Easter at the Arts Center

During the Christmas season, which was celebrated at home in Nashua, NH, we attended several musical performances at the Nashua Center for the Arts. 

Since we were also home for Easter, we decided to do a repeat and, in the past couple of weeks, attended three performances. All of these were quite different featuring a vocal group, a humorist and a symphony orchestra. An added bonus is that the performing arts center is walkable from the mill apartments.

Nashua Center for the Arts in downtown Nashua, NH

Opened in April 2023, the Nashua Center for the Arts is located on Main St in downtown Nashua on the site of an old apartment building and the former location of a well known shoe store, which relocated to a larger Nashua location. The remake-and-repurpose of 201 Main Street came with a price tag of $25 million. Bank of America, which has a downtown location donated half a million dollars; unsurprisingly, the theater has its name.

The center seats 750 and providing an intimate audience experience. The audience chamber orchestra level has a 430-seat telescopic seating system that can be retracted to create a flat floor venue for general admissions for up to 1000 people or a banquet set up for 270 people.

Voctave is an 11-member a cappella group from Central FL

Our first show was a performance by the a cappella group. Voctave with 11 members. This is twice the number of vocalists as in another well known a cappella group, Pentatonix, which has 5 members. Our orchestra tickets were complimentary thanks to the Nashua Public Library which offers residents discounted or free passes to many popular cultural institutions, including museums, symphony concerts, nature experiences and historical monuments. Free tickets to some venues, like the arts center, are available on a first-come basis. Funding is provided by the Friends of the Nashua Public Library of which we are members.

A cappella performances rely on vocalists' ability to create musical textures, rhythms, and harmonies entirely with their voices without instrumental accompaniment. This sets it apart from music where vocal parts are supported by instruments. The Italian term translates to "in the chapel" or "in the choir" highlighting its historical association with religious music.

Admittedly, we knew little about FL-based, Voctave, before this concert, but we're now fans of these multi-talented vocalists. The members of Voctave have diverse backgrounds in musical theater, contemporary Christian music, pop, barbershop and choral music. All have been part of the Voices of Liberty, a popular a cappella group that traditionally performs at Disney's Epcot Center, Orlando. The group also has performed globally.

Voctave was formed in 2015 by producer and arranger Jamey Ray and has become renowned for intricate and captivating vocal arrangements. The group brings together a rich tapestry of musical backgrounds and members have performed globally and contributed to numerous recordings, showcasing their versatility. 

American humorist Garrison Keillor at Nashua Center for the Arts

Yes, he's still performing! Our next show was a one-man performance by American humorist Garrison Keillor, who wore his signature red sneakers and sported very tousled (like just rolled out of bed) hair. Keillor is perhaps best known for his public radio programs. His style has been described as witty, observational, even satirical finding humor in everyday situations and human experience. At 83 years of age, Keillor is still performing and touring with scheduled appearances of his one-man show throughout 2025. 

From 1974 to 2016, Keillor created and hosted the radio show A Prairie Home Companion on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). It featured the fictional Midwestern town of Lake Woebegon with its quirky inhabitants and fictional product ads for Powdermilk Biscuits, The American Duct Tape Council, Catsup Advisory Board, Beebop-a-reebop Rhubarb Pie. The show provided the backdrop for much of Keillor's humor through The Lives of the Cowboys (Lefty and Dusty and Guy Noir, Private Eye. He's also authored numerous books, including novels and short story collections.

We were long-time fans of A Prairie Home Companion, listening to the show every Saturday night when we lived in VA. Fellow listeners may also recall the tagline that ended the show: Lake Woebegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking and all the children are above-average. 

Keillor and audience sing-along during intermission

The 90-minute performance we attended featured storytelling, poetry, and several audience sing-alongs even during intermission. Unlike most performers who leave the stage at this time, Keillor remained and encouraged the audience to stand and sing, which of course many did, including ourselves. 

Symphony NH at Nashua Center for the Arts

Our final show consisted entirely of music performed by Symphony NH, titled It's All Overtures which featured nine popular and well-known overtures including: The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) Overture to William Tell ( Gioachino Rossini), Overture to Treemonishato (Scott Joplin), Academic Festival Overture (Johannes Brahms) Overture to Nabuccoto (Guiseppe Verdi) and  West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein).

Symphony NH was established in 1923, and holds the distinction of being the longest-running professional orchestra in NH with a particular tie to the City of Nashua. It began as a group of musicians from Nashua that performed two concerts each season here. At one time also called the Nashua Symphony Orchestra, the organization changed its name in June 2012 to Symphony NH to reflect its expanded mission to inspire and enlighten through exceptional live music serving the state, not just in the City of Nashua.

Today, the symphony consists of top musicians from all over New England with concerts performed not only in Nashua, but throughout Southern New Hampshire. The symphony has been acclaimed for memorable performances, including premieres and its wide-ranging repertoire from Bach to Bernstein to the Beatles and more.

Symphony NH musical director Roger Kalia

Conducting Symphony NH was American conductor Roger Kalia who has been acclaimed for bringing a fresh view to classical music for the unique energy he brings to the podium. It had been previously stated that this performance would be one of his final concerts here. 

That's because, in 2023, Kalia announced his decision to step down as Symphony NH Music Director after six seasons at the end of the 2024-25 season. Kalia will assume the role of Artistic Director of the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra during the 2025-26 season. We are glad to have attended this wonderful performance that showcased not only his conducting skills but the talents of the Symphony NH musicians.

We hope that your Easter holiday was enjoyable. Aside from attending the performances, we shared dinner with two residents, who like ourselves, remained home for the holiday.

All photos in this post were taken during the attended performances and were not prohibited. In a pre-show announcement, photos were encouraged to share on social media. The sole stipulation being that no audio recordings, videos or flash photography was permitted.