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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Friends of Chamber Music (http://chambermusic.org) continue its international music series with the East Berlin Baroque orchestra Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (March 11), performing music by Bach, Handel, and Telemann. The final concert in the Friends’ and UMKC Conservatory’s 2010–11 Music Alliance Series, Cleveland Quartet Award winner and recent 2011 Grammy Award-nominee the Parker Quartet (Jan. 22) will play works by Dvořák, Kurtág, Hindemith, and Mendelssohn.

The UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance (http://conservatory.umkc.edu) always has a full schedule of diverse ensembles and programming, and that continues into the spring semester. (Some highlights included. Please see our KC Events page and the Conservatory’s website for more events and details.) Jazz Festival and George Salisbury Memorial Scholarship Concert in part with the Jammin’ at the Gem’s series concert of Bobby Watson & Horizon (Feb. 4) • Musica Nova (March 3) • 11 O’Clock Jazz Band (April 5) • ArtSounds (March 8, April 12, April 26) • UMKC Concert Jazz Band (April 6) • UMKC/Iowa/Colorado Composer Exchange (April 8–9) • UMKC Community Accordion Orchestra 50^th Anniversary Concert (May 22)

World famous violinist Joshua Bell (Jan. 22) returns to Kansas City to play Brahms, Schubert, Grieg and more on the Harriman-Jewell Series’ (http://hjseries.org) first 2011 concert. The Series’ other chamber offering is I Musici de Montréal (April 8). This Canadian chamber orchestra will present Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (with visual art accompaniment) and works by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky.

The Lied Center (www.lied.ku.edu) has an eclectic bunch of chamber and jazz concerts this spring. Winners of the 2005 Apollo Legends Award, Black Violin (Feb. 8), fuses contemporary classical, hip-hop, jazz and funk styles. San Francisco-based Alexander String Quartet (Feb. 15) will perform an all-Beethoven program. The Grammy Award winning Jay Ungar & Molly Mason Family Band (April 13) will play American folk and traditional music from the Civil War era. Legendary groups the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Del McCoury Band (April 14) will perform original and traditional American roots songs from New Orleans jazz to Appalachian bluegrass.

There is never a shortage of new music in Kansas City. newEar Contemporary Music Ensemble (www.newear.org) has two concerts this spring. Concert 3: Vocalissimus (Feb. 19) and Concert 4: Chromatic Collaborations (April 29–30) with Owen/Cox Dance Group. KcEMA’s (www.kcema.net) Back to the Source Code (Feb. 19) is a homecoming concert of double bass and electronics for bassist Jeremy Baguyos. KcEMA’s final season concert, Unity (April 16), will be a blend of electroacoustic music and video featuring local pianist Kari Johnson.

JCCC’s Performing Arts Series at the Carlsen Center (www.jccc.edu/performing-arts-series) also has a few jazzy shows left this season. Their annual Jazz Winterlude Festival (Jan. 20–23) will have several clinics, discussion sessions,  feature many local artists such as New Jazz Order, Dan Thomas Quartet, Westport Art Ensemble, Julie Turner/Tommy Ruskin Group, Diverse, and more. Hot Club of San Francisco (Feb. 4) will accompany four silent films with 1930s-style Gypsy jazz. Banjoist Béla Fleck, percussionist Zakir Hussain, and bassist Edgar Meyer (April 16) will share their unique blend of classical, bluegrass, and Indian music.

The Bach Aria Soloists (http://bachariasoloists.com) have an eclectic second half to their season as well. Night of Tango (Feb. 25–26) features Bach-infused traditional Argentine tangos. Herman Hauskonzert (April 13) will show off the Herman House’s fine harpsichord, and Bach & Jazz Inventions with Bobby Watson (June 4) will be an evening of invention/improvisation to remember.

The Folly Jazz Series (www.follytheater.com) never disappoints. The remainder of their season features big-name and legendary acts the Earl Klugh Quartet (Jan. 15), famed pianist Ellis Marsalis and his Quartet (Feb. 11), Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval (March 4), saxophonist Joe Lovano (April 2), and vocalist Karrin Allyson (May 7).

The American Jazz Museum’s Jammin’ at the Gem Series (www.americanjazzmuseum.com) also features some well-known acts, in addition to the Bobby Watson & Horizon (Feb. 4) show mentioned above, they will also have vocalist Dianne Reeves (March 25), trumpeter Terence Blanchard (April 16), and singer/songwriter Jonathan Butler (May 21) this spring.

The American Jazz Museum is also home the The Blue Room, which hosts Blue Monday Jams every Monday, led by rotating local jazz figures. Bring your horn and some friends! The last Monday of every month features big bands (Everette DeVan this month, Jan. 31) and the last Thursdays are Latin/Salsa nights (Miguel “Mambo” & Care Blanc, Jan. 27). Fridays and Saturdays always feature local, national, and international acts. Some guests in January include Greg Carroll’s Midnight Blue Jazz Quartet (Jan. 15), Ida McBeth (Jan. 21), Dennis Winslett Quintet (Jan. 22) and the Jazz Disciples (Jan. 28).

Jardine’s (www.jardines4jazz.com) near the Plaza also features local jazz artists nearly every night, including regulars Lonnie McFadden, Ida McBeth, Michael Pagán, Sons of Brasil, Shay Estes and Mark Lowrey, Megan Birdsall, and Makuza. Upcoming special events include Brandon Draper Project (Feb. 5), Love Hangover (Feb. 15), Angela Hagenbach (Feb. 25, March 3 and 18), Wild Women of KC (Feb. 27), Todd Strait (March 6 and 19), and Barclay Martin Ensemble (March 15).

Top Photo: Parker Quartet by Janette Beckman

By Kristin Shafel Omiccioli

Editorial Assignments Executive Editor; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Kristin Shafel Omiccioli, a native of Madison, WI, holds composition degrees (M.M., B.M.) from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Kristin's compositions have been performed at national and regional new music festivals and conferences throughout the United States. During her time at UMKC, Kristin also focused on double bass performance and arts administration. She was a student leader and performer in many of the Conservatory's student organizations and ensembles, including Musica Nova, Composers' Guild, the Conservatory Student Association, the orchestras, and Wind Symphony. Her composition instructors were James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, and Chen Yi, and her bass instructor was Sue Stubbs. Formerly a guitarist, Kristin performed with big bands and her own jazz combo in Madison, WI, having studied jazz guitar and theory with Roger Brotherhood in Madison and jazz voice and theory with Hal Melia in Kansas City at UMKC.

Kristin enjoys being active in the performing arts community. She has volunteered with the Chamber Music Society of Kansas City and Charlotte Street Foundation, and has played in the bass section of the Northland Symphony Orchestra, among other bass gigs around the metro. Kristin currently serves as principal bass for the Kansas City Civic Orchestra and Heritage Philharmonic, and is a section bassist for Kinnor Philharmonic. She joined the writing staff of KCMetropolis.org in February 2010 and has been KCM’s executive editor since July 2011. Read her blog at mylittleheartmelodies.com.

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