Season 1: 2006-2007
October 10-11, 2006
Truth in Nonfiction Symposium with National Book Award Finalists and Judges.
Panelists:
November 9, 2006
President's Book Award Panel featuring Winners of the 2005 President's Book Award
- Philip A. Dennis, The Miskutu People of Awastarta
- Dorothy Chansky, Composing Ourselves: The Little Theatre Movement and the American Audience
- William Wenthe, Not Till We are Lost: Poems
February 16-17, 2007
Engaging Young Readers: A Festival of Authors and Ideas
Featuring talks and interactive presentations by the authors, book signings, break-out
sessions, and more.
- Marla Frazee, Author and Illustrator
- Allyn Johnston, Editor-in-Chief Harcourt's Children's Books
- Terry Trueman, Michael Printz Honor Author
- Texas Tech University Press Authors
- Melodie A. Cuate
- Carlos Nicolás Flores
- Sheila Wood Foard
- Jo Harper
- Dewey Johnson
- Lucy Fischer-West
April 11, 2007
Formal installation of Phi Beta Kappa set to feature Dr. John Churchill on the Importance of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Education
The importance of liberal arts and sciences will be the topic of a campus discussion
featuring Phi Beta Kappa Society Executive Secretary Dr. John Churchill
April 26, 2007
Chris Gardner on "Happyness"
Appearance and book signing
Season 2: 2007-2008
September 20, 2007
Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar: Dr. Pamela Soltis
Dr. Soltis is curator of the Laboratory of Molecular Systematics and Evolutionary
Genetics at the Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida.
October 9, 2007
A Night of Music with the Emerson String Quartet
This highly acclaimed group consists of Eugene Drucker, Philip Setzer, Lawrence Dutton
and David Finckel, who have been playing together for over 30 years.
October 30, 2007
Presidential Book Award Winners to Speak in Panel
The three most recent recipients of the Presidential Book Award will talk about their
work and about their award winning books in a panel discussion. Presidential Book
Award Recipients:
- Gary Forsythe
- Hafid Gafaïti
- Stephen Graham Jones
November 28, 2007
Free Screening of "Dancemaker"
Join us for a free screening of "Dancemaker," the Academy Award-nominated documentary
about legendary choreographer Paul Taylor and his company.
January 11-12, 2008
Paul Taylor Dance Company
The Paul Taylor Dance Company of New York will perform on January 11 and January 12,
with a different program planned for each night.
March 29, 2008
Take the "A" Train with The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Directed by Barrie Lee Hall,
Jr.
The world-renowned Duke Ellington Orchestra will perform as part of a Blues and Jazz Festival
April 9, 2008
Phi Beta Kappa President: Dr. Allison Blakely
Dr. Allison Blakely will preside at the Phi Beta Kappa Ceremony
April 27, 2008
A Night at the Opera: Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singers
Season 3: 2008-2009
September 8, 2008
Book signing and lecture by ethicist David Callahan
Author of The Cheating Culture
September 16, 2008
From the Top with Christopher O'Riley
"From the Top with Christopher O'Riley" will tape a performance of outstanding young
musicians in the Allen Theatre. The taping will be broadcast nationally at a later
date.
October 19, 2008
Marc-André Hamelin, Pianist
Marc-André Hamelin, first place winner at the 1985 Carnegie Hall Competition and one
of today's most acclaimed pianists in the United States
October 28, 2008
Presidential Book Award Winners
Conversations with authors of books on jazz; wine; and race in Imperial Spain. Presidential
Book Award Recipients:
March 3, 2009
Popular historian and commentator Sarah Vowell
Delight in the satirical humor of Sarah Vowell, bestselling author, social observer,
and contributor to NPR's This American Life.
April 4, 2009
DIZZY GILLESPIE™ ALUMNI ALL-STARS
Featured guest of Texas Tech Jazz Festival - Tap your feet to the music of the DIZZY
GILLESPIE™ ALUMNI ALL-STARS, a veritable who's who among jazz musicians.
April 9, 2009
Poet and fiction-writer Ana Castillo
Enjoy a literary evening with "genre jumper" and activist author, Ana Castillo – acclaimed
poet, novelist, essayist, editor, and translator.
April 13, 2009
Santa Fe Opera
Revel in the beautiful voices of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singers, performing
operatic and popular selections.
Season 5: 2010-2011
October 24, 2010
Garrison Keillor
Bestselling author and host of A Prairie Home Companion
November 19, 2010
Nnenna Freelon
Six-time GRAMMY® Award-nominee jazz vocalist and quartet
December 1, 2010
Joel Kotkin
Author of The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050
February 18, 2011
Imani Winds
Six-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated Wind Quintet
March 30, 2011
Celia Sandys
Author, Journalist, Television Presenter and Speaker
April 8, 2011
Solas
Celtic Folk Music Ensemble
Season 6: 2011-2012
October 28, 2011
Michael Pollan
Food activist & award winning author of In Defense of Food, the 2011 TTU Summer Reading Program book selection
February 17, 2012
Ailey® II
The Second Company of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
April 20, 2012
Billy Collins
United States Poet Laureate (2001-2003)
Season 7: 2012-2013
October 12, 2012
Timothy Egan
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist & National Book Award winning author of The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust
Bowl. This book is part of the 2012 President's Reading Program.
November 9, 2012
Marc Cohn
Grammy Award winning folk rock singer-songwriter
February 8, 2013
Peter Buffett
Emmy Award winning musician, philanthropist, and author
April 12, 2013
An Evening with Judy Collins
Legendary Grammy Award winning folk singer-songwriter
Season 8: 2013-2014
October 25, 2013
Tony Kushner
Pulitzer Prize-winning Playwright of Angels in America
Academy Award-nominated Screenwriter for Steven Spielberg's Lincoln
November 15, 2013
Sweet Plantain
New York based string quartet fusing classical, jazz, Latin and funk
April 25, 2014
PoemJazz
An evening of spoken word & live jazz with U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky & Grammy
Award-winning jazz pianist Laurence Hobgood
Season 9: 2014-2015
October 3, 2014
An Evening with Cheech Marin
Chicano Art: Perspectives of an Art Advocate
Actor, director,comedian, author and Chicano art collector
November 7, 2014
Funkadesi
Indo-Afro-Caribean world music fusion
February 10, 2015
Cokie Roberts: An Insider's View of Washington. D.C.
Political Commentator, ABC News and NPR Former Co-Anchor, This Week with Sam Donaldson
&
Cokie Roberts
February 20, 2015
The Clothesline Muse
A multi-disciplinary theatrical work with 6 time Grammy nominee Nnenna Freelon
April 10, 2015
A Reading with U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass
National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winning poet,environmentalist and teacher
Season 10: 2015-2016
November 13, 2015
The Manhattan Transfer
Legendary Vocal Jazz Quartet; 10 Grammy Awards; 40th Anniversary Tour
February 12, 2016
Black Violin
Virtuoso violinists Wil B and Kev Marcus meld highbrow and pop culture through a fusionof
classical, jazz, hip-hop, blues and R & B.
March 4, 2016
Martha Redbone Roots Project
Independent Music Award-winning singer renowned for blending music from her Native
&
African American background with R & B grooves, blues and dashes of Appalachian folk.
April 1, 2016
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
America's original multicultural dance company seamlessly and boldly intersects thelives
of dancers from various artistic and cultural backgrounds.
Season 12: 2017-2018
October 12, 2017
Lyle Lovett
Singer, Songwriter, Composer, Actor
March 23, 2018
The Other Mozart
DRAMA DESK & Off-Broadway Alliance Award Nominations
Season 17: 2023-2024
October 28, 2023
In Conversation with Filmmaker Taylor Sheridan
Academy Award®-Nominated Screenwriter, Director, and Show Creator / Owner of the Historical
6666 Ranch
February 28, 2024
The Suffers
Houston-based Soul/Jazz/Cajun-Caribbean Fusion
April 18, 2024
10th Lubbock Lights: Angela Strehli (with Special Guests Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock of The Flatlanders)
The First Lady of Texas Blues
Season 18: 2024-2025
October 16, 2024
David Byrne: Reasons to Be Cheerful
A Panel Discussion Serving as Tonic for Tumultuous Times
February 20, 2025
MOMIX: Alice – Fall Down the Rabbit Hole
Modern Dance
Season 19: 2025-2026
October 9, 2025
"Building the Photo Ark" with National Geographic Explorer Joel Sartore
The Endless Quest for a Perfect Picture - 25-years of photographing every species
in human care.
November 13, 2025
Bria Skonberg
JUNO-Award Winning Jazz Trumpeter / Singer / Songwriter
February 26, 2026
Morgan James
Singer-Songwriter with a Vintage Pop/Soul/Broadway Sound
