Guest Stars Placido Domingo and Itzhak Perlman Will Perform At Opening Galas

Greater Kansas City Invited to Special Community Day

 The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, a new center for music, opera, theater, and dance, will open in downtown Kansas City, Missouri September 16-18, 2011 with a weekend of celebration. The Kauffman Center will host back-to-back Grand Opening galas to inaugurate its two new performance halls, bringing legends Placido Domingo and Itzhak Perlman to Kansas City on the evenings of Friday, September 16 and Saturday, September 17, 2011, respectively. The opening weekend will culminate with a community day on Sunday, September 18 featuring performances on the stages of the Kauffman Center’s new houses: the Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall.

Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will present a wide spectrum of entertainers and performances from around the world, including classical, pop, and jazz music, ballet and contemporary dance, Broadway productions, comedy shows and more. It will also be the performance home to three of the region’s leading performing arts organizations—Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City. The Kauffman Center will be one of the most technically and architecturally advanced performing arts centers in the nation, allowing its resident companies and presenters to stage more sophisticated work, encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, and foster the cross-fertilization of the companies’ audiences. The 285,000 square-foot facility will include two separate halls: the 1,600 seat Helzberg Hall and the 1,800 seat Muriel Kauffman Theatre—both housed within a dramatic overarching shell featuring a glass roof and glass walls. The Brandmeyer Great Hall will provide sweeping views of Kansas City.

The Kauffman Center’s Grand Opening events are designed to showcase the capabilities of the Center’s two venues, Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall. The weekend will kick off on Friday, September 16 with a tribute to the center’s late namesake, Muriel McBrien Kauffman. The gala evening will feature a range of performances from opera to Broadway, headlined by world-renowned tenor and musician Placido Domingo, making his first appearance in Kansas City. The Center’s three resident companies, the Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, will all take part in the program. The celebration will continue Saturday, September 17 in Helzberg Hall with a concert to showcase the acoustics of the new hall, featuring a special guest appearance by virtuoso violinist Itzhak Perlman accompanied by the Kansas City Symphony, conducted by Music Director, Maestro Michael Stern.

On Sunday, September 18, the Kauffman Center will open its doors to the community, hosting a series of short, family-friendly performances throughout the afternoon in both halls. Tours of the Center, including opportunities to see backstage areas, will give visitors a rare sneak peek behind the scenes. “We can hardly wait to welcome the Kansas City community into the Kauffman Center and invite individuals and families from across the region to take part in our opening,” said Jane Chu, President and CEO of the Kauffman Center. “We are thrilled that two of the classical music world’s most acclaimed and beloved artists will be here to perform as part of the festivities, and we look forward to the opportunity to show off both the beauty and enhanced capabilities of our new performance halls. This is a great moment that we’ve all been waiting for.”

“I know mother would be proud to welcome the entire community to take part in these joyous opening celebrations,” said Julia Irene Kauffman, Chairman of the Board of the Kauffman Center and Chairman/CEO of the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation. “The new performing arts center is a wonderful expression of her sense of civic responsibility and a gift that will keep on giving for generations to come.”

Chaka Khan at 1YEAR2GO

The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts has announced that the legendary
Chaka Khan will appear in place of Aretha Franklin as the headliner for the 1 Year 2 Go event, scheduled
for Sunday, September 26. Ms. Franklin is unable to travel to Kansas City as she is currently devoting
herself to the care of her son, following injuries he sustained earlier this week.

Jane Chu, CEO of the Kauffman Center, announced: “We extend our sympathies to Ms. Franklin and her
family. We look forward to welcoming Aretha Franklin back to Kansas City to grace one of the stages in
the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts during our inaugural season. We are grateful for Ms.
Franklin’s assistance in enlisting Chaka Khan to help us celebrate our one-year countdown to the
opening of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. While we are sad about the circumstances
prompting this change, we could not be happier about the opportunity to bring such an amazing
performer to this community. It’s what the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is all about. “

Since bursting upon the music scene in the 1970s, Chaka Kahn has been setting standards in a variety of
music genres including pop, rhythm & blues, rock, disco, fusion, jazz, rap, hip-hop and even classical. She
is a multiple Grammy-winner best known for her memorable hit songs “I’m Every Woman,” “Ain’t
Nobody,” “I Feel for You,” “Tell Me Something Good,” and “Through the Fire,” among others.

Chaka Khan is the headline attraction at the 1 Year 2 Go celebration, which tops off a multi-venue dinner
and entertainment extravaganza downtown. All proceeds from this fundraising event will support the
development of the Kauffman Center’s community programs, designed to create unprecedented access
to arts experiences for young people in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Premium tickets to the event, including valet parking, dinner and favored viewing locations for Ms.
Khan’s KC Live performance start at $200. A limited number of $35 concert-only tickets remain
available. Tickets can be purchased online at www.kauffmancenter.org, or by calling 816-994-7200.
For more information on the event including ticket refund information, go to www.kauffmancenter.org.

Join us on September 26, 2010 from 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm for the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts 1Year2Go Countdown Celebration at the Power & Light District KC Live! Stage. Tickets will be available exclusively from KauffmanCenter.org beginning July 22nd, 2010 at a variety of price ranges, starting at $35 for concert only tickets. Mark your calendars now for the 1Year2Go Countdown Celebration. Stay in touch with the Kauffman Center through our Facebook page.

You may not have noticed, but the entire steel structure of the Kauffman Center moved in the past month. Well, it only moved a couple of inches, but that it moved at all is remarkable. This is part of the “tensioning process” that is critical to the stability of the Kauffman Center design. It also enables the luxurious ceiling and walls made of glass to sweep so graciously, but securely, over patrons below.

“The pull,” as the construction team refers to the process that moved the steel structure, was done by crews from the subcontractor BSC using sophisticated measurements, precise technology and large hydraulic jacks. The precise engineering process takes place slowly over a month period, focusing on one portion of the steel grid at a time. An understated Matt Jansen, project manager with JE Dunn Construction Company, admits, “It’s a gigantic engineering feat.”

The Kauffman Center architectural design calls for a steel infrastructure and a cable supported system, something not common to most buildings. This requires the construction team to first build a typical steel structure. Then they tension cable support between that steel framework and the concrete anchor wall separating the building from the garage.

The glass lobby, a signature aspect of the Kauffman Center design, was engineered by Novum Structures. They are supported in their work by two local subcontractors: BSC, that focuses on the steel aspects of the lobby construction (including the pull) and Bratton that installs the glass.

Twenty-seven steel columns, gently angled like tent poles, are attached by cables to the existing steel infrastructure of the halls and to the concrete anchor wall near the parking garage below. The anchor wall is 50 feet high, four feet thick and 360 feet long.

Bolts weighing 20 pounds are used temporarily in the tensioning process. If weather cooperates, glass will begin to be installed in April, 2010 in some areas of the lobby roof and walls, even though the tensioning process may continue in other sections.

Additional complexity in this stage of construction arises from the need for guttering, lighting and heaters near where the roof meets the south wall.

In addition, another large engineering feat will take place when four cables are installed east to west across the roof’s edge to create a snow fence that catches and keeps snow in place until melted.

The Kauffman Center donors on this page made gifts to the Seat Naming Campaign which benefits the Center’s operating endowment. Their contributions are investments in Kansas City’s performing arts future and help to build an extraordinary landmark and ensure great performing arts experiences for years to come. For more information about making a gift to the Kauffman Center, please contact Christopher Beal at 816-994-7219 or cbeal@kauffmancenter.org.

Emily and Dick Ballentine

As Kansas City Symphony season subscribers for more than 30 years, Emily and Dick Ballentine have been thinking about how they wanted to support the Kauffman Center. When the seat naming opportunity was announced, they realized it was just the ticket.

Emily, a graduate from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance in organ performance, especially looks forward to hearing the pipe organ in the concert hall. Dick has co-authored several books about hiking in Kansas City and is ready to add the park atop the Kauffman Center garage to his list of great urban walks.

“You’ll see us at the ballet and other types of events, as well,” Emily says. “We’re eager to enjoy all aspects of the Kauffman Center.”

Tom and Denise Holcom

When Tom and Denise Holcom married, they looked for special ways to blend their family holiday traditions. So, in 1984, they began taking Matt, Daniel and Scott to a Saturday night performance of “The Nutcracker.” The following day was proclaimed “Holcom Christmas Sunday,” always incorporating friends and additional family. Every year the boys each got a nutcracker as one of their gifts, now part of three treasured collections in their own homes.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of this tradition led to a contribution to the Kauffman Center. “We thought that naming five seats in the Kauffman Center was a great idea and the boys agreed,” says Denise. “Plus each plaque was generous enough to reference our Nutcracker tradition and hold one family member’s name.”

The Holcoms have also purchased a handprint on the Children’s Wall for their grandchild. “We did it when Eoghan was two months old and we hope that he’s the youngest person represented,” Denise adds.

Martha Lee Cain Tranby

Martha Tranby had a deep belief in the power of music to affect people’s lives for the better. For more than 45 years, her musical contributions were numerous. She was a high school music teacher, gave private piano lessons in her home, played the organ at her church and directed the choir at two others.

Although a person of modest means, Tranby carefully planned her finances and was able to establish a charitable fund at the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation in 1991. Since her death in 2004, her legacy has continued through grants that primarily engage and encourage young people in their artistic interests.

“If Martha were alive today, she would definitely want to be part of the Kauffman Center,” says Myron Sildon, Tranby’s attorney and president of the Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund advisory board. “Placing her name on a seat will remind audiences of her vision for years to come.”

Shawsie Branton Honors Dean Earl Cavanaugh

Seat naming provides a terrific way to remember someone meaningful in your life, says donor Shawsie Branton. Shawsie donated a seat and named it after Dean Earl Cavanaugh, dean emeritus of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in downtown Kansas City.

“Dean Cavanaugh not only led the congregation of an urban church for 19 years, he was deeply involved in the life of Kansas City’s downtown,” says Branton. “Plus he just loved the Symphony, and so did his wife, Nancy. Naming a seat as a memorial to his life and work made sense to me.”

Cavanaugh was the sixth dean of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, serving from 1976 to 1995. Branton became senior warden at the cathedral soon after Cavanaugh arrived in Kansas City, and they undertook many projects together. “He established the Kansas City Community Kitchen, built a new parish hall, and kept his congregation growing, even through difficult times,” says Branton.

Cavanaugh died in 2007, but his legacy continues in many important ways.

To learn more about how you can support the Kauffman Center and honor those close to you, visit our seat naming page.