Around NMU

The Beijing Guitar duo, composed of Meng Su and Yameng Wang, will follow a 12-city U.S. tour with a performance at Northern Michigan University as part of the Siril Concert Series. The event is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 14. The guitarists will also deliver two free events the same day: a music appreciation presentation at 11 a.m., and a masterclass at 1 p.m. All will be held in Reynolds Recital Hall.

Northern Michigan University has announced the winners of its 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. NMU graduate students and McNair scholars presented their original research in only three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience, and with only one static PowerPoint slide. 

Northern Michigan University's Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble will launch a new Okanagan Charter Concert Series, which highlights musical themes that support NMU's strategic commitment to well-being, at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, in Reynolds Recital Hall. Both groups will perform pieces that advance the dialogue of mental health awareness. New Director of Bands Steven Riley will also mark his first NMU concert by incorporating a multi-movement suite by a Michigan composer that features the melodies of numerous folk tunes to honor the agricultural, maritime and lumbering history of the state.

Northern Michigan University's Department of Music will host three performance events next week. All will be held in Reynolds Recital Hall. The first is a Superior String Alliance Pop-in Piano Trio Concert at noon Tuesday, Feb. 18.

One of the remaining Black History Month activities planned at NMU this month is a “Soul Food Sunday” buffet-style feast prepared by Yusuf Bin-Rella. The celebrated chef, farmer and advocate for cultural foodways has worked alongside Michael Twitty, culinary historian and author of The Cooking Gene. Bin-Rella is a chef at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Dejope Residence Hall, and at the TradeRoots Culinary Collective he co-founded, which is a group of Afro-culinary genealogists exploring lineage through food.

Northern Michigan University Dining has launched Noba, a new concept on campus that revolves around a variety of bubble tea drink options including milk teas, refreshers and freezes. They come in a variety of flavors and can be infused with traditional boba—tapioca pearls—or popping boba, which are juice-filled pearls. Noba is located in Temaki on Presque Isle Avenue.

Northern Michigan University President Brock Tessman has been appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to serve on the Michigan Education Trust (MET) Board of Directors. The MET is a qualified tuition program that provides tax exemption for the trust and tax exemption of earnings for contract participants who use MET funds to pay for qualified higher education expenses.

Northern Michigan University Social Work Assistant Professor Vikash Kumar has been recognized for his contributions to the International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD), which he serves as a board member and director of information and technology. Kumar was honored at the ICSD's 24th biennial conference in India. He and NMU Associate Professor Karl Johnson also presented papers at the conference.

Northern Michigan University's DeVos Art Museum is accepting submissions through March 18 for its “North of the 45th: 2025 Annual Upper Midwest Juried Exhibition.” Artists living in Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota north of the 45th parallel are invited to submit their works from all media.

A Shakespeare play presented with the second week of deer camp in the Upper Peninsula as its backdrop might seem a strange combination or stretch, but Jimmy Ludwig, director of this month's Northern Michigan University production of "Much Ado About Nothing," said his adaptation is designed to make the show more relatable to local audiences.