Above / Wentz Concert Hall is located in the North Central College Fine and Performing Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Avenue, just steps from downtown Naperville.
Note the calendar for fine and performing arts events taking place in March 2026 at North Central College begin here with last day in February:
FREE 7PM Feb. 28 Music: Chords for Kids Concert. Chords for Kids is a concert designed for children with special needs and their families. This judgment-free concert allows attendees to enjoy the performance without worrying about traditional concert etiquette. “Wigglers Welcomed” is the concert’s motto. Performed by North Central College’s Concert Winds under the direction of Dr. Larry Van Oyen, the music includes selections such as “YMCA,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and the “Chicken Dance,” and audience members are encouraged to sing and dance along. This concert begins at 7PM in Wentz Concert Hall. Admission is FREE, but a ticket is required.
Feb. 28–March 1 Dance: Department of Theatre Spring Dance Production. This original production fuses several forms of dance as performers engage the audience in action and story. Devised by the ensemble, the production explores contemporary themes through movement. Performances are 2PM & 7PM Sat., Feb. 28 and 2PM Sun., March 1, in Pfeiffer Hall. Tickets are $14
4PM March 1 Music: West Suburban Symphony presents “Power and Beauty.” Carl Orff’s primal 1936 cantata Carmina Burana will thrill audiences with its dramatic opening and closing movement, “O Fortuna,” based on medieval poems exploring the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling, and love as Fortuna spins her fateful wheel. The program also includes Overture for the End of a Century by Grammy Award-winning composer Libby Larsen. The concert takes place at 4PM in Wentz Concert Hall. Tickets range from $0–$35.
7PM Fri., March 6 Music: Chicago Sinfonietta presents “Still I Rise.” Conducted by Mei-Ann Chen, Chicago Sinfonietta ignites the stage with an empowered tribute to women who break molds, blaze trails, and rise again and again. Chicago’s own Deeply Rooted Dance Theater joins the orchestra in an interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing Florence Price’s Dances in the Canebrakes and Shirley J. Thompson’s Seventh Sense to life through dance. The program also includes Amy Beach’s Gaelic Symphony and Marianna Martines’s Sinfonia in C. The concert begins at 7PM in Wentz Concert Hall. Tickets range from $45–$65.
7:30PM Sat., March 14 Music: 2026 Chicago Harmony Sweepstakes. Come see the annual competition that inspired NBC’s The Sing-Off and the Pitch Perfect films. The best all-vocal ensembles in the Midwest will perform before a panel of celebrity judges to be crowned the 2026 Chicago Regional Champion. The winner will advance to face five other regional champions at the National Finals in California. The event features Vocalight from Dayton, Ohio (2025 Chicago First Place, 2025 National Finals Second Place) as special guest hosts and two-time champion David Wilner as master of ceremonies. The competition takes place in Wentz Concert Hall. Tickets are $35.
March 26–29 Theatre: Department of Theatre presents The Grown-Ups. Following a group of camp counselors trying to mold the leaders of tomorrow when tomorrow is looking bleaker and bleaker, The Grown-Ups explores the traditions that change us, what it takes to change them, and how daunting it can be to reshape the world that shaped who you are—and why it might be worth doing it anyway. Performances take place at 7:30PM March 26, 7:30PM March 27, 2PM & 7:30PM March 28 and 2PM March 29 in the Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall. Tickets are $14.
7:30PM March 27 Music: Faculty Recital Series – An Evening of Jazz: “100 Years of Vibraphone” featuring Brad Stirtz. “100 Years of Vibraphone” traces the evolution of one of jazz’s most distinctive instruments from its early roots in the 1920s swing era to the modern sounds of today, featuring music made popular by legendary vibraphonists such as Milt Jackson and contemporary voices like Gary Burton. The program also includes original compositions by Brad Stirtz, offering a personal perspective on the instrument’s ongoing evolution. Stirtz is joined by Chris White (piano), Dan Anderson (bass), Juan Pastor (drum set), and Mitch Paliga (saxophone). Originally from Minden, Nebraska, Stirtz is a Chicago-based vibraphonist who has performed internationally in Uganda, Trinidad, and throughout the United States. He has performed with jazz artists Ed Thigpen, Patricia Barber, and Jerry Goodman, as well as contemporary artists Joe Walsh, Dennis DeYoung, and Charlie Pride. Stirtz has served on the faculties of the American Conservatory of Music, Roosevelt University, Benedictine University, Northern Illinois University, and North Central College and has been an instructor at Birch Creek Music Center for more than 40 years. He is currently the full-time Director of Music at Peace Lutheran Church in Lombard, Illinois. The concert begins at 7:30PM in Madden Theatre, located in the North Central College Fine and Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $15.
6PM March 29 Music: Civic Orchestra of Chicago presents “Civic Plays Copland 3.” Conducted by Carlos Miguel Prieto, this program explores the vitality of music from across North America. Aaron Copland’s Third Symphony evokes majestic landscapes and postwar optimism, culminating in the iconic Fanfare for the Common Man. The program also includes Carlos Chávez’s Sinfonía india and Michael Abels’ Delights & Dances, featuring soloists from the Black chamber music collective D-Composed. The concert begins at 6PM in Wentz Concert Hall. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s website. Tickets are available beginning March 13.
Thanks for supporting the performing arts!
North Central College’s 2025–2026 Fine and Performing Arts Season is partially supported by the following sponsors and partners: City of Naperville Special Events and Community Arts Fund, Dommermuth, Cobine, West, Gensler, Philipchuck and Corrigan, Ltd.
For a comprehensive schedule of musical performances, theatrical and dance productions, visit northcentralcollege.edu/show or call the box office at 630-637-SHOW (7469).
Thanks also for supporting the culinary arts!
Consider dinner and the show. Enjoy dining in downtown Naperville.
