott Zieher. (David Luhrssen)
Sculpture Milwaukee
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Sculpture Milwaukee was founded in 2017 from an idea by local entrepreneur Steve Marcus and became an independent nonprofit in 2020. Sculpture Milwaukee has commissioned work to line Wisconsin Avenue from living artists, some with ties to our state. As much as possible, the sculptures are fabricated in Wisconsin in keeping with the Badger State’s machine-shop history. (David Luhrssen)
Seat of Our Pants Reader Theatre
Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts
- Julian Lage, Jan. 31 — The guitarist was only 12-years old when he performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards. At 15, the prodigy joined the faculty of the Stanford Jazz Workshop. Since then, he’s recorded several favorably reviewed albums for Blue Note and moved to the faculty of New York’s New School. (Morton Shlabotnik)
- Susan Brandsema: Stay Awhile, Jan. 5-March 29
Skylight Music Theatre
- Amadeus, Jan. 23-Feb. 8 —The legend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s demise at the hands of his rival, the scheming Antonio Salieri, is more “inspired” than “based” on a true story. Nevertheless, the idea circulated in the literature of Alexander Pushkin and the music of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In the last century, it was adapted by Peter Shaffer as the Tony-winning play and a film by Milos Forman (David Luhrssen)
- The Spitfire Grill, Feb. 27-March 15
South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
- Four Guyz in Dinner Jackets, Jan. 31
- Knightwind Ensemble, Feb. 1 — Founded in 1956, The Knightwind Ensemble now boasts more than 65 musicians. Knightwind presents a diverse musical repertoire from classic chamber pieces to contemporary full wind band compositions. Since 2010 they have been under the baton of music director Erik N. Janners who also serves as the director of music at Marquette University. (Kenneth Kapp)
- Grand Kyiv Baller, Giselle, Feb. 25
Sunset Playhouse
- Now and Then, Jan. 9-17
- Unncessary Farce, Jan. 15-Feb. 1
- Beetlejuice Jr., Jan. 30-Feb. 1
- ‘80s Mixtape: Sweet Dreams are Made of These, Jan 26-27
- The Beatles #1, Feb. 5-8
- Love, Ruby Valentine, Feb. 11-14
Theatre Gigante
Theatrical Tendencies
- The Cake, Jan. 5-6
- Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (Staged Reading), Jan. 21-22
Third Avenue Playhouse, Sturgeon Bay
Thrasher Opera House, Green Lake
Three Point Project
Tooth-and-Nail Gallery
Tory Folliard Gallery
- Chroma: Color and Abstraction, Jan. 9-Feb. 14
Underscore (inside Real Tinsel)
UW-Parkside Theatre
UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts
- Winterdances, Feb. 5-8 (Theatre Building, Mainstage Theatre)
- Vocal Arts Festival, Feb. 6-7 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
- Fiber/Form 2026 (Kenilworth Square East, 3rd Floor Gallery)
- Art & Design MA + MFA Exhibition, Feb. 6-28 (Kenilworth Square East Gallery)
- UWM Vocal Showcase Recital, Feb. 6 (Music Building Recital Hall)
- Vocal Arts Festival Final Concert, Feb. 7 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
- Avant-Garden of Love (2nd Edition), Feb. 13-14 (Present Music, Jan Serr Studio)
- Miscast 2026, Feb. 14 (Music Building Recital Hall)
- Hub New Music, Feb. 19 (Music Building Recital Hall)
- UWM Wind Ensemble, Feb. 20 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
- Union Art Gallery Juried Exhibition, Feb. 23 (UWM Union Art Gallery)
- First and Second Year Voice Recital, Feb. 23 (Music Building Recital Hall)
UWM Union Art Gallery
uwm.edu/studentinvolvement/arts-and-entertainment/union-art-gallery
UW-Whitewater Crossman Gallery
UW-Whitewater Young Auditorium
Var Gallery & Studios
Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum
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The Beat Goes On, through Jan. 18 — The first hit song by a Milwaukeean was written by Charles K. Harris. His melancholic, romantic “After the Ball” sold five million copies—not records but sheet music. The success encouraged Harris to leave the Midwest in the 1890s and set himself up as a music publisher in New York’s Tin Pan Alley. The success of “After the Ball” was an inspiration point for the Villa Terrace exhibition “The Beat Goes On! The Art and History of Sheet Music, 1897-1957.” (David Luhrssen)
Village Playhouse, Wauwatosa
Voices Found
Walker's Point Center for the Arts
Warehouse Art Museum
Water Street Dance Milwaukee
Waukesha Civic Theatre
- The Producers, Jan. 9-18 (Outskirts Theatre) — Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, a pair of Broadway schemers, produce a play that’s certain to bomb, Springtime for Hitler, and are flummoxed when it becomes a hit. Working with Thomas Meehan, Mel Brooks rewrote his 1967 film as a Broadway musical—and was pleased to score another hit. (David Luhrssen)
- Disney’s Winnie the Pooh Kids, Jan. 29-Feb. 1
- Sense and Sensibility, Feb. 6-Feb. 22
- Karmen Nickerson with Kostia and Stas, Feb. 19
- Hadestown Teen Edition, Feb. 27-March 8
West Allis Players
West Bend Theatre Company
West Performing Arts Center
Wild Space Dance Company
Windfall Theatre
Wisconsin Conservatory of Music
- January Jazz Jam Session, Jan 21
- February Jazz Jam Session, Feb. 18
Wisconsin Craft
Wisconsin Lutheran College - Center for Arts and Performance
- Spring Jazz Band Concert, April 23
- Spring Band Concert, May 2
Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Art
- Quilts Japan: The 17th Quilt Nihon, through March 8
- Winter Quilt Show, Feb. 14 (Washington County Fair Conference Center)
Wisconsin Philharmonic
- Out of This World JanBoree Concert, Jan. 25 (St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Waukesha)
Woodland Pattern Book Center
- Out of This World JanBoree Concert, Jan. 25 (St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Waukesha)
