SEPTEMBER

September 4-22: Kansas City Repertory Theatre; Once; This endearing musical by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (with a book by Enda Walsh), set on the streets of Dublin, won eight Tony Awards in 2012 and a Grammy Award; Spencer Theatre. Contact: 816-235-2700 or kcrep.org. 

September 11-29: Kansas City Actors Theatre; Dial M for Murder; Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Frederick Knott’s gripping murder mystery, also adapted for the classic Hitchcock film, here stars Elise Poehling and Darren Kennedy; H&R Block Theatre at Union Station Kansas City. Contact: kcactors.org. 

September 11-October 6: Coterie Theatre; Horse Power: Tom Bass’ American Story; Michelle Tyrene Johnson has written a new play about Tom Bass, a pioneering horse trainer and co-founder of the American Royal; the premiere is co-sponsored by the Royal, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary; Coterie Theatre, Crown Center of Kansas City. Contact: Contact: 816-474-6552 or thecoterie.org.

September 12-21: KC Melting Pot Theatre; Seven Guitars; August Wilson’s emotionally searing play follows the lives of seven characters in 1948 as they navigate hardship and love, all to the backdrop of the blues; Melonnie Walker directs; Just Off Broadway Theatre. Contact: kcmeltingpot.com. 

September 13-15: Kansas City Symphony; Stravinsky’s Firebird, Alisa Weilerstein Plays Dvořák; Matthias Pintscher’s first concert as music director features Stravinsky’s complete Firebird and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto; Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Contact: 816-471-0400 or kcsymphony.org. 

September 14: Ensemble Ibérica and 1900 Building; Sur: Music from South America; Gian-Carla Tisera’s vocals capture the heartache of Bolivian song, and Columbian guitarist Nilko Andreas lend a powerful aspect; 1900 Building. Contact: ensembleiberica.org. 

September 14-22: White Theatre at the J; Tree of Life; In this new play by Kansas City-based author Victor Wishna, a small-town widower clings to his Jewish congregation, while the synagogue’s Torah becomes a focal point of the struggle between tradition and renewal; White Theatre at the J. Contact: 913-327-8054 or thejkc.org.  

September 15: Spire Chamber Ensemble; My Lord, What a Morning; Spire’s 15th anniversary season opens with a program featuring countertenor Reginald Mobley that highlights the depth and diversity of Black musical traditions; Atonement Lutheran Church. Contact: spirechamberensemble.org. 

September 20: Park University International Center for Music and NAVO Arts; Pianist Behzod Abduraimov and Conductor Shah Sadikov; Two of Park University’s most gifted alumni perform Brahms, Prokofiev, and Mozart (Concerto No. 20) with the ICM Orchestra and the NAVO Chamber Orchestra; Folly Theater. Contact: icm.park.edu. 

September 20-21: Midwest Trust Center; New Dance Partners; This year’s collaboration includes new works by Peter Chu (Kansas City Ballet), Alexander Anderson (Owen/Cox Dance Group), Hélène Simoneau (Störling Dance Theater), and Kia S. Smith (Regina Klenjoski Dance Company). Midwest Trust Center. Contact: 913-469-4445 or jccc.edu/midwest-trust-center.

September 21: Folly Jazz Series; Karrin Allyson; Our hometown favorite, who happens to be one of the great jazz vocalists today, presents material from her latest release, A Kiss for Brazil; Folly Theater. Contact: 816-474-4444 or follytheater.org. 

September 21-22: newEar Contemporary Chamber Music Ensemble; Season Opener;The season-opener features music of Christopher Stark; Laura Whitney-Johnson, Viet Cuong, and others; All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church. Contact: newear.org. 

September 21-22: Te Deum; The Peaceable Kingdom; Matthew Shepard conducts landmarks of 20th-century choral music: Randall Thompson’s The Peaceable Kingdom,James MacMillan’s Miserere, and African-American Spirituals; St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (September 21st) and Village Presbyterian Church (September 22nd). Contact: te-deum.org. 

September 27 & 29: Lyric Opera of Kansas City; The Brightness of Light; Composer Kevin Puts has created a vocal-orchestral drama based on love letters between artist Georgia O’Keeffe and photographer Aldred Stieglitz; soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Rod Gilfry star; Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Contact: 816-471-7344 or kcopera.org.

September 29: Harriman-Jewell Series; Itzhak Perlman: In the Fiddler’s House; America’s favorite classical violinist enjoys excursions into the soulful genre of klezmer; he is joined here by the Boston-based Klezmer Conservatory Band; Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Contact: 816-415-5025 or hjseries.org.

September 29: Midwest Trust Center; Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse Live in Concert; Daniel Pemberton’s score enormously enhances the impact of this new series of films, which contain some of the most inventive animation of modern times; Midwest Trust Center. Contact: 913-469-4445 or jccc.edu/midwest-trust-center. 

OCTOBER 

October 8: Kauffman Center Presents; Cameron Carpenter; America’s bad boy of the organ takes to Helzberg Hall’s mighty Casavant for Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition; Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Contact: 816-994-7222 or kauffmancenter.org. 

October 9: Kansas City Chamber Orchestra and Park University International Center for Music; All-Mozart Concert; Bruce Sorrell conducts the Piano Concerto, K. 491 (with Yangrui Cai, soloist) and the “Prague” Symphony; Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral. Contact: kcchamberorchestra.org. 

October 10: Kansas City Chorale; Music of Bruckner and Todd; Kansas City’s premier chorus opens its season with the luscious music of Bruckner and works by British-born composer Will Todd; Rozzelle Court at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Contact: kcchorale.org. 

October 11: Kansas City Jazz Orchestra; Unforgettable, featuring Sachal Vasandani;Kansas City’s remarkable jazz orchestra opens its season with the superb artistry of Chicago vocalist Sachal Vasandani; Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Contact: kcjo.org. 

October 11-20: Kansas City Ballet; ALICE (in wonderland); Septime Webre’s extravagant take on Lewis Carroll features original music by Matthew Pierce; Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Contact: 816-893-8993 or kcballet.org. 

October 12: NAVO Arts; Ingrid Stölzel: A Musical Portrait; One of today’s leading women composers is a University of Kansas professor and composer-in-residence for NAVO; the latter honors her music here, as part of its own 10th anniversary celebration; Atonement Lutheran Church. Contact: navoarts.com. 

October 17: Opus 76 Quartet; Mozart & Beethoven; Kansas City’s preeminent quartet presents two Classic-period milestones, Mozart’s third Prussian Quartet (K. 590) and Beethoven’s Harp Quartet; Old Mission United Methodist Church. Contact: opus76.org. 

October 26: Friends of Chamber Music; Twelfth Night Ensemble: Handel’s Apollo e Dafne; This retelling of tales from Ovid’s Metamorphosis is essentially an elegant music drama; Atonement Lutheran Church. Contact: 816-766-1096 or chambermusic.org. 

October 30-November 3: Spinning Tree Theatre; Bubble Boy; The Kansas City premiere of this hit musical, sponsored by Theatre League, tells of a boy born without immunities who has to deal with first love while contained in a bubble room; Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center. Contact: spinningtreetheatre.com. 

NOVEMBER 

November 8: Bach Aria Soloists; Bach Unlocked, featuring Dr. Christoph Wolff; The musicians intersperse Bach masterworks with insights, commentary, and anecdotes by the greatest living Bach expert, an emeritus professor at Harvard University; Village Presbyterian Church. Contact: bachariasoloists.com. 

November 8-10: KC VITAs and NewEar Contemporary Chamber Music Ensemble; Eklektikos; Our two most prominent new-music groups collaborate in a program of variegated music from Kansas City and beyond; Country Club Christian Church. Contact: kcvitas.org. 

November 14-17: Kansas City Public Theatre; The Disappointments; Aaron Scully’s new play, created in partnership with Healing House KC, follows a young man whose fiancée presents him with an ultimatum: Stop drinking or I’m leaving; Whim Space. Contact: kcpublictheatre.org. 

November 22: William Baker Festival Singers & Voces Festivas; 27th Annual Thanksgiving Concert for Human Need; These choirs gather each year for a concert that calls attention to the need for food, shelter, and the arts; St. Mary’s-St. Anthony’s Parish Catholic Church. Contact: festivalsingers.org. 

November 22-December 8: Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City; Hip Hop Cinderella; This musical by Rona Siddiqui and Scott Elmegreen (adapted by Linda Chichester and David Coffman) reimagines the fairy tale in a futuristic setting, in which the “ball” is a rap competition; Gem Theatre. Contact: brtkc.org. 

DECEMBER 

December 3-8: PNC Broadway in Kansas City; Funny Girl; The glory of this 1964 musical on the life of Fanny Brice is in its peerless songs (by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill); Kansas City Music Hall. Contact: americantheatreguild.com/kansascity. 

December 13-15: Owen/Cox Dance Group; The Nutcracker and the Mouse King; This irreverent take on the ballet re-casts Tchaikovsky’s music but also features top-notch dancing; Midwest Trust Center. Contact: 913-469-4445 or jccc.edu/midwest-trust-center.

—By Paul Horsley