Main Stage
Concerts and live performances featuring today’s brightest stars at the Historic Ironwood Theatre
Emma Stratton! Ann Toomey! Miles Mykkanen! Our 2022 Main Stage series is packed with unforgettable performances you’ll be talking about for weeks. Enjoy a night out at the beautiful Historic Ironwood Theatre for music ranging from stunning opera arias to Broadway belting to French cabaret with lots of musical surprises along the way.
Ancestral Women Exhibit
On display from July 1 – August 27 at Ironwood’s Historic Depot Museum
In the Ancestral Women Exhibit, award-winning artist and writer Mary Burns celebrates women’s journeys through hand-woven jacquard weavings. The Ancestral Women project was conceived to portray the strength of women around the world; both elders and their contemporaries. These are women who have held families and communities together: leaders who have kept traditions, cultures, and languages alive. They were – and are today – the glue in the fabric of their community.
Don’t miss Emberlight Photographers and the Heritage Flags also on display at the Depot Museum throughout July and August!
International Film Festival
Nine screenings from August 20 – 26 at Theatre North
The Emberlight International Film Festival is on a mission to give back to the community that makes our programming possible. Our goal is to sow the seeds to put the western Upper Peninsula on the filmmaking map, so both our community and filmmakers will reap the benefits.
The 2022 International Film Festival will feature nine screenings at Theatre North from August 20 – 26. Over 770 films were submitted this year and 43 were accepted into the festival. Emberlight received films from across the globe including six continents and 78 countries. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience perspectives and lifestyles from artists around the world!
“The people of the western Upper Peninsula have been with me since day one — from my very first performances at Theatre North and the Historic Ironwood Theatre, to Carnegie Hall and The Metropolitan Opera. I carry them in my heart every time I step on stage. The Emberlight Festival is my love letter to the people who call this region home, and to the art lovers who’ve always wanted to visit.” — Miles Mykkanen, Emberlight Artistic Director
Performance Infusions
Saturday afternoons from July 9 – August 27 in the heart of Art in the Park at the Miners Memorial Heritage Park
On Saturday afternoons at 1pm, audiences can experience the creative process and learn how continuing to honor traditional methods — while exploring new ones — fuels creativity and widens artistic horizons.
Emberlight will showcase an eclectic array of artists throughout July and August in the Miners Memorial Heritage Park. The 2022 Infusions range from baroque music-making to the crafting of bowls and brooms, storytelling to traditional dancing, poetry reading to collaborative knitting, and the building of the first dragon in the western Upper Peninsula.
Behind the Curtain Series
Sunday afternoons from August 7 – 21 at Theatre North
The Behind the Curtain series presents accomplished scholars, artists and academics to lead provoking conversations that spark new ideas. Each Behind the Curtain dives into nuanced discussions on topics covering diversity, humanities, ethics, heritage, art, and scholarship.
Behind the Curtains occur on Sunday afternoons during August at Theatre North. Each event is free to attend. The 2022 lineup includes Folk’s Tunes: The Upper Peninsula’s Musical Traditions (August 7), Mary Burns and the Ancestral Women Performers (August 14), United in Diversity: a Special Film Screening (August 21).
– Norma Ross, 2021 season donor