The Pygmalion Festival 2026 @ Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 South Goodwin Ave., 61801 Urbana Directions
Thu 24.09.2026 00:00
The Pygmalion Festival 2026 at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at 2026-09-24
Performers
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Ratboys
"I'd like to thank the, ah, Ratboys for their music." - Bernie Sanders
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CovetFounded by guitarist Yvette Young with the intention of fusing lush post rock soundscapes with the subtle technical intricacies of progressive rock
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Charlie HunterGuitar legend Charlie Hunter is widely considered one of the top jazz bandleaders in the United States. As the "hip-hop" or "acid jazz" movement of the mid-1990s gained momentum in the United States, Charlie Hunter was leading it in the San Francisco Bay Area. Young groups of avant-garde jazz musicians were mixing traditional jazz with hip-hop, funk, and rock. Hunter was the first out of the pack of groups of the area to be released on CD. "We study the past and practice the present," Hunter told Down Beat in 1994. That blend of past and present was what Hunter used to push his award-winning trio towards many successful releases and tours. His inventive use of a custom guitar earned him astute musicians as fans, and his talent for creating infectious hip-hop dance grooves have made Hunter's live shows legendary. Charlie Hunter has release 17 studio albums in the last two decades. Hunter will be joined by Erik Deutsch (keyboards) and Tony Mason (Drums).
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The Appleseed Cast
No description provided for artist.
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The Belair Lip Bombs
Indie rock from Frankston, Melbourne, Australia
MGMT: [email protected]
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Kassa Overall
Kassa Overall is a Grammy-nominated musician, emcee, singer, producer and drummer who melds avant-garde experimentation with hip-hop production techniques to tilt the nexus of jazz and rap in unmapped directions. On his first two studio albums GO GET ICE CREAM AND LISTEN TO JAZZ and I THINK I’M GOOD, Kassa layered virtuosic drumming, meticulous production techniques, and incisive lyricism to establish himself as a rhythmic innovator and visionary poet, using his voice to address the injustices of the carceral system, the pharmaceutical industry, and anti-black racism, while wrangling with the perils of his own mental illness.
On ANIMALS, his Warp Records debut out May 26, Kassa pushes his kaleidoscopic, subversive vision further. He layers Roland 808s against avant-garde drumming in the vein of his mentors Elvin Jones and Billy Hart, the latter of whom he studied with at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Virtuoso musos appear alongside rap poets, including Danny Brown, Wiki, Lil B, and Shabazz Palaces. Top-flight jazz improvisation weaves in and out of orchestral string arrangements by Jherek Bischoff. The album’s diverse, all-star roster of collaborators includes several of his
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Liam KazarThe Word The War” out now. New album ‘Pilot Light’’ out via Congrats Records 11.7
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Sarah JuliaMusic built on a closeness you can’t fake. Their intimate indie folk grows out of a shared childhood and family changes that break you apart and put you back together differently. The love for Bon Iver, Ben Howard or Cat Stevens can be heard in the sensitivity and the use of silence, but their writing also carries the openness we know from Phoebe Bridgers or Joni Mitchell. These songs aren’t about imitation – they’re about what they themselves have lived through. Some of them took years to form and continued to evolve on stage. Instead of raw anger, what remains today is a calm, melodic melancholy. Sarah Julia are sisters from Amsterdam, and their second EP expands that initial fragility into a fuller sound and a more confident voice. Critics speak of strong harmonies and lyrics that don’t skim the surface. Their concerts aren’t built on effects or poses, but on moments when the music slips under your skin and stays there a little longer than you expected. Their fans form an almost mystical community and call themselves “the witches”. After their show in Dolní Vítkovice, that circle might just grow a little bigger.
