Banners History – 2006-2015 Seasons

Our History

Banners was established in 1992 under the direction of Dr. Robert Hebert, former president of McNeese State University.

 

Because many events coordinated by the School of Liberal Arts were occurring at the same time, Dr. Hebert’s idea was to organize these events into a cohesive unit and give the community access to each show. A committee was formed, consisting of one representative from each Liberal Arts department, served with the task of forming an organization to oversee the series – thus Banners at McNeese was born.

 

By the program’s second year, the Cultural Season was formally constructed as a full-fledged series, featuring artists such as Ellis Marsalis, an American jazz pianist and educator. During the third year, Banners hired its first full-time director, Mary Richardson.

 

Today, Banners has expanded to include a three person staff, a student-driven outreach program, a widely popular annual fundraiser and more!

Cultural Season Archive

2006-2015
2015 SEASON
  • February 27 – Reading: Fady Joudah
  • February 28 – Grupo Fantasma (Latin funk orchestra)
  • March 2 – Film screening/lecture: “Lincoln”, with intro by Dr. Michael T. Smith
  • March 3 – Lecture: Dr. Michael T. Smith, “The 1864 Franklin-Nashville Campaign”
  • March 4 – Film screening: “Camille Claudel”
  • March 7 – Film screening: “Guardians of the Galaxy”
  • March 11 – Film screening: “L’Attentat”
  • March 12 – Christian Howes (jazz violinist)
  • March 13 – “Funny Bones: The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin”, performed by Dan Kamin
  • March 17 – Aquila Theatre Company presents “Wuthering Heights”
  • March 18 – Film screening: “Le Dernier Des Injustes”
  • March 20 – Zuill Bailey & Awadagin Pratt (cello, piano)
  • March 25 – Film screening: “Augustine”
  • March 26 – Sean Chen (piano)
  • March 27 – Run Boy Run (bluegrass)
  • March 28 – Warren Hood Band (blues)
  • March 30 – Film screening: “Ernest & Celestine”
  • March 31 – Reading: Amy Fleury
  • April 1 – Film screening: “La Grande Illusion”
  • April 11 – Take 6 (a cappella vocal group)
  • April 18 – Aloft Circus Arts presents Sephira
  • April 21 – Film screening: “Driving Blind”, with filmmaker Tod Purvis
  • April 24 – Reading: Robert Olen Butler
  • April 28 – Bria Skonberg Quartet (jazz trumpet, vocalist, composer)
  • April 29 – Film screening: “Fed Up”
  • April 30 – Lecture: Tommie Townsley, “Publishing in a New Age”
2014 SEASON
  • March 7 – Members Only Opening Gala, with live painting by Tim Decker
  • March 9 – Harlem Quartet (classical music)
  • March 13 – Reading: John Griswold
  • March 14 – Halie Loren (vocal)
  • March 15 – Poetry reading: B.H. Fairchild
  • March 18 – Lecture: “Twelve Years a Slave and Antebellum Louisiana”
  • March 19 – Film screening: “Amour”
  • March 21 – Bridgman Packer Dance Co. presents “Voyeur” (dance)
  • March 22 – Film screening: “Perfect Strangers” (Hopes, Dreams and Voluntary Organ Donation)
  • March 26 – Film screening: “L’Assaut”
  • March 27 – Imago Theatre presents “Frogz” (theatre, illusion, comedy)
  • March 29 – Reading: Pam Houston
  • April 2 – Film screening: “Des Hommes Et Des Dieux”
  • April 3 – Lecture: “Downton Abbey and History”
  • April 4 – Lightwire Theater presents “Dino-Light”
  • April 5 – Sam Bush (Americana, bluegrass)
  • April 8 – Poetry reading: Robert Cooper
  • April 9 – Film screening: “Coleur de Peau: Miel”
  • April 11 – Kenya Safari Acrobats
  • April 12 – Film screening: “The Retrieval”
  • April 13 – The Hit Men (supergroup)
  • April 16 – Film screening: “Les Adieux a la Reine”
  • April 24 – McLeod Lecture Series
  • April 25 – Ethel and Robert Mirabal presents “Music of the Sun” (Native American flutist, string quartet, folklore)
  • April 26 – The Alley Cats (a cappella, comedy)
  • May 2 – Sybarite5 (chamber music)
  • May 3 – McNeese Jazz & Percussion Festival, featuring Joey DeFrancesco
2013 SEASON
  • February 16 – Members Opening Gala
  • February 23 – O’Connor String Quartet
  • March 1 – Maceo Parker (funk)
  • March 2 – Reading: Richard Bausch
  • March 9 – Koresh Dance Company (ballet, jazz)
  • March 16 – Christopher O’Riley (pianist, NPR host of “From the Top”
  • March 19 – Lecture: Juan Jose Valdes (National Geographic)
  • March 21 – McLeod Lecture Series
  • March 22 – Spencers: Theatre of Illusion
  • April 7 – Jeremy Davis & the Fabulous Equinox Orchestra (jazz)
  • April 12 – Andy Narell (Caribbean jazz)
  • April 13 – Reading: Roy Kesey
  • April 14 – Dali Quartet (classical, Latin American music)
  • April 18 – Lecture: Steve Gimbel, “Einstein’s Jewish Science”
  • April 20 – Pokey LaFarge (Americana, honky tonk)
  • April 23 – Lecture: Karin Muller, “Perilous Journeys” (National Geographic)
  • April 27 – Ruthie Foster (blues)
  • May 3 – Lynn Trefzger (comedy, illusion)
  • May 4 – McNeese Jazz Festival, featuring Wycliffe Gordon
2012 SEASON
  • February 26 – “Bombay Bollywood” by the Bollywood Superstars (traditional and tribal belly dancing)
  • March 1 – McLeod Lecture Series: “The Speaker of the House Wields a Heavy Gavel”
  • March 4 – mozART GROUP (cabaret and comedy string quartet)
  • March 9 – A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra
  • March 13 – Lecture: Charles Kimball, “When Religion Becomes Lethal”
  • March 16 – Lecture: Nick Spitzer, “Tradition and Creativity: From Louisiana Creole Expressive Culture to ‘American Routes’
  • March 17 – Rhythmic Circus in “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” (percussion, dance)
  • March 20 – Lecture: Josh Rushing, “Will Chile be Capitalism’s Achilles Heel?”
  • March 24 – Samite (Ugandan singer/songwriter)
  • March 27 – Mnozil Brass (classical music, humor)
  • March 31 – The Malone Brothers (New Orleans roots rock)
  • April 13 – John Pizzarelli (jazz guitarist)
  • April 14 – Poetry reading: Dr. John Wood
  • April 17 – Lecture: Astronaut Story Musgrave, “25 Million Miles in Orbit – An Unforgettable Space Story”
  • April 21 – “Circus Incognitus” with Jamie Adkins (clowning and acrobatics)
  • April 24 – Lecture: Karen Cox, “Representations of the South in Popular Culture”
  • April 27 – Peter Karp and Sue Foley (blues)
  • May 12 – “Masked Marvels & Wondertales” with Michael Cooper (storytelling/stilt dancer)
2011 SEASON
  • March 12 – Jerry Butler (rhythm & blues)
  • March 13 – Hiromi (jazz pianist)
  • March 15 – Lecture: Billy Bretherton the Exterminator, “Pest Stories”
  • March 18 – Rhythmic Circus
  • March 20 – Roberta Gambarini (jazz vocalist)
  • March 25 – Buckwheat Zydeco & the Ils Sont Partis Band
  • March 26 – The Aluminum Show (theatre, dance, illusion)
  • March 29 – Lecture: Philippe Girard, “Why is Haiti So Poor?”
  • April 1 – Riders in the Sky
  • April 2 – Reading: Alex Taylor, “The Name of the Nearest River”
  • April 7 – McLeod Lecture Series: “Role of Louisiana’s Lt. Governor”
  • April 7 – Simon Shaheen & Qantara (arabic, jazz, classical)
  • April 11 – Lecture: Kelechi A. Kalu, “Terrorism and West Africa”
  • April 14 – Carpe Diem String Quartet
  • April 16 – The Rat Pack is Back (tribute)
  • April 17 – U.S. Air Force Concert Band & the Singing Sergeants
2010 SEASON
  • February 20 – The King’s Singers
  • February 26 – Reading: Robert Olen Butler
  • February 27 – Avner the Eccentric’s “Exceptions to Gravity” (vaudeville, juggling, magic)
  • March 4 – Short Circuit Traveling Film Festival (short films)
  • March 6 – Zachary Richard (Louisiana singer/songwriter)
  • March 8 – Lecture: Deborah Fitzgerald, “Industrializing Everything: Agriculture in 20th Century America”
  • March 13 – Preservation Hall Jazz Band
  • March 17 – Lecture: Jeffrey A. Miller, “Oil: Is It a Sustainable Resource?”
  • March 20 – Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights (vintage jazz)
  • March 26 – The Jason Bishop Show (magic)
  • April 8 – McLeod Lecture Series: “Right to Work: Changes in Louisiana’s Political Landscape”
  • April 9 – Wine & Alchemy (world music, belly dancing)
  • April 12 – Lecture: Sameetah Agha, “Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier: the Most Dangerous Place on Earth”
  • April 16 – Bill Miller (blues, Native American folk)
  • April 20 – Lecture: Ted Ownby, “Roots, Divorce, ‘Free Bird’ and Family Values: Debating Southern Family Life in the 1970’s”
  • April 23 – Lily Cai Chinese Dance Company (ancient Chinese dance, modern dance)
  • April 25 – Ji-Yong (pianist)
  • April 28 – Lecture: Mira Kamdar, “America’s Huge Stake in India”
  • April 30 – Reading: Allen Braden
  • May 1 – Kelley Hunt (blues, gospel, r&b)
2009 SEASON
  • February 28 – Cuartetango Music & Dance Company (tango dancing, string quartet)
  • March 6 – “Drums of War: The Sacrifice for Troy” (theatre)
  • March 7 – Karla Bonoff (singer/songwriter)
  • March 10 – Lecture: Josh Rushing, “Spin: The Art of Selling War”
  • March 13 – Arlo Guthrie (folk)
  • March 17 – Civil War roundtable discussion with Professor Michael Smith, Christopher Stowe, and Terry Beckenbaugh
  • March 20 – The Second City (comedy, skits, theatre)
  • March 21 – Poetry reading: Susan Ludvigson
  • March 24 – Lecture: Asra Q. Nomani, “The Paradox of Women in Islam”
  • March 26 – Lecture: Dr. Barbara Forrest, “Intelligent Design”
  • April 2 – McLeod Lecture Series
  • April 3 – Celtic Crossroads (Irish folk, dancing)
  • April 7 – Lecture: Dr. Daniel Botkin, “Evaluating the Evidence of Global Warming”
  • April 17 – Zuill Bailey (cellist)
  • April 18 – St. Petersburg String Quartet
  • April 19 – Golden Dragon Acrobats
  • April 23 – Dobet Gnahore (African folk vocalist)
  • April 25 – AguaMarinah Trio (jazz, world music)
  • April 28 – Short Circuit Film Festival (short films)
  • May 1 – Dance, Comedy, Fried Chicken & Beer (closing reception with the comedy of Dr. Steven Gimbel)
2008 SEASON
  • February 12 – Hugo Wolf Quartet (chamber music)
  • February 15 – Shirim Klezmer Orchestra with narration of “Pincus and the Pig” by Brenda Bachrack (Jewish folk music)
  • February 17 – Ladysmith Black Mambazo (South African vocal group)
  • February 22 – The Subdudes (roots rock)
  • February 23 – Short Circuit Film Festival with comments by filmmaker Yeon Choi
  • February 29 – Peru Negro (world music)
  • March 1 – Poetry reading: Joe Harrison
  • March 10 – Lecture: Dr. James F. Sennett, “An Intelligent Discussion about Intelligent Design”
  • March 14 – Vance Gilbert & Susan Werner (singer/songwriter)
  • March 15 – Lecture: Dr. John Wood, “Sex, Death, and God: Reflections on Poetry and History”
  • March 18 – Lecture: James Loi, “What in the World is Happening in China?”
  • March 28 – Lecture: Larry Cipolla, “Planting by Artists” (container gardening and art)
  • March 29 – Paragon Orchestra & “The Mark of Zorro” (film screening, live score)
  • April 1 – Lecture: Dr. Nick Spitzer, “Zydeco, Mardi Gras, and Trail Rides”
  • April 3 – McLeod Lecture Series: Panel – Jimmy Hayes, Chris John, Buddy Leach, Henson Moore, and Beth Courtney
  • April 5 – Manhattan Brass
  • April 11 – The Amazing Jake Shimabukuro (ukulele)
  • April 15 – Lecture: Dr. Steven Gimbel, “Einstein’s Jewish Science”
  • April 17 – Art exhibit: Bluegrass Rocks
  • April 18 – Bearfoot Bluegrass
  • April 19 – Reading: Ron Carlson
  • April 25 – Lazer Vaudeville
  • April 29 – Lecture: Dr. James Carter, “Inventing Vietnam: Lessons in Nation Building from a Forgotten Example”
  • May 2 – Nnenna Freelon (jazz vocalist/composer)
2007 SEASON
  • February 24 – Gabriel Alegria’s Peruvian Jazz Sextet
  • March 2 – Keith Gates (vocal music)
  • March 3 – Marcia Ball (blues rock)
  • March 6 – Lecture: Dr. Evelyn Marie Simien, “Black Feminist Voices in Politics”
  • March 9 – Poetry reading: Jennifer Reeser
  • March 11 – Poulenc Trio (bassoon, oboe, piano)
  • March 15 – Chris Bliss (comedy, juggling)
  • March 17 – Reading: George Makana Clark (South African novelist and short-story writer)
  • March 18 – Film screening: “Wrestling with Angels” with director Freida Lee Mock
  • March 20 – Art exhibit: “From the Ashes: A Year in Retrospect” (Barbe High School AP Art students)
  • March 23 – The Spencers: Theatre of Illusion
  • March 24 – Lecture: Ryan Brasseaux, “The Origins of Cajun Music”
  • March 24 – Lost Bayou Ramblers (French music)
  • March 27 – Poetry reading: Morri Creech
  • March 29 – McLeod Lecture Series: “Louisiana’s Influence in Washington: Senators John Breaux and J. Bennett Johnston Share their Perspectives”
  • March 31 – Crooked Still (bluegrass)
  • April 3 – Lecture: Dr. Craig Colten, “Wrestling New Orleans from Nature”
  • April 17 – Lecture: Dr. Charles Kimball, “Islam: What in the World is Going On…and Why”
  • April 20 – Guy Davis and Ann Rabson Blues Project
  • April 21 – Reading: Antonya Nelson
  • April 26 – Lecture: Dr. Gary Joiner, “One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End: The Red River Campaign in 1864”
  • April 27 – The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
  • April 29 – Bob Nell and Frances Stewart (jazz pianist / blues & jazz vocalist)
  • May 1 – Reading: Robert Olen Butler
  • May 2 – Film screening: “Hurricane Heroes: Survival Stories of Katrina Animal Rescues”
  • May 3 – Film screening: “Inside Iraq” with director Mike Shiley
2006 SEASON
  • March 4 – Naturally Seven (acapella group, folk rock)
  • March 10 – Cold Sweat (rhythm & blues)
  • March 12 – Beausoleil (Cajun)
  • March 14 – Lecture: Dr. Philippe Girard, “World Poverty: Who is to Blame? The Case of Haiti”
  • March 17 – Rosana Eckert (jazz vocalist)
  • March 18 – Reading: Earl Ganz
  • March 21 – Lecture: Dr. Kelechi A. Kalu, “Democracy and Constitution-Making in Africa”
  • March 22 – McLeod Lecture Series: “Public Service and the Fourth Estate”
  • March 24 – Lecture: Dr. John Stauffer, “Frederick Douglass’ America”
  • March 25 – Trailer Park Troubadours (honky tonk, comedy)
  • March 28 – Lecture: Juan Jose Valdes, “The Consequence of Maps”
  • April 1 – Commentary: John M. Barry, “The 1927 Flood and the 1918 Flu Epidemic: Two Epic Disasters”
  • April 4 – Reading: Robert Olen Butler
  • April 7 – Samite: Soul of Africa (Ugandan music)
  • April 8 – Poetry Reading: X.J. Kennedy
  • April 11 – Yosvany Terry & Arturo O’Farrill (jazz)
  • April 20 – Lecture: Annie Tiberio, “Death Valley, Okefinokee and Beyond” (nature photography)
  • April 22 – Reading: Leslie Norris
  • April 24 – Film screening: “Shooting Dogs”
  • April 28 – Ruthie Foster (blues, gospel, roots, folk)
  • April 30 – The Revelation Project starring Tom Key
  • May 5 – FLY Dance Company