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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

By Sarah Young   Wed, Jan 25, 2012

Richard Rodgers teamed with Lorenz Hart in the 1920s and 1930s, before Hart’s untimely death in 1943 and Rodgers’ later work with Oscar Hammerstein. This duo’s music is often equally as familiar to us, but much less connected to the Broadway musicals for which they wrote. Songs like “Isn’t it Romantic,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” “My Funny Valentine,” and “My Romance” have separated from their roots as features in a musical play and become “stand-alone” hits and jazz standards for some of the great singers of the 20th Century, like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Doris Day, or Rosemary Clooney. Rodgers and Hart worked together on nearly thirty stage musicals, the most familiar of which to us now might be Pal Joey, Babes in Arms, or On Your Toes, but it is for the songs themselves, and the witty, ironic, often poignant lyrics of Lorenz Hart that their work is best remembered. When you attend My Romance: The Songs of Rodger and Hart at Quality Hill Playhouse, it will be hard for you to keep from humming along. Many of the favorites are here as well as some lesser known gems.

Director J. Kent Barnhart has assembled five accomplished performers for this show: singers Stephanie Laws, Jon Daugharthy, and Lauren Braton, as well as Brian Wilson on bass and Ken Remmert on drums. This is a lively, affecting, and emotionally diverse selection of songs delivered with extraordinary skill and sensitivity. Early highlights in the program included Barnhart’s take on “Mountain Greenery,” from the 1926 musical The Garrick Gaieties. Taken at a steadier and less exuberant pace than usual, it was sweet and gently humorous. The first set of songs also had several strong duets including Braton and Barnhart in “My Heart Stood Still,” and then Braton and Daugharthy in a witty “Thou Swell.”

Barnhart takes pride in presenting even well-known tunes in such a way as to reveal depths and colors not always understood. This skill was revealed with the help of Braton and Laws in a complex rendition of “Ten Cents a Dance,” performed with character development not usually seen in this piece. The first half of the program ended with several selections from On Your Toes, as well as a snappy doo-wop version of “Blue Moon,” with all four singers a cappella.

The second half of the program featured the most impressive performances from everyone on stage. Stephanie Laws, in her first outing on the Quality Hill Playhouse stage, was simply and utterly stunning in a rendition of “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” that drew from the audience long and sustained applause. Lauren Braton really sank her teeth into a juicy character piece called “Zip,” and Daugharthy gave a commanding performance of “The Lady is a Tramp” that also featured some electrifying playing from Wilson and Remmert as well as Barnhart on the piano.

There is something for everyone in this program, and it is a reminder of the intensity of emotion and power of these Rodgers and Hart tunes that have so deftly woven themselves into our cultural consciousness.

REVIEW:
Quality Hill Playhouse
My Romance: The Songs of Rodgers and Hart
Quality Hill Playhouse
303 W. 10th Street, Kansas City, MO
Runs through February 19 (reviewed Sunday, January 23, 2012)
For tickets, call 816-421-1700 or online at www.qualityhillplayhouse.com

Top Photo: Cast of Quality Hill Playhouse's My Romance

By Tom Marks   Tue, Jan 24, 2012

The Lied Center of Kansas brought South Pacific to Lawrence on Wednesday. The night’s performance, based on the Lincoln Center Theater production, assembled a cast of varied talents, impressive sets, and colorful costumes which brought the beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein musical to life.  

The bulk of Act I suffered from a lack of energy and connection to the text—perhaps the culprit of a burnt-out cast, giving a Wednesday night performance. The opening dialogue between our main characters Ensign Nellie Forbush, played by Katie Reid, and Emile de Becque, Marcelo Guzzo, was stiff and lacked natural flow. Their musical numbers, however, displayed some great singing. Guzzo’s powerful and resonant baritone voice commanded a musically sensitive rendition of the beloved tune, “Some Enchanted Evening.”

The lagging energy displayed in the opening scene briefly dissipated, however, with the entrance of the men’s chorus (including the endearing Luther Billis, played by Christian Marriner) and the song, “Bloody Mary,” which, in addition to vibrant singing and acting, included some impressive dance displays—flips, jumps, and splits to name a few. Bloody Mary, played by Cathy Foy-Mahi, quickly charmed the audience with her brazen personality as she chassed the sailors around the stage with a shrunken head and called out men for being, “filthy bastards!” Foy-Mahi’s voice was secure and agreeable during her solo number, “Bali Ha’i.”  

After this brief surge of energy, however, the cast quickly fell back into their previous dramatic foibles—the dialogue was stiff and mechanical, the energy of the spoken lines was dropped instead of being propelled forward, and there was some anticipating of cues and lines (most noticeable in the set-up of jokes and humorous moments) that distracted from believability.

The remainder of the first act was not entirely disappointing, though. Lieutenant Joseph Cable, played by Shane Donovan, (though he too suffered from some awkward issues with flow of dialogue) sang with a voice that was silky and clean, which showed most notably in the numbers, “My Girl Back Home” and “Younger Than Springtime.” Reid’s (Nellie) speech and voice, too, warmed up toward the end of Act I as she showed some youthful exuberance and energy in, “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair.”

The intermission and the opening of the second act seemed to refresh the cast. Instead of continuing the stiff dialogue previously seen, the cast settled in to a more natural grove. Reid, along with Marriner (Billis) and the ensemble carried great energy in the Act II song, “Honey Bun.” The relationship dynamic between Reid and Guzzo (Emile), fostered by the stark, serious material of the play’s subject matter, was true to the characters and believably accepted by the audience. This seemed to speak for all of the actors onstage as well—as the subject matter darkened and the plot turned from innocently light-hearted to harsh and real, the characters clicked in to the story line, acting and delivering their lines with credibility and conviction.

Lieutenant Cable’s “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught,” a commentary on themes of racial tension and discrimination which Hammerstien masterfully wove into his libretto, was followed by Emile’s big sing, “This Nearly Was Mine,” an impressive number for Guzzo, whose voice and textual conviction was unfaltering, commanding, powerful, and present.

The cast put together a believable Act II, indicative of the audience’s genuine reactions to the plot—as we find out via a radio broadcast that Lieutenant Cable had been killed, gasps could be heard in the audience. Though Act I suffered a staleness and stiffness that affected the reception of the story, the company redeemed themselves in the second act with sufficient enough energy to hit home the message and deliver this long-time classic musical in an generally enjoyable way.

REVIEW:
Lied Center of Kansas
South Pacific
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Lied Center, KU Campus
1600 Stewart Drive, Lawrence, KS
For more information, visit www.lied.ku.edu

Top Photo: Marcelo Guzzo and Kaite Reid as Emile De Beque and Nellie Forbush (Photo by Peter Coombs)

By   Wed, Feb 22, 2012

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By Erik Klackner   Sat, Jan 28, 2012

When Johann Sebastian Bach presented the Margrave of Brandenburg with the manuscript of six concerti for chamber orchestra, he wasn’t paid, thanked, or given a pie for his efforts. The concerti were, in fact, an application and résumé of sorts; Bach had applied for an organist job in Hamburg a year earlier, and the concerti were another attempt to land a new gig, though neither materialized. The six concerti ended up being sold by the Margrave’s estate with 170 or so other works by much more important composers like Brescianello and Valentini. Thus, the concerti were resigned to the dustbin of history until being published 130 years later and recorded another 100 after that.  

Musicologist Joshua Rifkin’s explanation as to why Bach’s reputation languished during his own lifetime is simple: his music was too hard. If that is the case, and my own experiences playing Bach tell me that it probably is, the Brandenburg Concertos (named so by Bach’s biographer Phillipp Spitta) are a perfect illustration of these difficulties. There are virtuosic solo parts that are as difficult as anything written in the subsequent 300 years, complex structures, counterpoint like none other; in short, the whole Bach enchilada. But ultimately they’re a test of how much a super-genius can do with fifteen or so stellar musicians in his neighborhood.

To that end, the musicians of the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, opening the 2012 Bach Festival, succeeded in communicating the Bach-ian aspects. The evening was filled with sparkling individual performances: the mostly flawless pair of horns in the first concerto, the energetic string ensemble in the third, the rich and bright piccolo trumpet in the second. Harpsichordist Rebecca Bell, who generated a few audible gasps near me in her extended cadenza in the fifth concerto in spite of some missteps, brought the heat.

Any complaints I may have had with the evening largely rest with the festival’s honoree, Mr. Bach. The limitations on dynamics and expression of his time are, frankly, crippling to his art. It’s obvious that he is a master and blessed with a gift for counterpoint but when the hallmark of your works is the intricacy of the structures and the interaction of the musical lines it can be difficult to aurally appreciate in large doses. Analyzing Bach’s music is a revelation (just ask Mahler, who studied Bach’s counterpoint on his way to writing the amazing finale to the Fifth Symphony), but I left this concert wondering if it’s less a revelation to actually listen to. Various shades of mezzo forte are not enough for me, no matter how marvelously executed.

REVIEW:
Friends of Chamber Music and Kansas City Chamber Orchestra
Bach Festival 2012: The Complete Brandenburg Concertos
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Folly Theater
300 W. 12th St., Kansas City, MO
For more information, visit http://www.chambermusic.org 

By Victor Wishna   Wed, Jan 25, 2012

Victor Wishna: You were the Carlsen Center’s first house manager when it opened in 1991—years before it was even renamed the Carlsen Center. Did you say to yourself, “One day I’ll run this place?”

Emily Behrmann: [Laughs.] You know, at the time, I don’t think the thought that I might be in charge ever occurred to me. I enjoyed doing that, I enjoyed working with the volunteers, and being part of the performances was always a favorite thing of mine. I left that job, but stayed at JCCC, and went to our foundation, and did fundraising for many years—I was part of the capital campaign for the Nerman [Museum of Contemporary Art] and the Regnier Center (a technology complex) here on campus.

But then the opportunity arose to come back to the performing arts. I have a degree in music from the Conservatory at UMKC. I studied voice. Even when I was doing that, I felt that I didn’t really want to be a performer, didn’t want to teach; I liked the administrative end of the arts. At the time that was a little unique. They didn’t have a program to teach those sorts of things at UMKC. Very few universities did. I remember talking to my dean about it, that I might want to work in an administrative capacity or maybe get a degree in business, and he was like, “Well, are you going to work in a music store? What exactly are you going to do with that?” It was a little different back then.

Needless to say, I went into [arts administration]. I worked at the Kansas City Symphony for five years right out of college, managing their box office, and then later moved into marketing for them as well. And then I came here and have been at the college ever since.

I love this facility. It really is quite an accomplishment, for the college and for Johnson County. It’s the only thing out here of this scale and we’re the only ones who do this kind of professional presentation of artists from around the world.

VW: The diversity of productions and artists on your schedule is really remarkable. Last week saw Fiddler on the Roof, this weekend is the Jazz Winterlude with some funk, blues, and latin jazz—so you’re shifting smoothly from shtetl to salsa. How does all this fit in with the mission of the Performing Arts Series?

EB: The mission is to be a leader and an innovator in professional presentation of artists, in arts education, and in community outreach. So we do present the professional artists, but we also rent our space to community groups that come to perform. Other departments on campus use the space for presentations, as well as lectures and speakers. We like to feel like we’re part of the college, but also part of the community.

The Series, as it exists in the brochure, is 25 to 40 events a year. Last year, we had 170 events throughout the 12-month fiscal year, which included all those academic events, other groups, other department rentals, etc. It’s a busy facility.

VW: In what ways has the Series evolved in your time here?

EB: In the two years since I’ve been in the general manager’s position, part of what we wanted to accomplish is to broaden the audience that we were attracting with those Series presentations. We had been seeing season tickets declining. We were sticking to classical and chamber music, some theatre, some pop artists, but we were programming to a specific demographic; that demographic was getting older and just wasn’t coming as often. We felt the need to reach out to a broader demographic. We don’t want to disenfranchise the people who have been so loyal—we want to continue to offer things for them—but what about students on our campus, people who live nearby who have young families or are recent empty nesters, that sort of thing? If we’re going to have an audience 20 years from now, we must do something at present to attract that audience.

We did a blues show last year—Hot Tuna Blues—and we had more people here that normally go to Knuckleheads (the well-known jazz and blues saloon in Northeast Kansas City) than we’ve ever had before. It was different for them and it was different for us, but we reached people that we hadn’t reached before. I have patrons from that show call me occasionally to say, “Hey, do you know about this band? They would be great in your space.” It’s opened up an opportunity for us to communicate with a whole different part of the city that maybe didn’t see us as that alternative until we presented programming that they love.

VW: What’s the process for selecting and then inviting performers? 

EB: We have a program advisory committee that’s made up of about 20 to 25 members of the community and staff from around the college—not just in our department, but Student Activities folks, Continuing Education folks, some faculty, and then the members of the community, most of whom attend here regularly or have at some point. They’re a great barometer for me; I can throw out ideas and names of artists and get a reaction that’s very true to how our audience would feel. It’s also a great place to discuss different options. I try really hard, obviously, not to just program for me—it’s not about what I like or don’t like, it’s what our audience has asked us for, what they’ve enjoyed in the past, and a balance between what’s commercially successful and what’s artistically important.

VW: How do you strike that balance—that goal of attracting an audience versus the goal of art to challenge people, perhaps with something they haven’t been exposed to before? 

EB: That is a challenge. It’s interesting how people do put their trust in us. We have a really wonderful track record, and that’s certainly something I can’t take credit for. So for a lot of our regular attendees—if we put it out there, they trust that it’s going to be of high quality, even if it’s something they’re not familiar with. That’s a really great place to be, and something I’m very grateful for.

You do shows like Fiddler on the Roof, obviously, and we struggled with that in our committee, because the feeling was that Fiddler has been done to death—hasn’t everybody been in a production of Fiddler on the Roof? [Laughs.] And we decided, it’s a staple of the Broadway repertoire, and people do ask for Broadway on a regular basis, so let’s try it. And it was, by far, the best-selling show of the entire season. We even added a performance.

But then we also bring in the large orchestras, chamber ensembles, string quartets, and that kind of thing. We may not pack the hall with a chamber group, but that’s okay. There are people who want to hear that and it’s important to continue.

The college is facing challenges in the budget area, and of course, with the Kansas Arts Commission situation, other funding, and the economy, people will often throw that out—why are we doing these things when only a few hundred people are coming? Is that really what we should be doing? Well, yes, it is. But we have to find the balance to help support those things with the more commercial ventures. It is a juggling act.

VW: How would you assess the audience reach and community impact of the Series? 

EB: Our audience is about 80 percent Johnson County residents—that’s been true since we started. But I think we definitely have a place in the Kansas City arts community in terms of what we present. I think we’re a nice complement, a nice addition to that. We don’t like to think of ourselves as a strong competitor to things happening downtown; I think we’re an alternative for people. If they don’t want to go downtown every time to see something, they can come here.

VW: Yes, have you heard the news? We’re living in a golden age for the arts in Kansas City. So beyond being an “alternative,” how do you see the JCCC Series playing its role in the area’s growing arts scene?

EB: I do think we’re part of it, we’ve always had a stake in it. And this [growing interest in the arts] is making people across the metropolitan area aware of our existence and what we do out here. But we really present a much more diverse program than almost any presenter in the city. When you’re talking about things from Chinese acrobats to Fiddler on the Roof to the Munich Symphony to the Joffrey Ballet, we’re the only ones in the area that do that range of programming. Plus, we offer the opportunity for people to see a large orchestra from somewhere else in the world at a venue that’s close to their home that they can bring their kids to—I think that’s important. So, yeah, I do think we have a part in the whole Kansas City array of what’s available, because we just present some things that other presenters aren’t able to do.

VW: So to what degree has the opening of the Kauffman Center impacted the Series—in terms of programming and/or ticket sales?

EB: First, without the Kauffman Center, we—Kansas City—would never have come into our own, we would not be experiencing this golden age of the arts. A rising tide lifts all ships, and we’re a part of that—it’s brought more attention to the metropolitan area as a whole.

That said, I think we have seen some impact on [our] ticket sales. Not so much that they’re lower, but that they happen later. I think because there is so much on offer, and because of the economy, people just wait longer to decide what they’re going to do on a weekend. The week of a performance, sales start to bump, whereas five years ago that might have happened a couple weeks beforehand. I think the Kauffman Center has had an effect on that.

As far as an effect on our programming, that’s hard to say at this point. I mean, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Lily Tomlin (who appeared at the Kauffman Center this fall) have been [at the JCCC] in the past, so I think we are going to be looking at some of the same artists. But, just like we’ve worked with the Harriman-Jewell Series and with Cynthia Siebert’s Friends of Chamber Music, and the Folly Theater—we can talk about, “Well, what are you thinking about for next season? Here’s what I’m thinking about—let’s just be upfront and work things out.”

VW: When the Series began, it partnered with several Kansas City performing arts groups, from the Symphony to what was then Missouri (now KC) Rep. Does that kind of cooperation continue?

EB: I really feel that collaboration is one of the best ways to strengthen what we do, and hopefully other producers and presenters in Kansas City feel the same way. So working with other people in the city and trying to find our way through all those little things that could get very contentious or potentially competitive is the best way to make it all work together, because in the end it is all one big arts community.

We had Quixotic [Fusion] here last year on our season; we would love to have other Kansas City groups here, but what we’ve found is we need them to come out here and do something original that hasn’t already been presented somewhere else in the city. Sales are better for us when that happens. So working with groups for some premieres in our space is something I’m very interested in pursuing in the future.

VW: What are some of your other future goals for the Series—in the coming seasons and longer term? 

EB: I would love to be able to offer a workshop, a clinic, a lecture, some sort of outreach opportunity with every single artist that appears on the series. I don’t know that that will ever be an absolute, but it’s something we can certainly strive for. Because more and more artists are willing to share themselves, they’re willing to work with young students, they’re willing to talk about their process, and that can just be so instructive when you attend a performance and you know that background.

I would also love to see us do some festivals in this space, whether it’s a dance festival, a blues festival—we have a great space for that. With the Polsky Theatre, Yardley Hall, and then our other recital hall and classrooms, we would be able to pull that off easily—you know, with a lot of planning and, hopefully, a lot of money to throw at it.

Because of the situation with arts funding in Kansas, it’s important to show the current administration that the arts do have support in the community—not that they shouldn’t be supported by public dollars, but all the more reason why public dollars should be granted to the arts organizations; they’re part of our culture, part of our community, and part of people’s lives who live in this state. It’s very important to continue that and make at least a part of it publicly funded. That’s what people want; they want to feel it’s available to them.

I love my job, though. My father always said—and somebody famous had already said it, but I heard it from him—“Find something you love to do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

For more information about the Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College visit jccc.edu/performing-arts-series/

By Kristin Shafel   Wed, Jan 18, 2012

The Chiara String Quartet (Julliard alumni Rebecca Fischer and Julie Hye-Yung Yoon, violins; Jonah Sirota, viola; and Gregory Beaver, cello) is known for its respectful yet exciting performances of traditional string quartet literature and creative interpretations of contemporary compositions. Chiara has appeared in major concert venues throughout the United States (including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Aspen Music Festival, to name only a few) and internationally, but its motto, “chamber music in any chamber,” was coined for its penchant to perform in nightclubs and art galleries, away from the traditional concert hall setting. They have played at the Hideout in Chicago, Galapagos Art Space in New York, the Tractor Tavern in Seattle, and the Brick in Kansas City, among others.

Artists-in-residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Harvard University, Chiara has been honored with important awards and grants from Meet the Composer, Chamber Music America, the Aaron Copland Foundation, and the Amphion Foundation. The Quartet regularly participates in competitions and has won several including the Astral Artistic Services National Audition, the Paolo Borciani International Competition, and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

Chiara’s discography currently consists of five albums, including Brahms and Mozart clarinet quintets, first things first with violist Nadia Sirota, and the group’s self-produced New Voice Singles series recordings of Robert Sirota’s Triptych (written for Chiara in 2002) and Gabriela Lena Frank’s Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout (written for Chiara in 2001). Its latest album includes Jefferson Friedman’s String Quartet No. 3, which was recently nominated for the 2011 Best Contemporary Classical Composition Grammy Award.

Deeply committed to new music, Chiara has commissioned and premiered many new works throughout its existence. In 2010 Chiara established its Creator/Curator program in four cities, which commissions composers and engages them on a greater level by having them curate and program the concert on which their commissioned work will receive its premiere. Commissioned composers for the project this year are Nico Muhly, Huang Ruo, Daniel Ott, and Gabriela Lena Frank.

Chiara’s concert at the Lied Center includes Schubert’s String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 29; Brahms’s String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 67, and its commissioned Creator/Curator work by Gabriela Lena Frank, Milagros. Milagros (“miracles”) celebrates the decade-long partnership between Frank and Chiara, and was inspired by the sounds and people of the Andean lands. This concert concludes a four-day residency at KU which consists of concerts for pre-school children, working with KU students, and a performance at the Signs of Life in Lawrence.

PREVEW:
Lied Center of Kansas
Chiara String Quartet
Sunday, January 29, 2012, 2 p.m.
Lied Center of Kansas, KU Campus
1600 Stewart Drive, Lawrence, KS
For more information, visit www.lied.ku.edu

Top Photo: Chiara String Quartet (Photo by Christian Steiner)

By Michael D. Smith   Wed, Jan 25, 2012

Whether it was in his role as a sauve British officer in 2009’s Inglourious Basterds, or as the super-powered Magneto in X-Men: First Class, Michael Fassbender has been steadily building his status as a genuine movie star. With a plethora of nominations under his belt, including a Golden Globe, for his turn as a sex addict in Shame, Fassbender has proven he’s also a genuine actor.

From the outside, Brandon Sullivan (Fassbender) has all the appearances of a successful, white-collar thirtysomething who still has a bright future ahead. Underneath the fancy shirts and jackets is a flawed man who cannot satisfy a sexual addiction that is uncontrollable (and real—not faked, like the ones real-life stars use as excuses for their cheating). There doesn’t seem to be enough porn, prostitutes, or random sexual encounters in the world to alleviate his desires.

As a result of his addiction, Brandon is incapable of having an intimate connection with a woman, including his emotionally fragile sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan, Drive, Never Let Me Go). Brandon values his privacy for obvious reasons, but it’s thrown into chaos when Sissy, the only family he has, suddenly moves into his apartment for an indefinite period.

It’s clear from the start that their relationship is strained at best and Brandon’s emotional disconnect only makes it worse. His increasing resentment towards Sissy pushes her over the edge and causes him to feel the full brunt of shame’s wrath.

Fassbender brilliantly conveys his character’s troubled soul, often with just a tragic look in his eyes. He’s also able to easily transition from subtlety to the power of raw emotions laid bare. You don’t know whether to feel pity towards Brandon or despise him. The chemistry he shares with Mulligan is spot on. Despite the tense situation between them, they still manage to convey a sense that a deep-rooted bond exists.

Shame carries an NC-17 rating for good reason, as it contains a ton of nudity and graphic sexual content. McQueen (Hunger), who’s still relatively new as a director/writer, presents a story that’s honest, uncomfortable, and unapologetic in its delivery. Sometimes it feels a little disjointed, but it remains a solid effort by McQueen. It’s not a film for everyone, to be sure, but there’s no shame in that.

On a letter grade scale from “A” being excellent to “F” for failing, Shame receives a B-.

Shame is rated NC-17 and has a running time of 92 minutes.

Now showing through January 26 @
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square
4050 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO
Visit www.tivolikc.com, or call 913-383-7756 for more information.

By Topher Levin   Tue, Jan 24, 2012

In Beethoven's "Les Adieux" Sonata, Op. 81a, the London-born pianist played with emphatic physical movements and sensitive emotion. Airy gestures in the first movement gave way to a brooding character and richer bass in the second. The third movement had some of the best moments in the piece, notwithstanding the emotion-drenched opening, with exciting and bubbly trills and arpeggios and a strong finish.

I was glad to see Kempf's program included choices such as the Brahms 16 Waltzes from Op. 39, which worked well for the shorter attention spans of younger audience members. The most memorable of the set were the opening B major Waltz with its rich bass; the light and airy sixth in C-sharp major with its well articulated, playful, rustic mood; the eleventh in B minor which featured crisp thirds and lilting rhythms; as well as the other B major Waltz—the thirteenth—during which strident bass tones and rolled chords had a particularly rich color.

The pairing of Chopin Ballades followed nicely on the heels of the Brahms Waltzes with the lilting themes of the third Ballade well served by a bright tempo and minimal rubato—a nice trick by Kempf that maintained the momentum and character established with the Brahms. The showpiece moments were executed with sparkle and pizzazz, though I would have preferred to hear more gusto in the meaty, strident sections of the piece.

The themes of the fourth Ballade, one of my favorite works, were treated to a number of subtle color changes throughout, drawn from the piano by Kempf with a thesaurus-worth of touches. Kempf again eschewed rubato except in the most appropriate moments. The fugal treatment of the theme midway through stood out as a particularly sublime, well-controlled moment.

The Schumann Etudes Symphonique of the second half didn't quite achieve the same effect as the set of Brahms Waltzes from the first half. The theme and twelve etudes were too tightly woven to feel like smaller parts of a larger whole, instead the piece seemed a bit monolithic and daunting for the uninitiated. Nonetheless, the piece was well played by Kempf and the rousing twelfth etude achieved an immediate standing ovation from the audience.

Kempf returned to the stage to play Liszt's arrangement of “Isolde's Liebestod” from Tristan und Isolde as his encore. It was quite a high note in the concert as Kempf excelled at the Lisztian gestures and revealed a growling timbre not explored elsewhere in the program.

Overall it was an exciting and well attended program with the highlights for me being Brahms, Chopin, and the fantastic Liszt encore.

REVIEW:
Harriman-Jewell Series
Freddy Kempf, piano
Friday, January 20, 2012
Folly Theater 
300 West 12th Street, Kansas City, MO
For more information, visit http://www.hjseries.org 

Top Photo: Freddy Kempf (Photo by Neda Navaee)

By Libby Hanssen   Tue, Jan 24, 2012

Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band threw a party out at Johnson County Community College’s Yardley Hall on Saturday night. It took the full effort of the group to overthrow the strict tenets of audience decorum and get the crowd dancing, but they succeeded, with heavy grooves, energetic rhythms, and a healthy dose of soul.

The Latin music crusader—serving as bandleader, conguero and singer—performed with his group for Performing Arts Series at JCCC in association with the Jazz Winterlude festival. Though they’ve played in the Kansas City area many times before, this was the band’s first appearance in Overland Park, KS.

Despite a low energy start, the performance quickly ramped up. Even pieces set at a slower tempo were propelled by intricate percussive work from Sanchez, Joey de Leon Jr., and Angel Rodriguez, grinding grooves set down by Andy Langham (piano) and Rene Camacho (bass), and scorching horn lines from Francisco Torres (trombone), Rob Hardt (saxophones), and Ron Blake (trumpet).

The program was announced from the stage and drew selections from Sanchez’s latest album Chano y Dizzy! The album, recorded with Terence Blanchard, celebrates the legendary collaboration between Cuban conguero Chano Pozo and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. The group also performed numbers from Sanchez’s decades-long career, honoring the musicians and musical styles that influence his work.

They opened with Horace Silver’s “Silver’s Serenade.” At first Sanchez took a supporting role to the sax and piano solos, but soon emerged from the texture in a percussion break. He switched to güiro (with Rodriguez on congas) to sing “Ven Pa Bailar.” An arrangement of Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia” was followed by “Con Alma,” featuring Blake on melody, a slick solo from Torres, and Rodriguez on chekeré.

About halfway through the first set, de Leon joked, “You’re quite a respectable audience, but noise—positive noise—is encouraged!”

Sanchez added, “If you feel it, get up and do it!” Similar good-natured goading continued throughout the night as the group did their best to create a club atmosphere in the concert hall.

They switched tracks at this point, jumping into a version of Junior Walker and the All-Stars’ “Shot Gun,” in the best Motown tradition. The tight horn line and Sanchez’s showmanship as frontman got the crowd riled up. Sanchez, an Los Angles native who grew up on the soul tradition of the 50’s and 60’s, has perfected the sharp gestures and emphatic vocals of the genre.

They maintained momentum after intermission with Sanchez back on congas for “El Conguero” and another stratospheric solo from Blake. Returning to their jazz roots with a reharmonization of Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Man,” they pumped up the energy by raising the pitch and dropping back dynamically for a big finish. An impressively angular solo came from Torres on the Jazz Messengers’ “Ugetsu.” The horns stepped back for an extended feature of de Leon on timbales and assorted percussion instruments.

Sanchez announced a number for “all the drummers in the house” and they launched into Cal Tjader’s “Half and Half.” The piece started with atmospheric tinkling from Langham before setting into a searing solo by Hardt. The constantly morphing styles alternated between triple and duple time (hence the title). Rodriguez started on bongos, switched to chekeré and then to cowbell as Sanchez revved up the tempo during his solo.

Encouraging the audience to “charge it up one more time,” Sanchez fronted another soul tune, “Raise Your Hands,” complete with backing vocals from the band and tight horn pops. That got quite a number of people out of their seats. The set ended with the salsa beat of “Ariñañara.” Sanchez played a vigorous and melodious solo on the congas, punctuated by tasty fills from the percussionists.

Teasing the audience for an encore, they performed a tribute to Latin bandleader Tito Puente as a sort of musical last call, leaving a crowd still dancing in spirit if not in the flesh. 

REVIEW:
Johnson County Community College Performing Arts Series
Poncho Sanchez and His Latin Jazz Band
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Yardley Hall, Carlsen Center, JCCC Campus
12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS
For more information, visit jccc.edu/performing-arts-series/

Top Photo: Poncho Sanchez

By Libby Hanssen   Wed, Jan 18, 2012

By KCM Staff   Tue, Oct 28, 2008

Wed, Jan 25, 2012

Harriman-Jewell Series
Hamburg Symphony Orchestra with Jeffrey Tate and violinist Guy Braunstein
Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00 p.m.
Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
1601 Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO
For tickets, call 816-415-5025 or visit online at www.hjseries.org.

Founded in 1957, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra has come to be known as one of the finest Continental European orchestras. In 2008, it attracted the excellent English conductor Jeffrey Tate to the podium. Together, they will perform German, English, and Czech music on this concert, including Brahms’ Violin Concerto featuring guest violinist Guy Braunstein, the overture to The Wasps by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7.

 Equally at home on the orchestra podium or in the opera house pit, Tate has conducted the symphony orchestras of London, Berlin, Cleveland, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, and many others. His operatic successes include performances with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bastille Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera.

Violinist Guy Braunstein, a native of Israel, studied with Glenn Dictrow and Pinchas Zuckerman. He has collaborated with Isaac Stern, Andras Schiff, Zubin Mehta, Maorizio Pollini, Yefim Bronfman, and Daniel Barenboim. In 2000, he was appointed first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado and later under Simon Rattle.

Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College
Simone Dinnerstein, piano
Saturday, January 28 at 8:00 p.m.
Yardley Hall, Carlsen Center, JCCC Campus
12345 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS
For tickets, call 913-469-445 or visit online at www.jccc.edu/TheSeries.

Talented pianist Simone Dinnerstein returns to Kansas City for a performance under the auspices of the Johnson County Community College Performing Arts Series. She has previously appeared here with the Friends of Chamber Music.

Dinnerstein’s route to fame was a modern one – she raised funds on her own to record Bach’s Goldberg Variations in 2007. The CD garnered international praise, ranked No. 1 on the US Billboard Classical Chart in its first week of sales, and was named to many "Best of 2007" lists including those of The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker. Her follow-up album, The Berlin Concert, also gained the No. 1 spot on the Chart. She is now a recording artist with Sony Classical and is a recitalist throughout the world, performing in Cologne, Paris, London, Copenhagen, Vilnius, Rome, and Lisbon among others. She has appeared as soloist with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic among others.

For her Yardley Hall recital, Dinnerstein will perform the works of Bach, Schumann, and Chopin.

Harriman-Jewell Series 
Parsons Dance
Wednesday, January 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Muriel Kauffman Theatre, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
1601 Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO
For tickets, call 816-415-5025 or visit online at www.hjseries.org. 

Question: Which modern dance company has appeared with the Harriman-Jewell Series ten times and still has its audiences clamoring for more? Answer: Parsons Dance Company, founded by Kansas City native David Parsons. The eleventh such appearance will contain something entirely new: a composition created in memory of the late Richard Harriman, the creator of this outstanding series.

Parsons Dance includes ten full-time dancers and maintains a repertory of more than 70 works choreographed by Parsons. The Company’s last appearance here, a 2009 evening-length collaborative performance in Kansas City with singers of the East Village Opera Company, was enthusiastically reviewed in these pages.

The works included on this program are The Envelope, Slow Dance, Swing Shift, Portinari, Caught, and Nascimento. If you are a fan of dance, this one is not to be missed.

The Friends of Chamber Music
Les Violons du Roy with Maurice Steger, recorder
Friday, January 27 at 8:00 p.m.
Folly Theater
300 W 12th St Kansas City, MO
For tickets, call 816-561-9999 or visit online at www.chambermusic.org.

Les Violons du Roy, based in Québec City, Québec, was formed in 1984 by music director Bernard Labadie and specializes in chamber works of the Baroque and Classical periods. Although the ensemble of 15 musicians plays on modern instruments, Les Violons du Roy uses copies of period bows. The Juno Award-winning group is well known throughout Canada thanks to the numerous concerts and recordings broadcast by Société Radio-Canada and CBC, and its regular presence at music festivals. In the United States, the group regularly performs in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and is heard frequently on National Public Radio. 
For this performance, conductor Bernard Labadie brings along the leading recorder virtuoso in the world today, Maurice Steger, for recorder suites by Telemann, Sammartini, and Geminani. In addition, the group performs Handel’s Concerto grosso in B-flat major (the Hornpipe) and the Concerto grosso No. 12 in D minor by Geminani, after Corelli.

The London Telegraph wrote of a Maurice Steger performance of a Corelli piece, “Anyone who thinks the recorder is fit only for school assemblies would have been forced to think again by Steger’s amazing virtuosity, which somehow soared over the instruments limitations. The rapid passagework in Corelli’s F major Concerto emerges as a barely audible bird-like twittering, but Steger made it so crystal-clear that it pushed through the orchestral sound without difficulty.”

Lied Center of Kansas
Chiara String Quartet
Sunday, January 29 at 2:00 p.m.
Lied Center, KU Campus
1600 Stewart Dr, Lawrence, KS
For tickets, call 785-864-3436 or visit online at www.music.ku.edu. 

Now celebrating its 12th year, the Chiara String Quartet serves as Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University. The group’s honors include a top prize at the Paolo Borciani International Competition, winning the Astral Artistic Services National Audition, First Prize at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and the Guarneri Quartet Residency Award for artistic excellence by Chamber Music America.

The Chiara Quartet has performed at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the National Gallery in Washington D.C., and Harris Hall at the Aspen Music Festival. The ensemble also devotes a portion of its performance season to concerts in non-classical venues including (le) Poisson Rouge and Galapagos Art Space in New York, The Tractor Tavern in Seattle, Avant Garden in Houston, and the Hideout in Chicago, among many others.

The group specializes in both classical and modern repertoire, and the program for this Lied Center concert is indicative of such breadth. It includes Schubert’s String Quartet in A minor and Brahms’ String Quartet in B-flat major, but also Gabriela Lena Frank’sMilagros. 

KCMetropolis only previews and reviews events that are posted on the KC Events Calendar.  If you would like to list your event on the KC Events Calendar to be considered for coverage, click here for instructions.

Wed, Jan 25, 2012

For complete Theatre listings through 2011, click here to visit the KC Events calendar.

Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre
The Seagull
Runs January 11 through 29 at MET Space
For tickets call 816-569-3226 or online at www.metkc.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times 

This Russian classic adapted for stage by Tom Stoppard and directed by Karen Paisley, features an ensemble of veteran actors including, Robert Gibby Brand, Cheryl Weaver, Forrest Attaway, Richard Alan Nichols, Alan Tilson and Nancy Marcy, Chris Roady, Coleman Crenshaw, Ashley Lapine, Jessica Franz, Donovan Kidd and Sarah Stites. When a hush descends on Chekhov’s restless country estate dwellers—as it often does, abrupt and unbidden—the air remains alive with crosscurrents of thought, clashing chords of longing and the steady thrum of time passing. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience this nineteenth-century masterpiece. The play elegantly displays the poetry of everyday life; The silences, cliches, stammerings and attempts at high expression by his characters are a mirror to our own improvised lives. The Seagull contains, as Chekov put it, “5 tons of love.”

Kansas City Repertory Theatre
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Spencer Theatre
Runs January 20 through February 12
For tickets call 816-235-2700 or online at www.kcrep.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times

Labeled “Sassy, ingeniously staged and deeply affecting” by the New York Times this is a new adaptation of Mark Twain’s American literary narrative The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by acclaimed playwright Laura Eason and veteran director Jeremy Cohen. Together they have created a work that is full of imagination and fresh theatrical style. Growing up in a small Missouri town on the banks of the Mississippi River, young Tom spends his days making mischief, avoiding school and famously tricking others into doing his chores.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a classic coming-of-age story that will fire the imaginations of young and old alike. This production ofTom Sawyer is produced through special arrangement with Hartford Stage and in collaboration with Actors Theatre of Louisville and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

Quality Hill Playhouse
My Romance
Runs January 20 through February 19
For tickets call 816-421-1700 or online at www.qualityhillplayhouse.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times 

The lush melodies of Richard Rodgers combined with the clever lyrics of Lorenz Hart have made their partnership one of the greatest in the Great American Songbook, producing songs that are at times frivolous and playful, at times sad and wistful. This cabaret tribute celebrates the best of the best, with soul-stirring renditions of timeless classics “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “Blue Moon,” “Isn’t It Romantic?” and, of course, “My Romance.” Starring Lauren Braton, Jon Daugharthy, Stephanie Laws and J. Kent Barnhart at the piano, with Ken Remmert on drums and Brian Wilson on bass.

The Coterie Theatre
The Wrestling Season
Runs January 24 through February 19
For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online at www.coterietheatre.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times 

With only a wrestling mat and a referee, eight teenagers struggle with how others see them and the destructive power of rumors. Commissioned and premiered by the Coterie in 2000, it is one of the most important plays in the Coterie's history and more significant today than ever. After each performance, the referee guides the audience through a post-show Forum. As the actors, in character, discuss their actions with us, we rank their behavior from most to least objectionable.

Paul Mesner Puppets
Strega Nona
Runs January 25 through February 19
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at www.paulmesnerpuppets.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times 

In this hilarious Italian folk tale, Big Anthony is left alone with Strega Nona's magic bubbling pasta pot. He is warned not to touch it, but he can't resist. But before you can say "Fetuccini Alfredo," pasta is pouring out of the pot into the entire village! Holy Cannoli! To restore order before Strega Nona returns, Big Anthony tries to eat his way through town and winds up with a belly-full of problems.

For complete Theatre listings through 2011, click here to visit the KC Events calendar.

KCMetropolis only previews and reviews events that are posted on the KC Events Calendar.  If you would like to list your event on the KC Events Calendar to be considered for coverage, click here for instructions.

By   Tue, Jan 24, 2012

The Missouri Citizens for the Arts has requested a $3 million recommendation for the Missouri Arts Council for Fiscal Year 2013 (July 1, 2012- June 30, 2013).  Governor Nixon presented his State of the State Address last week, where he announced his budget recommendations.

MCA generated over 130 arts advocate calls to the Governor's office in December.  Due to a $500 million projected shortfall for FY2013, the Governor announced numerous cuts.

However, Governor Nixon did recommend  $600,000, in new General Revenue funds for the Missouri Arts Council's Cultural Trust Fund.  At the end of FY2012, the Trust will have a balance of $4.5 million.  MCA has requested full spending authority from the Cultural Trust Fund to pay for programs in FY2013.

For MAC's Cultural Partners, Governor Nixon recommended an increase of $100,000 for Public Broadcasting, Public Library networking, Historic Preservation, and Missouri Humanities Council.

The total amount collected from the non-resident professional athlete and entertainers tax (A&E tax) by the end of December, 2011 (first half of FY2012), was $21,300,000.  By state statute, which is subject to appropriation by the General Assembly, the Missouri Arts Council is supposed to receive 60% of the amount collected.

The next step of the budget process is the House Appropriations Committee for Economic Development.

HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE -  For Economic Development

Members are:

By   Tue, Jan 24, 2012

The Ruel Joyce Recital Series at Johnson County Community College begins its 23^rd year with performances by some of Kansas City’s finest classical musicians.

The recitals, which are free and open to the public, are scheduled at noon each Monday from Feb. 20 to April 16. All are held in the Recital Hall of the Carlsen Center unless otherwise noted.

•  Feb. 20     Boris Allakhverdyan, clarinet; David Sullivan, horn; Dan Velicer, piano
•  Feb. 27     Tami Lee Hughes, violin; Ellen Botorff, piano
•  March 5    Tom Aber, bass clarinet; Ron Hathorn, clarinet, flute, piccolo; Mark Cohick, clarinet,  piccolo clarinet; Pat Conway, percussion
•  March 12  Jan Faidley, saxophone; Michael Hall, viola; Susan Rieger, dancer; Polsky Hall                                   
•  March 19  Yuntian Liu, piano
•  March 26  Music by Forrest Pierce; Sarah Tannehill, soprano; Michael Kirkendoll, piano
•  April 2      Francesca Manheim, violin; Kairy Koshoeva, piano
•  April 9      Maria Ioudenitch, violin; Tatiana Ioudenitch, piano
•  April 16    Lee Harrelson, euphonium

The series is named for Ruel Joyce, a longtime jazz bassist who headed the local musician’s federation from 1977 until his death in 1989. Seating is available first-come, first served.

By   Sun, Jan 22, 2012

The Kansas City Symphony announced  their sophomore season in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday. An impressive collection of distinguished guest artists will join the Symphony and Music Director Michael Stern for the 2012–13 season, performing innovative and diverse repertoire designed to showcase the Symphony as well as the acoustics and state-of-the-art technical capabilities of their performance home, Helzberg Hall.

"Our first season in Helzberg Hall has exceeded all of our expectations," said Music Director Michael Stern. "But the revelatory design and exquisite acoustics are only a part of the story of the Kauffman Center, for it has already established itself in the fabric of the city and region as a whole. The real thrill has been what is happening inside, and that is what inspires us now – to make this magnificent place a living vessel for great music and art at its most transformational. Moving forward into our second season, I love the idea of sharing cherished works by great masters, in this place re-imagined as if for the first time. I love welcoming to our stage a starry array of celebrated guest soloists and conductors, as well as younger bright lights making their debuts. And I love welcoming the talented and imaginative young American composer Adam Schoenberg as Composer-in-Residence. I love our newest musical project “Symphonic Pictures," in collaboration with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, deepening our partnership and our mutual celebration of Kansas City. These are just a few of the reasons why the 2012–13 season at the symphony will be so special."

The 2012–13 season ticket renewal process will begin immediately. 

2012–13 CLASSICAL SERIES

The Symphony’s classical series will feature fourteen programs, each presented in three performances at Helzberg Hall.  Highlights of the season include Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, Mahler’s Sixth and Tchaikovsky’s “Little Russian.”  The Symphony will be joined in Orff’s Carmina burana by the Kansas City Symphony Chorus, which is led by Grammy Award-winning director Charles Bruffy. Other audience favorites will include An Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss and Symphonies No. 3 and No. 6 “Pastoral,” both by Beethoven; as well as Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

“Our inaugural season in Helzberg Hall has redefined the Kansas City Symphony experience, and has also transformed the very act of attending a symphonic concert,” said Executive Director Frank Byrne.  “The direct connection with the audience is as never before.  I believe that Helzberg Hall is a magical place where symphonic music is brought to life with a kind of excitement and power that is unforgettable, and it will only continue to get better in our thrilling second season. As I say frequently to many of our audience members, ‘you haven’t seen anything yet!’ ”

World Premiere 

Michael Stern, entering his eighth season as Music Director, will introduce the world premiere of Adam Schoenberg’s new work, co-commissioned by the KCS and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which was inspired by the museum’s collection.

Other innovative programming selections coordinate to form a “Symphonic Pictures” theme during the season, including Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky/Ravel; Martinu’s Frescoes of Piero della Francesca; Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler; plus an additional work from Schoenberg, Finding Rothko.

KCS Debuts

We celebrate the Kansas City introduction of organist Caroline Robinson, whose appearance is supported by the Almy Legacy Fund – a program which makes it possible each season to feature one of the most promising young talents from the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (the alma mater of Music Director Michael Stern). And in collaboration with UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, the Symphony is excited to welcome Eighth Blackbird Ensembleperforming Jennifer Higdon’s On A Wire.

Also making their KCS subscription debuts are: guest conductor Osmo Vanska, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra; noted violinist Vadim Gluzman and pianist Lise de la Salle; as well as cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, gold medal winner of the 2011 Tchaikovsky International Competition.

Distinguished Soloists and Guest Conductors

The 2012–13 classical season will feature a stunning collection of guest artists and conductors who are sure to delight audiences, including internationally acclaimed violinists Pinchas Zukerman and Gil Shaham, pianists Garrick Ohlsson andJose Federico Orsorio, plus soprano Christine Brewer. We welcome back two favorite guest conductors: Nicholas McGegan and Asher Fisch who will also be performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17.

POPS, FAMILY AND HOLIDAY CONCERTS

The Symphony’s four concert Pops Series gives audiences the option of attending on Friday or Saturday evenings.  This popular series boasts a range of musical styles from Dancing with Stars-inspired choreography in Ballroom with a Twist, to the latest generation of Broadway musicals, to the jazz standards of Kansas City master Bobby Watson. And the powerful voice of Jennifer Holliday will resonate throughout Helzberg Hall when she appears together with legend Marvin Hamlisch.

The Kansas City Symphony’s Family Series introduces children the world’s greatest music through light-hearted, shorter programs including Farkle and Friends, narrated by John Lithgow; the highly entertaining magic of mimes; and The Orchestra Games, where the personalities of instruments are explored through friendly sporting competitions!

The holidays would not be complete without Handel’s Messiah, with three performances to choose from, featuring the Symphony Chorus and the Independence Messiah Choir; and the return of Christmas Festival, Kansas City’s grandest holiday concert of classic Christmas carols and songs of the season.

By KCM Staff   Mon, Jun 16, 2008

Many thanks to ArtsJournal.com's editor, Douglas McLennan
~ Formerly an arts columnist and arts reporter with the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer and the Seattle Weekly. Doug writes on
the arts for a number of publications (in his abundant free time)
and is currently acting director of the National Arts Journalism
Program while it reinvents itself ~

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