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Classical and Vocal Contributor (Past writer)
Wed, Mar 18, 2009
The Academy of Ancient Music created superb cutting-edge chamber music last Friday night at the Folly Theatre with their performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos for The Friends of Chamber Music.
Wed, Mar 04, 2009
Classical Review: Following hot on the heels of violinist, Julia Fischer, who wowed Kansas City last weekend with her spellbinding leadership of the St. Martin in the Fields orchestra, Ms. Balsom staked her claim as Fischer's brass player equivalent in this sizzling new generation of women concert artists.
Sun, Oct 12, 2008
The Brentano String Quartet kick-off The Friends of Chamber Music's 33rd season with revolutionary works by composers old and new.
Wed, Oct 08, 2008
Musical icon, Itzhak Perlman packed a full house last Saturday evening at the Folly Theatre.
Fri, Oct 10, 2008
...Inspired by Steven McDonald and the Lawrence Chamber Orchesrta.
Sat, Oct 25, 2008
The Kansas City Symphony has come a long way from the orchestra I knew in the 60s and 70s. Its niveau of excellence has impressed me so in its current incarnation, that I seldom miss a program.
Wed, Nov 19, 2008
Although the program began splendidly, nothing could have prepared us for the heart-wrenching beauty expressed by cellist Martin Storey and pianist Lolita Lisovskaya in Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata in A minor, D. 821.
Wed, Dec 03, 2008
Kansas Citians filled the Lyric Theatre Friday night, lured in by a program featuring lush romantic favorites that included Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto performed by pianist Anton Nel and the Kansas City Symphony under the baton of guest conductor, Juanjo Mena.
Wed, Dec 10, 2008
Opening humming chords introduced the Appalachian carol, I wonder as I wander, effectively changing the mood to match the next theme of the program that embraced the elements of nature in the following set of carols.
Wed, Dec 17, 2008
In what must be the most densely booked holiday concert weekend of the year, the William Baker Festival Singers drew a full house Friday night into the beautifully adorned Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral for an evening of yuletide inspiration at its 11th Annual Candlelight, Carols & Cathedral concert.
Wed, Jan 14, 2009
The Brahms concerto, acknowledged to be one of the most physically demanding in the violin repertoire, was tackled masterfully by the beautiful and petite Midori, whose vivid athleticism was matched by a mature musical interpretation that would have wowed the master Brahms.
Sat, Jan 24, 2009
Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 filled the second half of the program, in what can be rightfully claimed a triumph for the Kansas City Symphony.
Wed, Apr 01, 2009
As appealing in poetical content as the opening half of the concert was, the show-stopper Friday night was Director Michael Stern’s exuberant performance of the Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61 by Robert Schumann.
Wed, Apr 08, 2009
Finally - Bach’s monumental B Minor Mass was the crowning glory of a month of magnificent musical offerings in Kansas City.
Wed, Apr 15, 2009
Despite the publicity buildup surrounding Stephanie Blythe, nothing could have prepared me for the astonishing beauty of her voice, the magnitude of her full, round sound that filled the hall with ringing tones, or diction so clear that a printed text was not needed.
Wed, Apr 22, 2009
Once in a generation or so, an artist emerges whose command of technique is so grounded that all boundaries to musical expression are lifted and what ensues is a flawless interpretation of pure beauty.
Tue, Apr 28, 2009
The Friends of Chamber Music concluded its 2008-09 season in a blaze of beauty from the Australian Chamber Orchestra and pianist, Paul Lewis Friday night at the Folly Theatre. Although the ensemble was heard for the first time by Kansas City audiences, it has toured the United States for ten years and enjoys a near-cult following at home in Australia, where 15,000 subscription holders flock to its concerts.
Tue, May 05, 2009
Benjamin Britten’s "Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Op. 31" and Antonin Dvorák’s "Serenade No. 1 in E Major, Op. 22" drew concertgoers to Visitation Church to hear the Chamber Players of the Kansas City Symphony on Friday night. But it was an evening of bittersweet pleasure.
Wed, May 13, 2009
We are witnesses to the birth of a new art form - the new music emerging from the fusion of Western classical music with Asian has captured my ear - and my heart.
Tue, Jun 02, 2009
Chiaroscuro is an Italian word that invites contemplation of that which lies beyond the appearance of light and shade. It was a fitting program title for the debut of a superb new choral ensemble under the direction of former King's Singer and Professor Emeritus of Choral Conducting at Yale, Simon Carrington.
Mon, Jun 22, 2009
The Kansas City Chamber Orchestra opened its Mozart Festival Weekend on Friday, June 19, at the Unity Temple on the Plaza with a well-chosen program of three of Mozart's enduring masterpieces.
Tue, Jun 30, 2009
A different kind of summer camp drew 22 teenaged students from around the country to Kansas City - the Pipe Organ Encounter 2009, sponsored by the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
Tue, Sep 01, 2009
The combined musical forces of The Missouri Brass Quintet with organist John Schaefer seemed to pop the top off the Gold Dome Cathedral last Sunday afternoon with soaring brilliant tones and sublime musical expression.
Tue, Sep 22, 2009
The third movement of the Debussy quartet was without question the high point of the evening. The Quartet's gorgeous blend supported Ito's luminous muted violin solo that she passed seamlessly to cellist Storey, and Chung brought introspective genius to the viola part. The masterful interplay of nuance interwoven throughout revealed the Accorda at its scrumptious best.
Tue, Oct 06, 2009
Armenian pianist Nareh Arghamanyan triumphantly took the stage of the Folly Theatre Friday night in a Kansas City debut recital that had concert goers abuzz with her sensitive and profound interpretations of some of the deepest music written for piano.
Tue, Oct 13, 2009
The Cypress String Quartet opened the UMKC Signature Series with an ambitious program that featured mature works of Mozart, Bartók and Beethoven to a nearly full house last Saturday night at White Recital Hall.
Mon, Oct 26, 2009
Last Saturday night, while streets were blocked to crowds watching the bonfires of WaterFire float down Brush Creek, an intimate crowd of ancient music lovers gathered at the Visitation Catholic Church for a journey within. There the serenely scintillating voices of Anonymous 4 imparted the cloistered incantations of 13th century royal Castilian nuns in a bonfire for the soul.
Tue, Nov 10, 2009
On Friday, November 6, about 1,000 people made the pilgrimage to the Community of Christ Auditorium to hear Principal Organist and Director of Music Jan Kraybill perform a recital that was 50 years in the making - and well worth the wait.
Wed, Nov 11, 2009
Saturday night a 5-alarm fire raged upon the stage of the Folly theatre as the St. Lawrence String Quartet ignited the beauty of three immortal masterpieces by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Beethoven, and then fanned those flames to cosmic perfection. This Quartet snorts the very fire of life into every note it sings.
Tue, Nov 17, 2009
The final bonbon of the evening in the program of delights was Purcell's O Sing Unto the Lord, which featured solo cameos sung excellently by soprano Amy Waldron, alto Kate Lohmann, and bass Jonathan Krinke, and the combined artistic forces of the Collegium Vocale, the KC Baroque Consortium, and harpsichordist, Steven McDonald.
Tue, Nov 24, 2009
Hänsel and Gretel lost in the Missouri Ozarks? It turns out that the German classic by the Gebrüder Grimm transcends time and place just fine, the Opera Department of the UMKC Conservatory superbly demonstrated this weekend in their production with four performances at White Recital Hall. In fact, Grimm has never sounded more grand.
Mon, Dec 21, 2009
Opening night of the Kansas City Ballet's 37th production of "The Nutcracker" illuminated holiday themes of generosity and the value of children on a level beyond the glamour of music and dance when local patron of the arts, Julia Irene Kauffman took the podium to conduct the Overture. A musical review.
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