RSS 2.0 FeedJanuary 2009, City Voices
Vocal Column for January 5 -18
Vocal Highlights of 2009
Happy New Year! The first few weeks of the 2009 are a little slow for choral and vocal concert opportunities. So, I'd first like to list a few featured performances. Then, I'm going to give a preview of some exciting choral/vocal concerts coming up in the first quarter of 2009.
The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD
La Rondine
by G. Puccini
Featuring Angela Gheroghiu and Roberto Alagna
Saturday, January 10, at noon
The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD is continuing their successful run of live broadcasts this year. The Met will transmit a total of eleven live and ten encore events this season from September to May. Don't miss the excitement of experiencing the Met on the big screen. If you've never taken one of these performances, I highly encourage you to attend. This broadcast is of Puccini's La Rondine.
Opera's charismatic real-life duo, Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna provide the star power to deliver this ravishing romance from one of the world's most popular opera composers. Gheorghiu plays the kept woman who gambles on true love, and Alagna is the man who makes her question the cost of her glittering existence. Nicolas Joel directs the new production of this gorgeously melodic look at love. Marco Armiliato conducts. Several movie theaters in town are showing this event. At approximately $20 per ticket, seeing the Met has never been so economical and convenient.
For ticket information, visit www.fathomevents.com or check out fiona's list for this week
The Friends of Chamber Music
Chanticleer with the Shanghai String Quartet
Saturday, January 17 at 8 p.m.
The Folly Theater
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
The Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer returns to Kansas City in a unique collaboration with the versatile Shanghai Quartet in a world premiere tour of "From the Path of Beauty," composed by internationally renowned composer and UMKC Conservatory professor, Chen Yi.
Chanticleer has developed a remarkable reputation for its vivid interpretations of vocal literature ranging from Renaissance to jazz. The ensemble's performance with the Shanghai, known for their passionate musicality, impressive technique and multicultural innovations, will be nothing short of spectacular. It's a given that this event will be sold out. Get your tickets soon!
Visit Chanticleer on the web at www.chanticleer.org and www.myspace.com/sfchanticleer.
For tickets call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org
Vocal Highlights for 2009
As for the upcoming first quarter of 2009, there are a number of performances that will be a blessing to vocal and choral music lovers in the Kansas City metropolitan area. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful musicians dedicated to great choral and vocal music working in Kansas City.
On Friday, January 30th at 8:00pm, the Kansas City Symphony will present a concert featuring the glorious voice of Sandi Patty in a Broadway revue. She will sing music from West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Phantom Of The Opera and many more. This concert is at the Church of the Resurrection in Johnson County. Visit www.kcsymphony.org for more information.
In February, the UMKC Conservatory of Music will present Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. The opera will run at White Hall on UMKC's campus on February 19-22. For more information, go to conservatory.umkc.edu.
March both comes in and goes out like a lion this year. UMKC's Conservatory Singers, with direction by Dr. Ryan Board, and Orchestra, along with the Village Church Chamber Choir, will present the wonderful and underappreciated Mendelssohn Oratorio Paulus (St. Paul) at Village Presbyterian Church on March 1 at 3:00pm. Visit www.villagepres.org for more information.
In mid-March, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City will present Verdi's La Traviata, featuring Metropolitan Opera Star Mary Dunleavy as Violetta. Performances are on the 14th, 16th, 18th, 20th, and 22nd of March. Visit www.kcopera.org for information concerning this and other Lyric productions.
This great month of choral/vocal music continues as the Grammy award winning Kansas City Chorale partners with the Phoenix Chorale (both led by Maestro Charles Bruffy) to present music written for double chorus. The concert will be performed on Saturday, March 21 at 7:30pm at the Church of the Nativity and on Sunday, March 22 at 2:00pm at the Redemptorist Church. This performance features three world premiers: Rene Clausen's Mass as well as two new pieces from Kansas City composer Jean Belmont Ford. They are on the web at www.kcchorale.org.
There is a new choral group in Kansas City that will be presenting their first performances this spring. Kansas City native Matthew Christopher Shepard is introducing Te Deum, a small choral ensemble of 16 voices whose mission is to present sacred choral music that is both musically gratifying and spiritually stirring. Their concert will feature music by Britten, Stanford, Tavener, Part, and Thompson. The concert will be presented on March 28 at 7:30pm at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and March 29th at 3:00 at Village Presbyterian church.
The first quarter of 2009 will go out with a bang as the William Baker Festival Singers, along with organist Wayne Smith and members of the Kansas City Symphony, present Johann Sebastian Bach's masterful Mass In B Minor on Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30pm. This epic work is Bach's crowning achievement. It is truly one of the greatest works of a man considered by many to be the greatest composer who has ever lived. Visit www.festivalsingers.org for ticket information.
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