During a chilly December walk on the grounds of the National World War I Museum and Memorial, Duke Lee stopped, kneeled, and asked Rena Ishii for her hand in marriage. The proposal did not come as a huge surprise. Since Rena’s arrival in Town a year earlier, to fill a temporary post at the Kansas […]

Heartland Chamber Music is not just a festival and it’s not just a music program or a “violin camp.” It’s many things at once, and unless your child has been one of the 80 or so lucky string players admitted into the program each year, you might not fully appreciate the impact it is having […]

  Most mothers dread the day that their sons or daughters start to drive, but Black moms are especially fearful when their teenagers, and sons in particular, get behind the wheel for the first time. That fear helped spark the inception of a new chamber opera by two internationally known Kansas City natives, Soprano and […]

Before there was theater there was storytelling. And if we ever end up living in a dystopian world with a broken “grid,” we might find ourselves returning to that oral tradition, trading stories among the ruins. Fortunately, we still have theater, and in late April our city welcomed the announcement of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s […]

These days the primary qualification for achieving the American dream seems to be adaptability. Jessica Wakefield and Kevin Hao began preparing for their “first careers” as orchestral violinists in the way that most exceptional musicians do: she at the Juilliard School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music, he at the University of Washington […]

Many of us still think of it as the new kid on the block. But for anyone tracing the development of the performing arts in the Kansas City region, watching the growth of the performance series at Johnson County Community College has been a bit like seeing an awkward adolescent become a strong, capable member […]

Early humans may not have actually learned to make music from the beasts of the air, land, or sea, but they were clearly aware of the sounds around them. We can probably assume that they shared our own fascination with the “songs” of birds, whales, and wolves: even as we recognize that, to whatever extent […]

After local arts organizations got over the shock of not being able to perform in their normal manner, they began setting up cameras everywhere: streaming performances live, filming them to share on the web, or creating both live and “archived” versions at the same time. Today, more than a year into this “age of innovation” […]

One of these days, Yetunde Felix-Ukwu will again have a mountain of artistic, production, and curatorial duties to deal with at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. At the moment, though, the company’s artistic associate is fulfilling an equally critical function: She is using the company’s digital platform to show Kansas City the extent to which the […]

Performing artists are such punctilious critics of their own work that they generally know what went well and what didn’t. Even before anyone else weighs in, they have at least a “feel” for how it came off. But eventually they’re curious to know what it looked like from the “other side of the footlights,” and […]

Kansas City arts organizations defied odds in 2020 and pulled off some of the most remarkable performances in recent memory. They ranged from a handful of live-with-audience performances (some pre-pandemic, some during) to a bevy of virtual shows and one “special event.” Classical KC; 91.9 Goes Live; After 20 years without a dedicated FM station, classical […]

There are many ways to save lives. Laura Shultz and her colleagues at Harmony Project KC are providing students from Kansas City’s northeast with life-affirming tools that build self-esteem through the sort of teamwork we normally associate with sports. But instead of footballs or baseball bats, they’re using violins, cellos, flutes, and clarinets. “It’s more […]

Kansas City arts group respond to pandemic with ample online content This year fans of the performing arts have learned that you don’t have to leave home to take in a show. Although some organizations have experimented with carefully-distanced outdoor (and occasionally indoor) performances, local audiences still remain disinclined to attend indoor events. And because […]

If you drive by the Belcher home during the day, you’ll find little to distinguish it from any other house on the tranquil street in suburban Liberty. But if you slow down and listen, you might hear Danny out in the yard, rehearsing a new American opera while cutting the grass. “I thought the mower […]

Extraordinary musical talent often emerges from a perfect storm of natural gifts, enthusiasm, and exceptional early instruction. When Josh Jones arrived at the Chicago Symphony’s Percussion Scholarship Program at age nine, he already possessed a set of skills that challenged the whole nature-versus-nurture conundrum. Granted, he had been hitting on things since at least age […]

If the current arts crunch has demonstrated anything, it is the resilience of performing artists. All three of the founding artistic directors we spoke with recently emphasized the same trends that many small- and medium-sized groups are finding nationwide: the pandemic has slowed but not stopped their activities, the funding community has stood steadfastly by […]

The arts have marched at the forefront of most every major cultural movement in history. In Kansas City, performing arts organizations large and small have begun to recognize the importance of Black voices both onstage and behind the scenes, and many are also realizing just how far we still have to go before equality is […]

At first it appeared that a young ballerina’s worst nightmare was coming true. Three years into a brilliant career at New York City Ballet, Taryn (Wolfe) Mejia had developed a stress fracture in her leg that threatened to sideline her for at least six months. “By the time they caught it, it was pretty severe,” […]

NOTE: Since the publication of this article, the Lyric Opera has announced that, in light of new Covid-19 restrictions, live performances of ‘Amahl and the Night Visitors’ cannot take place. However, the Lyric is filming the production, using the originally announced cast, puppeteers, and set designs. Beginning December 15th the company will offer a high-quality video […]

Frank Oakley III’s advice for aspiring actors is something we could all take to heart: Your value is not in your work, but in who you are. “Don’t put your identity and self-worth in the things that you do, even if you’re good at them,” said the graduate of Wyandotte High School and UMKC Theatre, […]

Suddenly, classical radio is back. Almost exactly 20 years after its disappearance from the FM dial, the music that Kansas City is becoming known for worldwide has made its way onto local airwaves again. On June 30th, 91.9 Classical KC went live, broadcasting 24 hours a day with a refreshing breadth of programming and with […]