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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey
Ailey II
Thursday, October 22 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, October 24 at 2 p.m. (community concert) and 8 p.m.
Folly Theatre
12^th and Central, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-931-8993 or www.kcfaa.org.

The Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey present the dance group in the above performances this weekend.  No information is available about programming or choreography, but the athletic Ailey dancers never disappoint, and the group's programs are always excellent.  Dances are usually to recorded music.

Kansas City Symphony
Bach, Haydn and Mendelssohn
Friday, October 23 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, October 24 at 8 p.m.
Lyric Theatre for October 23 and 24
11^th and Central Streets, Kansas City, MO
Sunday, October 25 at 2 p.m.
Yardley Hall for October 25
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org.

This week's Symphony concert offers a double treat, as Symphony fans will be able to hear the orchestra's estimable concert master, Kanako Ito, play the beautiful Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, and will also enjoy the Symphony Chorus join the orchestra for Franz Joseph Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass. 

Ito probably could have had a fine international solo career had she chosen, but instead she decided to settle down in Kansas City with her fine cello playing husband Martin Storey (not a member of the Symphony, but on the Park University staff).  Once every couple of years the Symphony brings her out for a solo turn, however, and this listener has always been most impressed with the results.  The Mendelssohn concerto is one of the most sensuously romantic in the repertoire, and Ito will likely present an outstanding performance. 

Meanwhile, the Haydn Lord Nelson Mass is not performed with enough frequency for this taste, and an opportunity to hear it with full choral forces should be a real pleasure.  The Symphony Chorus, always outstanding under the direction of former conductor Arnold Epley, has grown more precise and nuanced at the behest of current conductor Charles Bruffy, of Kansas City Chorale fame.  Be prepared for some real vocal fireworks, as Haydn wrote this piece to commemorate the victory of the great British naval Admiral Lord Nelson over the navy of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798.  The German Haydn was no fan of the French adventurist, as you will hear.

As if these two pieces weren't enough, the Symphony will also play the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 by Johann Sebastian Bach.  The Brandenburg Concertos are six of the greatest small orchestral pieces ever composed, and although they are usually done by smaller chamber groups it should be interesting to see what the Symphony does with this piece.  Michael Stern conducts.

At the beginning of the year, this writer targeted this weekend's concerts as among the "can't miss" concerts this year.  Let's see if they live up to billing!

Lied Center of Kansas
Trey McIntyre Project: The Sun Road
Friday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Lied Center, University of Kansas
For tickets call 785-864-2787 or online at www.lied.ku.edu.

Using classical ballet as a point of departure, the Trey McIntyre Project presents "emotionally charged dance performances that defy categorization," according to the publicity for this performance.  The featured dance in the program will be the Midwest premiere of Wolf Trap's The Sun Road, which is a multimedia performance featuring HD video footage taken of the company dancing in Glacier National Park. The giant projected images will intertwine with the ballet onstage to interpret the park's environmental plight and celebrate its grandeur.

Friends of Chamber Music
Anonymous 4
Saturday, October 24 at 8 p.m.
Visitation Catholic Church
5141 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org.

This listener has always been puzzled by Anonymous 4, the internationally renowned group of a capella women singers who specialize in medieval music. Both on recordings and in concert they sound like a choir several times their size.  Yet, even after blinking one's eyes a few times and staring at the stage for awhile, it appears as if somehow there are only four people there.

The unique blend of these ladies' voices and their exquisite musicality must be the secret.  They manage to unearth hidden gems of ancient music - goodness knows where they find them - and present them as fresh and opulent works, full of glory and wonder.  This concert is likely to be no exception, as the group sings music of 13^th century Spain, uncovered, they say, at the convent of Las Huelgas in the northern Iberian peninsula.

It should be transcendent.

Performing Arts Series, Johnson County Community College
Bad Boys of Dance
Friday, October 23 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, October 24 at 8 p.m.
Yardley Hall
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 913-469-4445 or visit online at www.jccc.edu/TheSeries.

Bad Boys of Dance is an all-male dance group led by Rasta Thomas. The group "pushes modern dance artistry to the boiling point," says the publicity for this concert.  Tango, hip-hop and ballet all figure into the group's repertoire.  For dance fans, it should be an interesting evening.

Kansas City Civic Orchestra
Triumphant Sounds
Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Atonement Lutheran Church
9948 Metcalf Avenue, Overland Park, Kansas
Free concert.

The Kansas City Civic Opera has established a long reputation for excellence among the area's community orchestras.  The group often tackles difficult music, and this outing is no exception, featuring the challenging but ravishing Prelude to Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg. 

Also on tap are Tchaikovsky's Roccoco Variations for Cello and Orchestra featuring the Russian cellist Ruslan Biryukov as the guest soloist and Mu phi Epsilon Artist.  Finally, the orchestra will perform Brahms' Symphony No. 2.  Conductor Christopher Kelts is to be prized for his ambition, and the Civic Orchestra musicians will likely be up to the task.

Topeka Symphony Orchestra
The French Connection
Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m.
White Concert Hall, Washburn University
Topeka, KS
For tickets call 785-232-2032.

The Topeka Symphony Orchestra brings conductor John Strickler and organist Stephen Hamilton to its stage Saturday evening in a concert featuring the challenging Organ Symphony of American composer Aaron Copland.  The concert will also include Honegger's Pacific 231 (video), the Stravinsky "Divertimento" from The Fairies' Kiss, and a favorite American composition, An American in Paris by the irrepressible George Gershwin.

Harriman Jewell Series
David Goode, organ
Sunday, October 25 at 3:00 p.m.
Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral
415 West 13^th Street, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-415-5025 or online at www.harriman-jewell.org.

David Goode is the is organist and head of keyboard at Eton College, England, where he presides over a unique collection of historic instruments and teaches some of the UK's most talented young organists.  Every now and, then, however, they let him take the road for a series of concerts, and this recital is one of them.

Goode will be seated at the fine Gabriel Kney pipe organ at the Cathedral, and should fill the Cathedral's impressive spaces with glorious sound.  No word on what his program will be, but organ fans are sure not to be disappointed.

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.