# Kohler Distinguished Guest Series

Kohler Distinguished Guest Series is a series of lecture and performing arts programs began in 1944 with a current venue at the Kohler Memorial Theatre in Kohler, Wisconsin.

## History

The Kohler Women's Club formally established the Distinguished Guest Series in 1944. The series arranged for guest lectures and art performances on a semi-regular basis during a season than ran from fall to spring the next year. "Through this series it is the club's purpose to bring to the membership impartial discussion of important events of the day by outstanding authorities. Programs of a purely artistic nature are for cultural uplift". In the early years, the events were primarily arranged by Ruth DeYoung-Kohler.
The Kohler family had previously on occasion sponsored guest speakers and performers. In 1925, the John Philip Sousa band performed in Kohler for a crowd estimated at 30000. On November 29, 1930, Admiral Richard Byrd appeared before an audience of about 2000 at the Kohler Recreation Hall to talk about his flight over the south pole a year earlier. Admiral Byrd returned in 1947 and appeared as a formal guest during the fourth season of the series.
In the early years, most of the events were limited to members of the Women's Club and were held in the Waelderhaus in Kohler, Wisconsin. Growing popularity of some of the musical events that were opened to the public necessitated that they be held at the Kohler Recreation Hall. In 1952, attendance for the Leslie Bell Singers totaled over 1500.
In May 1953, the Kohler Foundation announced that it would join the Kohler Women's Club as a co-sponsor of the series. This change followed the death of Ruth DeYoung-Kohler in March, 1953. The events were primarily open to the public and in season 11, all but two of the events were held in the Kohler Recreation Hall. The recreation hall opened in 1927 and was located in the Kohler store building, at the corner of Orchard and Highland St, in Kohler. Most events were held in the Kohler Memorial center, at the Kohler High School, after it was completed in 1957.
Beginning with the 1970–1971 season, the afternoon lectures and the evening arts performances were separated with the Kohler Women's Club continuing the lecture series and the Kohler Foundation continuing the arts programs under the Distinguished Guest Series title.
The arts series has continued and as of the 2018–2019 season was in its 75th year.

## List of notable guests

This is a selected list of guests who have appeared in the series. The selection criteria are based on documented appearances and the existence of Wikipedia articles. Announced schedules are not considered authoritative due to some speakers and events being rescheduled or cancelled.

### 1940s

| Season | Years | Notable guest – Appearance date |
| 1 | 1944–1945 | Lena Madesin Phillips – Oct 16, 1944 Channing Pollock – November 1, 1944 Osa Johnson – Dec 6, 1944 |
| 2 | 1945–1946 | Margaret Culkin Banning – October 1, 1945 Trapp Family Singers – Feb 26, 1946 Nora Waln – April 3, 1946 George Papashvily – April 17, 1946 |
| 3 | 1946–1947 | Franklin Pierce Adams – Nov 5, 1946 Erika Mann – Nov 5, 1946 |
| 4 | 1947–1948 | Admiral Richard Byrd – Oct 22, 1947 Susan Reed – Nov 19, 1947 Dorothy Thompson – Dec 3, 1947 Kurt Schuschnigg – Jan 7, 1947 Vivien Kellems – Jan 28, 1948 De Paur's Infantry Chorus- Feb 15, 1947 John Ott – March 17, 1948 Jesse Stuart – April 14, 1948 |
| 5 | 1948–1949 | Anna Russell – Oct 6, 1948 Raymond Moley – Oct 20, 1948 John Erskine – Nov 8, 1948 Norman Vincent Peale – Jan 19, 1949 Otto von Habsburg – Feb 16, 1949 Ruth Bryan Owen – March 9, 1949 Joe E. Brown – April 24, 1949 |
| 6 | 1949–1950 | Ilka Chase – Oct 19, 1949 Adolphe Menjou – Oct 25, 1949 William Bradford Huie – Nov 16, 1949 Burl Ives – Dec 6, 1949 Dorothy Liebes – Jan 18, 1950 Peter II of Yugoslavia – Jan 10, 1950 Alec Templeton – March 15, 1950 |

### 1950s

| Season | Years | Notable guest – Appearance date |
| 7 | 1950–1951 | Hildegarde – Oct 21, 1950 Mary Garden – Jan 24, 1951 Ernestine Gilbreth Carey – Feb 14, 1951 Clare Boothe Luce – Feb 26, 1951 |
| 8 | 1951–1952 | Vera Maxwell – Oct 3, 1951 Carleton Smith – Oct 17, 1951 Camille Kelley – January 16, 1952 Hedda Hopper – April 2, 1952 Nelson Eddy – April 15, 1952 Princess Ileana of Romania – April 23, 1952 |
| 9 | 1952–1953 | William F. Buckley, Jr. Oct 8, 1952 Leslie Bell Singers – Oct 22, 1952 Elsa Lanchester and Ray Henderson, – Nov 2, 1952 Rosita Forbes – Nov 19, 1952 Richard Gump – Jan 21, 1953 Harry Emerson Fosdick – Feb 4, 1953 Margaret Bourke-White – Feb 18, 1953 Oscar Levant – March 5, 1953 Bertita Harding – April 15, 1953 Gershwin Concert Orchestra with Lorin Maazel, Jesús Maria Sanromá, Carolyn Long, and Theodor Uppman – May 10, 1953 |
| 10 | 1953–1954 | Lloyd Wendt – Oct 28, 1953 Guard Republican Band of Paris Nov 21, 1953 William Warfield March 7, 1954 |
| 11 | 1954–1955 | Robert Shaw Chorale – Oct 3, 1954 Obernkirchen Children's Choir – Oct 17, 1954 Salzburg Marionettes – Nov 3, 1954 Harlan Tarbell – Jan 22, 1955 Fulton Lewis – Feb 12, 1955 Dorothy Maynor – Mar 1, 1955 K. C. Wu – March 16, 1955 |
| 12 | 1955–1956 | Marie Powers – Oct 22, 1955 William Montgomery McGovern – Nov 16, 1955 Nikolai Khokhlov – Dec 7, 1955 Jean Ritchie – Feb 1, 1956 Jascha Heifetz – March 4, 1956 John D. Craig – March 21, 1956 Eileen Farrell – April 13, 1956 |
| 13 | 1956–1957 | Camilla Williams with Todd Duncan – Jan 12, 1957 Hazel Scott – Feb 12, 1957 Winged Victory – March 9, 1957 |
| 14 | 1957–1958 | Mark W. Clark – Nov 30, 1957 Josef Traxel – Jan 12, 1958 Norman Garbo – Jan 22, 1958 Hilde Gueden – Feb 16, 1958 Purdue Varsity Glee Club – March 22, 1958 |
| 15 | 1958–1959 | Joyce Brothers – Nov 19, 1958 Cesare Siepi – Nov 29, 1958 Mary Martin – Jan 12, 1959 Erroll Garner – Feb 18, 1959 Jarmila Novotná – March 18, 1959 Willy Ley – April 13, 1959 |
| 16 | 1959–1960 | Duke of Bedford – Oct 28, 1959 Irmgard Seefried – Nov 21, 1959 Barry Langford – Jan 27, 1960 Marian Anderson – March 5, 1960 Boston Opera Group – March 16, 1960 Munro Leaf – April 20, 1960 |

### 1960s

| Season | Years | Notable guest – Appearance date |
| 17 | 1960–1961 | Don Freeman – Oct 19, 1960 J.B. feat. Shepperd Strudwick and Mary Curtis Verna – Nov 19, 1960 Fiore de Henriquez – April 5, 1961 Risë Stevens – April 27, 1961 |
| 18 | 1961–1962 | Marie Torre – Oct 4, 1961 Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company – Nov 3, 1960 Suzanne Johnson – Nov 15, 1961 Bach Aria Group – Feb 1, 1962 Mary Costa – Feb 28, 1962 Moura Lympany – April 14, 1962 |
| 19 | 1962–1963 | Jerome Hines – Jan 22,1963 Willard L. Beaulac – Feb 6, 1963 Lehman Engel – Feb 20, 1963 Carroll Glenn and Eugene List – March 10, 1963 Mary Costa – April 4, 1963 |
| 20 | 1963–1964 | Anna Chennault – Jan 15, 1964 Joy Adamson – Jan 29, 1964 Edith Peinemann – Feb 11, 1964 Ralph Votapek – Feb 29, 1964 Jens Bjerre – March 11, 1964 Anna Moffo – March 25, 1964 |
| 21 | 1964–1965 | John Frederick Coots – Oct 7, 1964 Beyond the Fringe with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller – Oct 21, 1964 Jim Fowler – Jan 13, 1965 Elinor Ross – Jan 20, 1965 Gina Bachauer – March 9, 1965 Thomas Franck – March 24, 1965 |
| 22 | 1965–1966 | Betty Furness – Oct 6, 1965 Eve Merriam – Jan 12, 1966 Richard Ellsasser – Jan 27, 1966 Greta Keller – March 2, 1966 Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt – March 31, 1966 |
| 23 | 1966–1967 | Ferrante & Teicher – Oct 24, 1966 Harry Mark Petrakis – Nov 2, 1966 Robert Manry – Jan 11, 1967 Little Angels – Feb 1, 1967 Bergen Evans – Feb 8, 1967 The Romeros – March 7, 1967 Don Keefer – March 29, 1967 Monica Dickens – April 12, 1967 |
| 24 | 1967–1968 | Princess Nadine Tereshchenko – Oct 18, 1967 Joyce Grenfell – Nov 6, 1967 McHenry Boatwright – Dec 5, 1967 Sir John Wedgwood – Jan 17, 1968 Royal Winnipeg Ballet – Jan 27, 1968 Robert Edwin Lee – March 13, 1968 |
| 25 | 1968–1969 | National Theatre of the Deaf – Oct 23, 1968 John Spencer-Churchill – Nov 6, 1968 Jens Bjerre – Jan 27, 1969 Minneapolis Symphony, Stanisław Skrowaczewski cond. – Feb 15, 1969 William Walker – April 16, 1969 |
| 26 | 1969–1970 | Rita Hauser – Oct 1, 1969 Vienna Boys' Choir – March 3, 1970 William G. Callow – April 22, 1970 |

### 1970s

| Season | Years | Notable guest – Appearance date |
| 27 | 1970–1971 | Pennsylvania Ballet – Oct 10, 1970 New York Pro Musica – Nov 4, 1970 Music From Marlboro – Jan 25, 1971 World's Greatest Jazz Band – April 1, 1971 |
| 28 | 1971–1972 | Marcel Marceau – Oct 6, 1971 Alexis Weissenberg – Feb 3, 1972 National Players – March 11, 1972 |
| 29 | 1972–1973 | Gregg Smith Singers – Oct 19, 1972 Emlyn Williams – Dec 1, 1972 Lar Lubovitch – Feb 14, 1973 Gary Graffman and Leonard Rose – April 10, 1973 |
| 30 | 1973–1974 | Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra – Oct 16, 1973 Cantigas de Santa Maria – Dec 2, 1973 Minnesota Orchestra – April 5, 1974 |
| 31 | 1974–1975 | Shirley Verrett – Oct 14, 1974 Susan Starr – Feb 18, 1975 |
| 32 | 1975–1976 | Mantererdi Choir of Hamburg feat. Ian Partridge, Nigel Rogers and Barbara Schlick – Oct 28, 1975 William Windom – Nov 20, 1975 Jelly Roll Morton tribute – Feb 28, 1976 Odetta – April 14, 1976 |
| 33 | 1976–1977 | Matrix – Oct 28, 1976 Fires of London – Nov 18, 1976 Nicanor Zabaleta – Feb 8, 1977 Cincinnati Ballet – April 28, 1977 |
| 34 | 1977–1978 | Georgian National Ballet Oct 18, 1977 Garrick Ohlsson Nov 22, 1977 Wagner Chorale Feb 6, 1978 Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra April 9, 1978 |
| 35 | 1978–1979 | Lionel Hampton Dec 4, 1978 |
| 36 | 1979–1980 | New Christy Minstrels – Nov 5, 1979 Marian McPartland May, 1980 |

### 1980s

| Season | Years | Notable guest – Appearance date |
| 37 | 1980–1981 | The Swingle Singers – Nov, 1980 Kurt Weill – Feb, 1981 |
| 38 | 1981–1982 | |
| 39 | 1982–1983 | |
| 40 | 1983–1984 | |
| 41 | 1984–1985 | |
| 42 | 1985–1986 | |
| 43 | 1986–1987 | Dale Warland Singers |
| 44 | 1987–1988 | |
| 45 | 1988–1989 | |
| 46 | 1989–1990 | |

### 1990s

| Season | Years | Notable guest – Appearance date |
| 47 | 1990–1991 | |
| 48 | 1991–1992 | |
| 49 | 1992–1993 | |
| 50 | 1993–1994 | |
| 51 | 1994–1995 | Alvin Ailey – Sep 18, 1995 Bobby McFerrin with Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra – Jan 25, 1996 |
| 52 | 1995–1996 | |
| 53 | 1996–1997 | |
| 54 | 1997–1998 | |
| 55 | 1998–1999 | |
| 56 | 1999–2000 | |

### 2000s

| Season | Years | Notable guest – Appearance date |
| 57 | 2000–2001 | Three Dog Night Oct 21, 2001 Ailey II Feb, 2001 Sweet Honey in the Rock April, 2001 |
| 58 | 2001–2002 | The Waverly Consort Nov, 2001 Boys Choir of Harlem Feb 23, 2002 |
| 59 | 2002–2003 | London City Opera Feb, 2003 |
| 60 | 2003–2004 | The Ten Tenors Oct, 2003 Forbidden Broadway Feb, 2004 The Roches April 3, 2004 |
| 61 | 2004–2005 | Shanghai Circus – Jan, 2005 John Amos – April 9, 2005 |
| 62 | 2005–2006 | Salzburg Marionettes – Dec 2, 2005 Hal Holbrook – March, 2006 |
| 63 | 2006–2007 | The 5 Browns – Feb 6, 2007 Toxic Audio – April 14, 2007 |
| 64 | 2007–2008 | MOMIX – Oct 7, 2007 Intergalactic Nemesis – March 1, 2008 Maya Angelou – April 26, 2008 |
| 65 | 2008–2009 | Leahy – Oct 18, 2008 Moscow Ballet – Jan,2009 The Ten Tenors – April 22, 2009 |
| 66 | 2009–2010 | Virsky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble – Oct 29, 2009 Diane Schuur & Bobby Caldwell – Feb 12, 2010 |

### 2010s

| Season | Years | Notable guest – Appearance date |
| 67 | 2010–2011 | Ballet Hispanico – Feb 12, 2011 John Tesh – April 19, 2011 |
| 68 | 2011–2012 | Cellicentric – Feb 18, 2012 Kenny Loggins – April 21, 2012 |
| 69 | 2012–2013 | Straight No Chaser – Dec 6, 2012 Shanghai Circus – March 6, 2013 Michael McDonald – April 27, 2013 |
| 70 | 2013–2014 | Air Supply – Nov 9, 2013 Five Guys Named Moe – Feb 14, 2014 Itzhak Perlman – April 5, 2014 |
| 71 | 2014–2015 | Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott – Oct 19, 2014 Announced Schedule (subject to change): Audra McDonald – Feb 27, 2015 Straight No Chaser – April 10, 2015 |
| 72 | 2015–2016 | |
| 73 | 2016–2017 | |
| 74 | 2017–2018 | |
| 75 | 2018–2019 | Katharine McPhee - November 13, 2018 |
| 76 | 2019–2020 | |

### 2020s

| Season | Years | Notable guest – Appearance date |
| | 2020–2021 | theatre under renovation |
| 77 | 2021–2022 | |
| 78 | 2022–2023 | |
| 79 | 2023–2024 | |