| Sign up for our weekly e-blast |
Tue, May 15, 2012
Saturday night marked the premiere performance for conductor, Charles Bruffy and the Kansas City Chorale in the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Joining the ensemble were select members of the Phoenix Chorale, a choir also directed by Bruffy, for a night of Russian repertoire as well as other selections intended to explore and feature the acoustics of Helzberg Hall.
Tue, May 15, 2012
KCMetropolis' Sarah Tyrrell spoke with Rebecca Johnson, coordinator of the music department at Metropolitan Community College Blue River in Independence, director of the Institute for Sacred Arts at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, conductor of the Metropolitan Chorale of Kansas City and of the Sacred Arts Chorale, and incoming president of the Lyric Opera Guild. How does Johnson think community colleges and "town-and-gown" groups fit into Kansas City's vibrant art scene? Read on to find out.
Wed, May 09, 2012
Tenor Alife Boe travels in opera, musical theatre, Irish folk, and country circles. Strangely in a concert sponsored by the Kansas City Irish Center and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, it was Boe-as-country-artist who performed on Helzberg's stage.
Wed, May 02, 2012
The Friends of Chamber Music closed its spring season with a concert by the Artemis Quartet, featuring pianist Jacques Ammon in a perfect example of dazzling artistry and concerted partnership.
Tue, May 01, 2012
The Fine Arts Chorale presented “Earth’s Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water,” Sunday evening. Terri Teal and her ensemble paired with conductors Cynthia Simmons and Ryan Sullivan and the Young MAIsterSingers choir (Music/Arts Institute), with repertoire celebrating the diverse elements of nature on Earth.
Tue, May 01, 2012
The UMKC Conservatory Orchestra finished their spring season with a triumphant performance of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” in Helzberg Hall with a program that included Chen Yi’s “Chinese Myths Cantata,” which featured a successful collaboration with the Conservatory Singers.
Tue, May 01, 2012
With a double dose of Brahms and a splash of Mendelssohn the Liberty Symphony Orchestra and William Jewell College Choir performed to a well attended house on Saturday evening.
Wed, Apr 25, 2012
The Harriman-Jewell Series closed its 47th season last Saturday night at the Folly Theater with an addition to its growing list of U.S. recital debuts with Italian tenor Giuseppe Filianoti.
Wed, Apr 25, 2012
Rockhurst University's Musica Sacra and director Timothy McDonald performed Latin sacred works by Bruckner, Mozart, and Haydn with many of Kansas City’s local soloists in the instrumental and vocal communities Sunday evening.
Wed, Apr 25, 2012
A wonderfully diverse selection of electroacoustic works was presented by the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance in its final concert of the season on Saturday evening at Unity Temple.
Tue, Apr 24, 2012
The Kansas City Ballet wraps up its inaugural season in the Kauffman Center with a program featuring the choreography of four American choreographers whose work has been central to the New York Ballet over the years: George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins and the Ballet’s late, great artistic director Todd Bolender.
Mon, Apr 23, 2012
The Lyric Opera of Kansas City closes its first season at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on a high note with a smart and entertaining production of Rossini's masterpiece "The Barber of Seville."
Tue, Apr 17, 2012
Lee Hartman recently interviewed Christopher Kelts, music director of Kansas City Civic Orchestra; founder, artistic director, and music director of Kinnor Philharmonic and assistant professor at Washburn University where he teaches orchestra, conducting, and viola.
Wed, Apr 11, 2012
Clean, crisp, and tight, the UMKC Conservatory Singers celebrated a harrowing winter fable in David Lang’s Pulitzer Prize-winning adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Match Girl.”
Fri, Apr 06, 2012
One of the most influential composers of our time, Philip Glass, and a rising star violinist Tim Fain shared the stage at Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts for a whimsical evening.
Wed, Apr 04, 2012
With the unconventional pairing of Bartók with Mozart, and a new commission by Daniel Kellogg, the Kansas City Symphony with soloist Yefim Bronfman, found the unfortunate cracks in Helzberg Hall’s acoustics.
Wed, Apr 04, 2012
With musical panache and comic propensity, Austrian ensemble Mnozil Brass provided an entertaining, high-energy show for its Lied Center audience of nearly 1,200 last Saturday night.
Wed, Apr 04, 2012
Arnold Epley’s Musica Vocale sang works from and inspired by the oft-neglected French Baroque composers Charpentier, Mouton, and Goudimel.
Tue, Apr 03, 2012
Kansas City is a mecca for talented young composers. Among their ranks is Nicholas Omiccioli, a doctoral student at the UMKC Conservatory. Omiccioli is establishing himself as an international composer having received numerous commissions and prizes from around the world. KCMetropolis' Nihan Yesil sat down with Nick to discuss his career and what life is like in Kansas City for emerging composers.
Tue, Mar 27, 2012
The Heartland Men’s Chorus performed to sold-out crowds all weekend at the Folly Theater, and their musical documentary “When I Knew” brought the house down during an afternoon of heartwarming and moving musical storytelling.
Tue, Mar 27, 2012
Mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato joined with the Kansas City Symphony this weekend in a brilliant performance of new and old works for her adoring hometown audience.
Tue, Mar 27, 2012
Te Deum Chamber Choir’s “Lenten Meditations” concert was a diverse look at sacred texts in five sets that spanned nations, faiths, and eras.
Tue, Mar 27, 2012
Renaissance Europe came to life in Kansas City with the arrival of Piffaro and The King’s Noyse, who performed with soprano Ellen Hargis in a compelling and accessible concert presented by the Friends of Chamber Music.
Wed, Mar 21, 2012
Veteran brother-sister musical act the Goldenberg Duo performed an evening of character pieces for violin and piano for the Alliance Française de Kansas City last Tuesday.
Tue, Mar 20, 2012
In January, the Kansas City Symphony announced that Adam Schoenberg will serve as Composer-in-Residence for its upcoming sophomore season at the Kauffman Center—the first composer chosen to fill this role at the Symphony in more than a decade. This week, Lee Hartman spoke with Schoenberg about his process, his influences, and the musical journey that has ultimately brought him to Kansas City.
Tue, Mar 20, 2012
Pianist Murray Perahia's enthusiastic and exciting performance for the Harriman-Jewell Series stood in stark contrast to his calm and reflective demeanor, befitting one of the defining classical pianists of the day.
Wed, Mar 14, 2012
The Harriman-Jewell Series concluded its season of Discovery Concerts this weekend with a performance by 19-year-old violinist Ray Chen and collaborative pianist Julio Elizalde. This concert marked not only the last of these free Discovery Concerts for the musical year, but also the first one held in Helzberg Hall of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
Wed, Mar 14, 2012
Richard Goode’s program for the Friends of Chamber Music was plucked straight from the very core of classical music’s heart but his exceptional skill and commitment met exceedingly high expectations.
Wed, Mar 14, 2012
The Spire Chamber Ensemble, a choir based out of the Community of Christ Temple, presented a spring concert of “Modern Masterpieces” with works by Lauridsen, Dove, Gjeilo, Stroope, and more.
Wed, Mar 14, 2012
Capacity audiences experienced the first sounds of Helzberg Hall’s Casavant Pipe Organ over the weekend during the "king of instruments" inaugural concerts.
Mon, Mar 12, 2012
March 10th is the day that the Lyric Opera of Kansas City declared its artistic viability and integrity for the future. With the production team from the Vancouver Opera’s 2010 run and key singers from last year’s Met staging, John Adams’ "Nixon in China" was a visual, aural, psychological, and philosophical tour de force filled with timely allusions and timeless humanity.
Wed, Mar 07, 2012
Three member choirs of the William Baker Choral Foundation and assorted soloists gathered on Sunday to present Ernest Bloch's "Avodath Hakodesh," one of the few major liturgical choral works outside of the Christian tradition to be regularly performed.
Wed, Mar 07, 2012
Last weekend in Helzberg Hall, the Kansas City Symphony presented music that spans the emotional gamut, from passionate to elegiac to boisterous. Under the baton of esteemed guest conductor Christoph von Dohnányi, the Symphony has never sounded better.
Tue, Mar 06, 2012
“Locauditor.” Is that a word? The locavore version of music listener? Well it should be used for the audience of Octarium’s “Art Local” concert. With eight world premieres on a ten-piece program, the metro’s vocal octet showcased a cornucopia of talent from local composers.
Tue, Mar 06, 2012
The Kansas City Chorale answered their “Request Line” this weekend, performing a concert of all the favorite pieces of their patrons and singers alike. The unique program ranged from Mulholland to McGlynn, and was augmented by Liszt’s magnificent, if somewhat obscure, “Via Crucis.”
Wed, Feb 29, 2012
The Heritage Philharmonic’s concert of music from the British Isles was a welcome departure from the norm. The representative native sons Vaughan Williams and Stanford were complemented by the works of Bruch and Anderson.
Tue, Feb 28, 2012
Christoph von Dohnanyi is one of the finest conductors of our time, and during his long association with the Cleveland Orchestra, he has taken under his wing many aspiring young musicians, one of which was Michael Stern, now the music director of the Kansas City Symphony. This weekend the local audience will hear music under the baton of von Dohnanyi himself.
Tue, Feb 28, 2012
Few operas of the past half century have made such an impact on the operatic scene as John Adams’ "Nixon in China" of 1983. Based upon events that were barely a decade old at the time of the opera’s premiere, the work showed how even contemporary history could be the source for sweeping stage epics that morphed from history into grand larger-than-life portrayals loaded with symbolism.
Wed, Feb 22, 2012
The “LA Phil LIVE” series of movie theater broadcasts continued on Saturday with a performance of Gustav Mahler’s gargantuan-in-the-truest-sense-of-the-word Symphony No, 8 “Symphony of a Thousand.”
Wed, Feb 22, 2012
Tenor Juan Diego Flórez’s recital at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts for Harriman-Jewell Series was a master class in technique and stage presence—as well as a level of talent that simply can’t be taught.
Wed, Feb 22, 2012
Konstantin Lifschitz delivered an insightful and engaging take on the "Goldberg Variations" for The Friends of Chamber Music’s 2012 Bach Festival.
Wed, Feb 22, 2012
A collective of local musicians joined pianist Konstantin Lifschitz for another installment of The Friends of Chamber Music 2012 Bach Festival. The performance, featuring Lifschitz with conductor Bruce Sorrell and the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, as well as guest soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson, provided a varied assortment of Bach’s repertoire for the Valentine’s Day performance.
Wed, Feb 22, 2012
The combined ensembles of the UMKC Conservatory’s Wind Symphony, choirs, and dance division collaborated on an exciting rendition of Carl Orff’s ubiquitous "Carmina Burana."
Wed, Feb 15, 2012
The Lied Center of Kansas continued its China Festival with Monday night’s performance by the Chamber Ensemble of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra. With erhu, guqin and a bevy of other native instruments, the concert played as a brief introduction to the sonic possibilities of Chinese music.
Tue, Feb 14, 2012
The Topeka Symphony Orchestra delivered a musical Valentine on Saturday with its “Mozart and More” concert. Under the baton of music director John Wesley Strickler and featuring guitar soloist Nicholas Ciraldo, the TSO offered a varied program of classical and contemporary works.
Tue, Feb 14, 2012
newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble offered intricate soundscapes for their “Worlds Apart” concert at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church Saturday night. There was a consistency to the program’s sonic palette, but the variety in presentation—as well as the excellent musicianship—created memorable aural microcosms.
Tue, Feb 14, 2012
The Friends of the Chamber Music continued the 2012 Bach Festival with a remarkable headliner and a mission: one pianist, Konstantin Lifschitz, playing five concerts in ten days of nothing but the seminal works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Mon, Feb 13, 2012
Russian pianist Konstantin Lifschitz began his mammoth, five-concert undertaking for the 2012 Bach Festival Friday night performing the complete Inventions and Sinfonias along side the “Italian Concerto” and “French Overture.”
Wed, Feb 08, 2012
Alaskan-born, coloratura mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux dazzled in her Kansas City debut Friday night with Fabio Biondi’s Europa Galante for the Harriman-Jewell Series.
Tue, Feb 07, 2012
Under the direction of Michael Stern, the Kansas City Symphony’s high-quality playing carried its audience through an ambitious performance of Mahler’s massive Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”) last Friday in Helzberg Hall with satisfying results.
All material contained in KCMetropolis.org is the property of or licensed for use by KCMetropolis.org. Any use, duplication, or reproduction of any or all content of this publication is prohibited except with the express written permission of KCMetropolis.org or the original copyright holders.
RSS 2.0 Feed