KCMETROPOLIS.org
Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
UMKC Conservatory Concert Jazz Band
Wednesday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m.
White Recital Hall
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MMO
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at http://conservatory.umkc.edu/calendarofevents.aspx

The Conservatory Concert Jazz Band is one of the major jazz ensembles at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and it presents its spring jazz concert this evening.  No information is available about the programming for the concert.



The Friends of Chamber Music
Kevin Kenner, piano
Friday, April 9 at 8:00 p.m.
Folly Theater
12^th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org
 
Kevin Kenner's impressive piano career began 30 years ago at age of 17 when he placed in the International Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland (he won it ten years later).  He won a host of piano competitions early in his career, including the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, the International Terence Judd Award (London), the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and the Gina Bachauer International Competition.  Since then he has become one of the world's leading pianists, both as a recitalist and as guest soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras.

In this performance, part of The Friends of Chamber Music's Master Pianists Series, Kenner will perform Arabesque in C Major and Carnaval by Robert Schuman and Frederic Chopin's Four Scherzos.

The Financial Times of London has described Kenner as a "player of grace, subtle variety and strength, with a mature grasp of dramatic structure and proportion."  This sounds like it should be an outstanding recital.




KC Metro Opera
The Mikado
Friday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Central United Methodist Church
5144 Brookside Boulevard, Kansas City, MO
And
Saturday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 11 at 4:00 p.m.
Congregation Kol Ami
7501 Belinder Avenue, Prairie Village, KS
Free admission.   For more information visit www.KcMetroOpera.com 

Patrick Buckley's spirited young opera company, the KC Metro Opera, continues its presentations of light hearted works with a perennial Gilbert & Sullivan favorite, The Mikado, this weekend.  The English pair's portray of life and (threatened) death in ancient Japan is really all about Victorian England, of course, making it special fun. 

Who can resist the tuneful exuberance of the romantic ballad "A Wand'ring Minstrel I," the Lord High Executioner's mock threatening "I've Got a Little List," the ensemble's portrayal of universal bafflement in "Here's a How-De-Do," or Ko-Ko's "Tit-Willow" when he goes a-wooing after Katisha?  It's delightful stuff, but please try to resist the urge to sing along.




UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Musica Nova
Friday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m.
White Recital Hall
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO
Free admission. For more information visit http://conservatory.umkc.edu/calendarofevents.aspx


The UMKC Conservatory's new music ensemble, Musica Nova, performs this evening in a concert featuring performances by guest artist Claire Chiu and the UMKC Conservatory Concert Jazz Band lead by Bobby Watson.  On the schedule are two pieces by UMKC composition professor James Mobberly, Phenomenon and Night Waves.  Professor Zhou Long's Wu Kui is also scheduled, along with pieces by Mara Gibson, Karen Engebretson and Zhang Zhao of the UMKC Academy.



Harriman Jewell Series
Michael Schade, tenor and Russell Braun, baritone
Saturday, April 10 at 8:00 p.m.
Folly Theater
12^th and Central Streets, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 815-415-5025 or online at www.harrimanjewell.org

 Canadian singers Michael Schade, a tenor, and Russell Braun, a baritone, have been appearing together in operas and touring for several years now, and have become audience favorites with their somewhat unusual dual recitals.

Schade has appeared during the last 15 years or so at most of the world's leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the San Francisco Opera, the Paris Opera and the Salzburg Festival, to name just a few.  He is also a specialist in oratorio singing. 

Braun has had an equally stellar career, singing opera roles with the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, the Vienna State Opera, Glyndebourne, the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and other companies. He has appeared with many of the world's leading orchestras and conductors and has an extensive discography.

After performing the obligatory lieder by Mendelssohn and Schumann (just to prove that they are serious classical music artists), the pair will launch into the more interesting part of their program, at least to this audience member: the opera arias and duets. Scheduled are selections and tenor-baritone duets from Rossini's Il Barbieri di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) and Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love), Wagner's Tannhäuser, Lehar's Land des Lächelns (The Land of Smiles), Gounod's Faust and Bizet's Les pecheurs des perles (The Pearl Fishers).

It sounds like great fun; an evening not to be missed.

City in Motion Dance Theatre
25^th Anniversary Concert
Saturday, April 10 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 11 at 2:00 p.m.
Gem Theater
1615 East 18th Street, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-474-6262 or 800-745-3000. For more information visit www.cityinmotion.org

It's hard to believe that City in Motion Dance Theatre, one of the city's most adventurous promoters of modern dance, could be a quarter century old, but so it is.  This weekend the group will celebrate 25 years of dance with a recital at the Gem Theater featuring its professional company performers.  This viewer has always enjoyed City in Motion performances and anticipates that the company will pull out all of the stops for this landmark celebration.  Fans of the dance will not want to miss it.

Performing Arts Series at JCCC
The 5 Browns
Saturday, April 10 at 8:00 p.m.
Yardley Hall, Carlsen Center
12345 College Blvd. Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 913-469-4445 or online at www.jcc.edu/TheSeries

This weekend the Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College brings The 5 Browns to the Yardley Hall stage.  These siblings, all classically trained pianists between 24 and 31 years of age, were trained by their father Keith Brown, who sent them all to Juilliard.  They began performing together in 2005 and since then have been featured on television, in concert halls and have recorded several best-selling compact discs. They are billed as being proficient at "classical music and commanding showmanship."  This may be your only chance this year to hear a concert with five grand pianos on the stage at once.




Ruel Joyce Concert Series
Steven Elisha, cello and Larisa Elisha, violin
Monday, April 12 at 12:00 noon
Recital Hall at Carlsen Center, JCCC
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS
Free admission. For more information visit www.jccc.edu/home/depts.php/1113/site/recitals

The Ruel Joyce Concert Series continues its series of free noontime concerts at Johnson County Community College on Monday at noon with this violin and cello duo.  No word yet on the programming for the concert.

Lied Center
Kronos Quartet
Tuesday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Lied Center at University of Kansas
1600 Stewart Drive, Lawrence, KS
For tickets call 785-864-2787 or online at www.lied.ku.edu

The Kronos String Quartet has carved out a challenging and unique nitch for itself over the past 30 years, playing modern, often edgy music in classical concert halls.  Plus, the group has created an image as a quartet of enfant terrible (actually, not so young any more) with more of the persona of rock stars than classical music artists.  Not an especially great formula for success, one would think.  But somehow its going against-type focus has worked wonders, and today the Kronos is celebrated as one of the most popular string quartets worldwide.

Kronos' adventurous approach dates back to the ensemble's origins. In 1973, David Harrington was inspired to form Kronos after hearing George Crumb's Black Angels, a highly unorthodox, Vietnam War-inspired work featuring bowed water glasses, spoken word passages, and electronic effects.  Kronos then began building a compellingly diverse repertoire for string quartet, performing and recording works by 20th-century masters (Bartok, Shostakovich, Webern), contemporary composers (Aleksandra Vrebalov, John Adams, Alfred Schnittke), jazz legends (Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk), and artists from even farther afield (rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, Azeri vocalist Alim Qasimov, avant-garde saxophonist John Zorn).

Tuesday evening offers you a chance to hear the group live at the Lied Center in Lawrence, as the group takes on the music of contemporary composer Terry Riley (the so-called "Father of Minimalism"), with whom the quartet has been long associated.  The works of other composers will be featured as well.

 To read the KCM interview with David Harrington, click here.

By Don Dagenais

City Classics Music and Dance Columnist; Classical Contributor

A lifelong classical music fan, Don Dagenais is a frequent preview speaker for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and has taught classical music and opera courses at several Kansas City venues. He has served on the boards of directors of a number of performing arts organizations including the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Lyric Opera Guild, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, Opera Volunteers International, the Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony, Octarium, and the Friends of the Symphony.  He has been the past president of most of these organizations and is current the president of the Friends of the Symphony. 

Dagenais co-authored a history of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary (2007) and has written books on the histories of both the Lyric Opera Guild and Opera Volunteers International, as well as an introductory book for opera novices (Your Passport to the Opera).  He has received several local and national awards for outstanding volunteer work for the arts, including a lifetime achievement award from The Coterie Theatre in 2000, the Kansas City Musical Club's annual award in 2001, a Partners in Excellence Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2002, a Bravo Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2004 and a community service award from the Daughter of the American Revolution in 2008 honoring him for his community service to the arts.

In addition to his music interests, Don is president of the board of directors for the Metropolitan Ensemble Theater and has served on the boards of The Coterie Theatre and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, serving as president of each organization.  He publishes newsletters for seven arts organizations.  When not involved in the performing arts, Don is a senior real estate attorney with Lathrop & Gage LLP in Kansas City, Missouri, where he has practiced law since 1976 after graduating from the Cornell Law School.