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

Kansas City Symphony
Pops in the Park Concert
Saturday, September 5 at 7 p.m.
Shawnee Mission Park (Theatre in the Park)
I-435 and Renner Road, Shawnee, KS

Every year over the Labor Day weekend, our most venerable classical music institution, the Kansas City Symphony, performs a Pops in the Park concert at the Theatre in the Park at Shawnee Mission Park, I-435 and Renner Road in Shawnee, Kansas. It's always a time for the Symphony's assistant conductor to showcase his talents, and this year the talented and charismatic Steven Jarvi should put on a fine performance.

The concert will feature favorites from Broadway scores and film music as well as a few classical specials. So grab your lawn chairs, food and friends and head out to Shawnee Mission Park for this free introduction to the Symphony season. The gates open at 5:00 p.m. with the concert itself starting at 7:00 p.m.

Free event. For more information visit www.kcsymphony.org

newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble
Music and Minimalism
Thursday, September 3 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, September 12 at 8 p.m.
White Recital Hall, UMKC (September 3)
4949 Cherry, Performing Arts Center, Kansas City, MO

Bell Cultural Events Center (September 12)
MidAmerica Nazarene University, 2030 East College Way, Olathe, KS

newEar, which keeps Kansas City on the map in terms of contemporary orchestral music, is opening its 17^th season early this year with a concert focusing on minimalist music as part of the Second International Conference on Minimalist Music at UMKC.  The program will include works by such well known contemporary minimalist composers as Terry Riley, Phill Niblock, Vladimir Tosic and Barbara Benary.

 For tickets call 816-235-6222. For information visit www.newear.org (no tickets available online)

Great Spaces Music and Art Series
Nigel Potts, Organist
Friday,  September 4 at 8 p.m.
Grace Episcopal Cathedral
701 S.W. 8th Avenue, Topeka, Kansas

This concert features organist Nigel Potts, who is a native of New Zealand with degrees from Yale University as well as the Conservatorium of Music in Wellington, New Zealand and Trinity College of Music, London. He presently serves as organist and choirmaster of Christ & St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, New York City, and teaches at Dowling College in New York. His program will include the music of Purcell, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Elgar, Howells and others.

 For tickets call (785) 235-3457, and for information visit www.GraceCathedralTopeka.org. 

Wylliams-Henry Contemporary Dance Company
Fall 2009 Concert
Thursday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, September 11 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, September 12 at 8 p.m.
White Recital Hall at UMKC
4949 Cherry, Performing Arts Center, Kansas City, MO


For the ballet fans among us, the first classical dance performance of the new season will be by the Wylliams-Henry Contemporary Dance Company with a performances September 10 - 12. The choreographers are Canadian Josh Beamish, DeeAnna Hiett and Jose Limon. The Hiett piece, Shadows of Fate, is a world premiere, and the Beamish entry, Trap Door Party, is an American premiere. The Limon piece is a classic rendition of Orfeo.

Mary Pat Williams of the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, for whom the company is co-named, always presents ingenious programs, and this should be a real treat for fans of dance.

For tickets call 816-235-6222.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City
Tosca
Friday, September 11 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, September 13 at 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 19 at 8:00 p.m.
Lyric Theatre
11^th and Central Streets, Kansas City, MO

The Lyric Opera opens its season on September 11 with Puccini's melodramatic Tosca, a story of intrigue, seduction, torture and ritual murder which takes place against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. What more could you want from opera?! Puccini's masterpiece contains one of the greatest soprano arias ever written ("Vissi d'arte") and not one but two of the favorite arias from the tenor repertory. It also features one of the most dastardly operatic villains ever encountered, in the scheming Scarpia.

The Lyric Opera's artistic director, Ward Holmquist, has put together an outstanding cast. The title role will be sung by soprano Lisa Daltirus, who has performed this same role to great acclaim in New York, Boston, Seattle and other venues. The tenor role, that of Cavaradossi, is sung by newcomer Rafael Dávila, who has sung leading roles with the companies of Sarasota, Puerto Rico, Tampa and Austin, along with opera houses in Naples, Salzburg and the Czech Republic.  The villainous Scarpia will be portrayed by baritone Greer Grimsley, who is famed for this role as the Metropolitan Opera and other companies. He also sings leading baritone roles with the opera companies of Seattle (where he just completed a Ring cycle), San Diego, Vancouver, Pittsburgh and others. Overseas he has appeared in Venice, Berlin, Copenhagen, Prague, Buenos Aires, among others.

Special note for Lyric Opera veterans: The Opera has eliminated its Monday night performances this season, so the schedule has changed from what you may be familiar with.  The opening night of this production is Friday, not Saturday, so check your tickets to be sure you are certain of the night you are attending.

For tickets call 816-471-7344 or online at www.kcopera.org

City in Motion Dance Theatre
Dance in the Park
September 12 at 6:30 p.m.
Roanoke Park, just north of 39th and Roanoke Road
Kansas City, MO

City in Motion Dance Theatre, which always brings an eclectic mix of dance styles to the stage, will present a free public dance recital as part of the 11th annual Dance in the Park. The performance will feature local dance companies in the genres of modern, ballet, swing, hip-hop, Middle Eastern and flamenco.

This event is a collaboration of neighborhoods, businesses and local dance companies and is a family-friendly event. It is billed as "a unique opportunity to sample a wide variety of regional professional dance companies in the tranquil setting of Roanoke Park." Volunteers from five neighborhoods contribute their time and talents to produce the event. Picnic baskets are welcome, and you might think about arriving early to participate in the Hip Hop class at 6:30 p.m. and to get a good seat.

Free event. No tickets required.

Community of Christ Dome and Spires Series
New York Polyphony
Saturday, September 12 at 8 p.m.
Community of Christ Temple
201 South River Street, Independence, MO

New York Polyphony is a four-voice mail a capella vocal ensemble that delivers classical music favorites in a variety of styles.  Publicity material for the group says that "from the simplicity of plainchant to the dense chromaticism of contemporary works, the New York Polyphony sound is strong, unified and distinctive." Critics have compared the group to the similar all-female ensemble, Anonymous 4.

No program for this concert has been released.

This concert is co-sponsored with Music Arts Institute, whose children's choir, The Young MAIstersingers, will participate in this performance.

 Free event. No tickets required. For information, visit www.cofchrist.org/dome_spire/calendar.asp#polyphony

Harriman Jewell Series
Lang Lang, pianist
Tuesday, September 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Folly Theater
12^th and Central, Kansas City, MO

Lang Lang, the 27-year-old Chinese pianist who made his first international splash at the age of 17 with the Chicago Symphony, has become one of the most popular Generation X classical musicians of today.  He is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and top American orchestras, and routinely sells out recitals and performances with symphony orchestras throughout the world. His compact discs are among classical music best sellers. He played for the Olympiad opening ceremony in Beijing in August 2008, and was seen on television around the world.

The Harriman Jewell Series brings him to Kansas City in a recital program, where he will play works by Beethoven (including the Appassionata sonata), Albéniz, and Prokofiev. The Folly Theater should be crowded for this one.

For tickets call (816) 415-5025 or online at  http://www.harriman-jewell.org/

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.