Events
Martina McBride to Perform in Muriel Kauffman Theatre this April
Martina McBride has sung her way to the top of the charts with six No. 1 hits and has sold more than 18 million albums since her rise to fame began in 1993. McBride will bring her repertoire of country hits to the Kauffman Center on April 2, 2020.
In 2017, McBride celebrated her 25th year of touring, and she certainly has something to show for it. McBride has secured fourteen Gold, nine Platinum, three Double Platinum and two Triple Platinum certifications after she released hit albums such as Wild Angels and Evolution. McBride has been nominated for and received a multitude of awards including four wins from the Country Music Association and three Academy of Country Music Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year. She has also earned the honor of performing on some of the biggest stages in music including the GRAMMYs and CMAs.
This midwestern native turned superstar got her humble beginnings on a dairy farm in Sharon, KS. Her father played in a local band, and it did not take long for McBride to join in playing keyboard and singing with other members of her family at local shows. After realizing college was not her calling, she met and married sound engineer John McBride, and the couple moved to Nashville to pursue their dreams. Martina McBride struck gold when legendary country star Garth Brooks took a liking to her. With his promotional assistance, she scored a record deal with RCA. Her second album, The Way that I Am, was a hit hosting two top ten singles.
McBride continued to make music over the years, while she also expanded her reach into the world of food. McBride has released two cookbooks titled, Around the Table and Martina’s Kitchen Mix: My Recipe Playlist for Real Life. These books allowed McBride to showcase her love and talent for cooking, hosting and decorating for the perfect dinner party.
McBride has inspired many as she developed her Team Music is Love charity initiative. This initiative focuses on fundraising and volunteer projects that support causes such as hunger relief, cancer research, combating domestic violence and helping children in need. McBride has been awarded the Covenant House Beacon of Hope Award and Music Business Association’s prestigious Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award for her philanthropic efforts on behalf of domestic violence.
Tickets can be purchased at the Kauffman Center Box Office, by calling 816.994.7222, or online at kauffmancenter.org.
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Art installation features handprints by Kansas City Pre-K kids
Photo by Dalene Bradford
Kansas City Pre-K kids and their families celebrated the addition of 129 new handprints on the PNC Grow Up Great Gallery at the Kauffman Center last week. The art installation in the Kauffman Center’s Plaza Lobby now showcases nearly 300 handprints created by local preschool students from four local early childhood centers: St. Mark Child and Family Development Center, Metro Early Learning Center, Growing Futures Early Education Center, and El Centro Academy for Children.
At a special event hosted by PNC Bank, the children proudly located their handprints in the colorful gallery setting that combines visual art and musical themes. Each child was photographed near their handprint on the wall and took home a framed photo as a memory of the evening at the Kauffman Center.
The November 12 event included dinner in Brandmeyer Great Hall and interactive performances by local groups StoneLion Puppet Theatre and Drum Safari. Planet Play engaged youngsters in creative building activities, and passport booklets guided families through the evening’s activities. Other memorabilia given to the children and their families included PNC-branded t-shirts and tote bags. The event drew attention of local media, resulting in coverage on KMBC Channel 9 News.
Photo by David Riffel
Photo by David Riffel
PNC Bank created the gallery in 2018 in partnership with the Kauffman Center and other early education centers as part of an effort to inspire great futures for local children through memorable arts experiences. The gallery exemplifies PNC’s 15-year-old flagship philanthropic program, PNC Grow Up Great, a bilingual initiative to prepare children from birth to age five for success in school and life.
“Early childhood education is about giving a child the right start to life. And that is something institutions like St. Mark Child and Family Development Center, Metro Early Learning Center, Growing Futures Early Education Center, and El Centro Academy for Children do so well,” said Dale Klose, regional president for PNC in Kansas City. “Our relationship with the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts allows us to showcase the work we do with these organizations.”
PNC Bank is the Kauffman Center’s exclusive bank sponsor and supports the Kauffman Center’s Ensemble business membership program and the PNC Grow Up Great Gallery. PNC is also a key sponsor of the Kauffman Center’s programming series, Kauffman Center Presents.
“The PNC Grow Up Great Gallery is a truly meaningful part of our relationship with PNC Bank,” says Paul Schofer, president and CEO of the Kauffman Center. “We love that this project connects so many youngsters with the Center in such a personal way. We are eager to have all of them come back to compare their growing hands with their colorful handprints and, of course, to attend a live performance.”
The PNC Grow Up Great Gallery is in the Level 2 Plaza Lobby of the Kauffman Center. The gallery is open for viewing by ticketholders 90 minutes prior to any performance. It’s also open to the public during box office hours, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Larry, Steve & Rudy: The Gatlin Brothers
Performing in Muriel Kauffman Theatre this January
Larry, Steve, and Rudy of the Gatlin Brothers continue to dazzle audiences with hits that span six decades. The three will bring their catalog of esteemed music to the Muriel Kauffman Theatre stage Jan. 18, 2020.
With songs like “Broken Lady” and “All The Gold In California,” the Gatlin Brothers have garnered a collection of awards, including a GRAMMY Award for Best Country Song and three ACM awards for Single of the Year, Album of the Year, and Male Vocalist of the Year. They have accumulated seven No. 1 singles, 32 Top 40 records, 24 studio albums and five BMI Million-Air. They have performed for the GRAMMY Awards, the American Music Awards, and the People’s Choice Awards. Television audiences saw them regularly on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Oprah, Hee-Haw, Love Boat, the Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack, the Merv Griffin Show, Solid Gold, the Barbara Mandrell Show, and their own variety special on ABC. Most recently, Larry was honored as a 2019 Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame Inductee.
The Gatlin Brothers began their career in Abilene, Texas, in 1955 when they were children. An outgoing young trio, they would sing gospel music for anyone who would listen and pore over recordings from artists like James Blackwood and the Blackwood Brothers and Hovie Lister and The Statesmen Quartet. The gregarious boys grew into skilled musicians, forming the revered Gatlin Brothers that we know today. By 1976, they were releasing fan favorites that quickly drove them to stardom.
In addition to their musical accolades, the Gatlin Brothers have hit the stage in some of the world’s most famous venues including the Grand Ole Opry, Carnegie Hall, and Madison Square Garden. They’ve performed with legendary entertainers like Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Vince Gill and numerous gospel artists. The trio has also proudly entertained U.S. troops in Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Germany, and military bases in the United States. Additionally, they have appeared at famed sporting events, performing the national anthem at the 1985 and 1989 World Series, the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, the NHL All Star Hockey Game, and the 2008 Olympics in Bejing, China. Local fans may have special memories of the Gatlin Brothers because of their national anthem performance in St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1985 World Series won by the Kansas City Royals.
Five World-Class Illusionists Bring Magic Show
Muriel Kauffman Theatre | Friday, April 3, 2020
The illusionists who make up Champions of Magic will share their mind-bending theatrical production with a Kauffman Center audience during their second North American tour, which launched this fall. Magicians Alex McAleer, Kayla Drescher, Fernando Velasco, and the group Young & Strange will amaze the audience with incredible mind reading, stunning close-up magic, and daring large-scale illusions. Following sold-out shows around the world, rave reviews from audiences of all ages, and a run in London’s West End, this incredible performance will leave the entire family astounded.
The group has more than 30 million online views, in addition to a live, worldwide audience reaching the hundreds of thousands. Aside from touring, they have made on-screen appearances on The CW’s Penn & Teller: Fool Us, NBC’s Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon, The Today Show, and Access Hollywood Live. Each team member specializes in a different type of magic: illusionists Young & Strange, close-up magician Kayla Drescher, escapologist Fernando Velasco, and mind reader Alex McAleer.
Champions Of Magic shares incredible interactive magic, an impossible escape from Houdini’s water torture cell, a mind-blowing prediction that must be seen to be believed, levitation high above the stage, and a finale beyond explanation. From unbelievable mind reading and stunning close-up tricks, to massive stage-filling illusions, these magicians were born to amaze.
“Spectacular family show… take a seat and prepare to be astounded, astonished and amazed.” – iHeart Radio
“You have to check them out! That was tremendous!” – Access Hollywood Live
World-class Organist to Perform in Helzberg Hall March2020
With his unique performance style, Cameron Carpenter is smashing the stereotypes of organists and organ music worldwide. His repertoire is considered the most diverse of any organist, ranging from film scores to complete works of J.S. Bach, to hundreds of original arrangements.
Carpenter will bring his remarkable range of musical mastery to the Kauffman Center on March 4, performing on the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ, Opus 3875. This custom-built instrument was commissioned to showcase incredible sound, elegant beauty, and perfect harmony, complementing the acoustic and visual design of Helzberg Hall.
Carpenter’s distinctive talent will emanate in this live accompaniment of Buster Keaton’s famous silent comedy The General. The historical film was inspired by the 1862 Great Locomotive Chase of the American Civil War. Carpenter will lend his unmatched skill to one of the greatest silent films of all time for an unforgettable musical and cinematic experience.
A former child prodigy, Carpenter trained at the American Boychoir School, the North Carolina School of the Arts. His youthful talent propelled him to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from The Juilliard School in New York City. Carpenter is now the first solo organist ever nominated for a GRAMMY Award for his debut album Revolutionary. He has appeared with many of the great orchestras around the world and holds the 2012 Leonard Bernstein Award. In 2014, Carpenter launched his International Touring Organ—a monumental cross-genre digital organ built by Marshall & Ogletree to his own design. Carpenter also released his latest album, Rachmaninoff & Poulenc, in April 2019 on Sony Classical. The album features a live recording with the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra.
Along with his musical endeavors, Carpenter also lends his creative eye to the design of his own onstage wardrobe. Applying thousands of sequins to his presentation attire, Carpenter’s performances are a treat for the eyes and ears. Additionally, his diverse talents have allowed him to speak and debate at think tanks and conferences including TED, IdeaCity, The Entertainment Gathering, and many more.
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