Kauffman Center’s memorable fifth season continued this weekend in celebration of the Center’s 1,000th public performance since opening in 2011
On Saturday, the Kauffman Center hosted its 1,000th public performance as part of its fifth performance season. The weekend’s lineup included the Kansas City Symphony’s Festa Italiana, Harriman-Jewell Series presenting Stars of American Ballet and Kauffman Center Presents’ sold out performance, Reinventing Radio: An Evening with Ira Glass.
Since the opening, Kauffman Center has welcomed more than 1.6 million audience members and guests through its doors. Its diverse progra
mming continues to shine a spotlight on Kansas City’s own vibrant arts community and attract national talent from all genres. Resident companies the Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, along with numerous other community arts organizations, have experienced record attendance in their new performance homes.
“The arts are thriving in KC, and Kansas Citians have embraced the Kauffman Center as their home for the performing arts in our community,” stated Paul J. Schofer, President and CEO of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. “Interestingly, we’ve had several national and international performers come to the Center who have commented to us that we don’t have any idea what a gem we have here in Kansas City. The fact of the matter is, the Kansas City community does realize what a treasure we have and those outside the community are just beginning to get the full picture of it. Since opening in September of 2011, more than 1.6 million visitors have attended an event at the Kauffman Center and we plan on continuing to provide extraordinary and diverse performing arts experiences for everyone in our community and beyond for generations to come.”
Kauffman Center President and CEO Paul Schofer, This American Life host and producer Ira Glass & KCUR General Manager Nico Leone
Kauffman Center’s vision of serving everyone in the community is evident from its commitment to providing children and families access to the Center’s performances. More than 165,000 students have attended a matinee performance at the Kauffman Center and more than 85,000 school children have been provided transportation funding through the Kauffman Center’s Open Doors Transportation Fund. Additionally, Open Doors Community Tickets continues to provide opportunities for Kansas City individuals and families to attend performances at no cost through partnerships with social service agencies.
In addition, Kauffman Center, its resident companies and community arts organization partners continue to provide a wide range of free or low-cost programming, including Kansas City Symphony’s free Happy Hour Concerts and Kauffman Center’s own Future Stages Festival, an annual free community event which welcomed 6,000 people and provided opportunity for 600 performers, mostly youth, to perform on stage as part of the event last June. Audiences are also able to experience low-cost presentations and performances priced as low as $10, such as the popular National Geographic Live series, part of Kauffman Center Presents.
Along with artistic successes, Kauffman Center’s first four years have been marked by solid financials due, in no small part, to efficiencies created within the Center’s operating and staffing models and from financial and volunteer support within the Kansas City community. Effective management and strong annual fundraising support have allowed Kauffman Center to operate in the black for each of its first four years, which is considered an exceptional accomplishment in comparison with performing arts centers nationally.
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Future Stages Festival, an annual community event, turns a spotlight on youth performances and family-friendly programming. The free festival supports the growth of future artists with a focus on engaging youth performers. The festival invites all ages to experience the arts and introduce young audiences to the Kauffman Center as performers and patrons. Showcasing a diverse array of performances along with interactive arts activities, the free one day festival is an extension of the Kauffman Center’s Spotlight on Youth program which provides opportunities for youth and community arts organizations to perform and experience the Kauffman Center.
Sign-up to receive updates and announcements about the 3rd Annual Future Stages Festival on June 26, 2016 and view the performance schedule:
Register Today! Performance Schedule
On June 28, 2015 Kauffman Center celebrated the 2nd Annual Future Stages Festival which showcased 600 youth artists who performed on three stages – Muriel Kauffman Theatre, Helzberg Hall and an outdoor stage. Twenty-nine community groups headlined the free event that welcomed audiences and guest from the greater KC metro area and beyond.
A video of the 2015 festival was created by festival partner NorthPass Media
Future Stages Festival Features Performances by:
5 Star Jazz Band
AileyCamp The Group
Allegro Choirs of Kansas City
Baldwin Academy of Dance and Voice Choir
Heart of America Shakespeare Festival —Team Shakespeare
Heart of America Youth Ballet
Ice Studios School of Dance Youth Group
Jody Phillips Dance Company
Kansas City Ballet
Kansas City Young Audiences Community School of the Arts Dance Students
Kansas City Boys Choir & Kansas City Girls Choir
Lawrence Ballet Theatre
Lily Zhang Li Taylor Dance Academy
Lyric Opera of Kansas City: Kids in Opera
Metropolitan Strings Academy Orchestra
Miller Marley Entertainers
Mudra Dance Academy
Music Theatre Kansas City SunRaise
Ottawa Suzuki Strings
Paseo Academy SoundPlay
School of Rock Kansas City Dean’s List
Soundz of Africa Youth Ensemble
Starlight STARS of Tomorrow
The KC Wordshop Spoken Word Artists
Traditional Chinese Music Group
Wyandotte High School Concert Band
Youth Symphony of Kansas City Summer Orchestra Program
Interactive Arts Activities and More by:
American Institute of Architects Kansas City – Design YOUR KC Skyline
Great American Kites & Events – Demonstration and Make Your Own Kites
Heart of America Shakespeare Festival – En Garde Bard (11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, and 3:30pm)
Kansas City Broadway Series
Kansas City Chalk and Walk
Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Symphony – Instrument Petting Zoo (open 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.)
Kansas City Zoo – Biofacts and Animal Conservation Activity
Lyric Opera of Kansas City – Decorate Hansel and Gretel’s “Incredible Edible Set”
Mattie Rhodes Center – Create Mexican Paper Flowers
Movies2U
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art – Sculpture Building
StoneLion Puppet Theatre
The Last Carnival Circus School
UMKC Conservatory Music and Dance
Funding for Future Stages Festival 2016 is provided by:
Support provided by:
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Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with Pinchas Zukerman
Friday, March 18th | 8:00 PM
Helzberg Hall
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, one of the world’s foremost chamber orchestras, will perform in Helzberg Hall on March 18th. Tickets range from $15 to $85.
The performance features Pinchas Zukerman, a phenomenon in the world of music for over four decades. His musical genius, prodigious technique and unwavering artistic standards are a marvel to audiences and critics. Devoted to the next generation of musicians, Zukerman has inspired younger artists with his magnetism and passion. His enthusiasm for teaching has resulted in innovative programs in London, New York, China, Israel and Ottawa. The name Pinchas Zukerman is equally respected as violinist, violist, conductor, pedagogue and chamber musician.
A co-presentation with the Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City
PROGRAM:
J.C. BACH: Sinfonia in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 6
MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216
BEETHOVEN: Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G Major, Op. 40
MELTZER: “Vision Machine” – *World Premiere*
RAVEL: “Le Tombeau de Couperin”
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Pink Martini
Sunday, March 20th | 7:00 PM
Helzberg Hall
Pink Martini, a group that crosses genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop, will perform on Sunday, March 20th in Helzberg Hall. Tickets range from $29 to $69.
“Pink Martini is like a romantic Hollywood musical of the 1940s or ’50s, but with a global perspective which is modern. We bring melodies and rhythms from different parts of the world together to create something which is new and beautiful.” – Thomas Lauderdale, the group’s bandleader and pianist
Trying to categorize Pink Martini is nearly impossible. Their sound draws from a myriad of influences, spanning the globe, cultures and time. The group began in 1994 and performs its renowned multilingual repertoire on concert stages throughout the world.
Pink Martini’s latest album, Dream a Little Dream, released in March 2014, traverses the world, from Sweden to Rwanda to China to Bavaria. The recording features guest appearances by acclaimed musicians including The Chieftains, Wayne Newton, “Jungle” Jack Hanna, and Charmian Carr (who played Liesl in the original Sound of Music).
Pink Martini is sure to dazzle audiences with their eclectic brand of entertainment. Their performance on March 20th will feature lead singer, China Forbes, who has been performing with Pink Martini for ten years. Forbes has commanded the stages of The Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Le Grand Rex of Paris and London’s Hammersmith Apollo. She has been praised as “an unpretentious pitch-perfect chanteuse” (New York Times) with her “fine, velvety voice” (Washington Post).
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Friday, September 4th | 8:00 P.M.
Helzberg Hall
The Kansas City Chamber Orchestra will open its 29th Concert Season with monumental and dramatic symphonies by Mozart and Mendelssohn on Friday, Sept. 4, 2015 in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Music Director Bruce Sorrell will conduct the concert and prelude the performance with a pre-concert talk at 7:00 p.m.
Kansas City’s own Chamber Orchestra launches the season with music Maestro Bruce Sorrell calls “thrilling and life affirming” in the beautiful acoustics of Helzberg Hall. Mozart’s monumental final symphony, the “Jupiter,” unleashes musical forces to create one of the most powerful experiences in the concert hall, and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 1 bristles with drama and the creative energy of a young master. These two great symphonies will make a spectacular Labor Day weekend celebration and are paired with Rossini’s witty and energetic overture to La scala di seta.
Music Director Bruce Sorrell says of the great Jupiter symphony by Mozart: “Mozart’s final symphony, the magnificent ‘Jupiter’, displays the master composer at the fullest manifestation of his genius. The culmination and unleashing of musical forces is one of the most powerful experiences in the concert hall: thrilling and life affirming, crowning Mozart’s achievement as one of the greatest composers for orchestra of all time.”
Mendelssohn’s first symphony showcases a genius in the making and was composed when he was only 15. The KCCO is excited to perform this symphony for the first time. The concert will open with Rossini, who composes with such wit and verve that many of his opera overture tunes have become a part of pop culture – often used in music for TV ads. The La scala di seta overture features cascades of notes which thrill the ear and set toes tapping.
Music Director Bruce Sorrell
Individual concert tickets for Friday, Sept. 4, 2015 range from $18 to $40 with senior and student discounts available. Tickets are available through the Kauffman Center Box Office at 816.994.7222 or online at kauffmancenter.org. Season tickets are available by calling 816.960.1324 or by visiting kcchamberorchestra.org.
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