By Paul Horsley

What makes a performing-arts series great? For starters, you need the confidence of concert-goers, who have learned over the years you’ll do everything in your power to bring the world’s best (both among established artists and rising talent). In addition, you need the faith of the artists themselves, who know from experience that they’re going to have a wonderful time here (and will want to come back).

For more than half a century the Harriman-Jewell Series has built one of the world’s most satisfying arts series, right here in Kansas City, and the 2016-2017 season just announced is as wide-ranging as any in recent memory. Among visits by big stars and significant ensembles, the season sees a continued expansion of the Discovery Concerts, in which the Series has determined not just to take risks on up-and-coming talent, but to actually build this into the norm.

Next season’s Discovery Concerts begin with a high-profile appearance by the Sphinx Virtuosi, a Detroit-based ensemble of the nation’s leading black and Latino artists, which has become a terrific ambassador among audiences who might view classical music as stuffy. It’s part of a larger effort by the Series to “reach more deeply into the community,” said Clark Morris, a longtime veteran of the Series who became Executive and Artistic Director when founder Richard Harriman died in 2010. The Sphinx visit also includes a performance at the Series’ gala and a residency during which musicians will appear at various venues around the Metro to “jump-start” a set of community initiatives.

Also notable on the season are two separate appearances by Prairie Village native and international opera star Joyce DiDonato. In December the mezzo-soprano appears with Il Pomo d’Oro in a program called War and Peace: Harmony through Music. In April 2017 she and the English Concert perform Handel’s opera Ariodante in concert, in what might in fact be the local premiere of a work first performed in 1735! Joyce has a strong local following and was keen on doing both projects here, Clark said. “She is just on top of the world today. So you take one of the greatest artists in her field, in her prime, and you think … we’ll never regret having had her twice in one season.”

Soprano Renée Fleming appears in October, her fourth recital on the Series but her first recital at Kauffman Center. “We feel that Helzberg Hall works brilliantly as a recital hall, and so have the artists who have performed there,” Clark said, citing Joyce, Itzhak Perlman, Juan Diego Flórez and others. The Series still loves the Folly Theater, but the demand for certain artists cries out for Helzberg’s larger seat-count.

In November the Series brings the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Choir, an ensemble of students and alumni representing a wide range. “They think of everything they do as being inclusive of the cultures of South Africa,” Clark said. “That’s the way the university is built, based on founding principles from Nelson Mandela. But also, this choir performs at such a very high level that they deliver that message in a winning way, so that people can feel a sense of celebration onstage.”

Also included are appearances by pianist Denis Matsuev, violinists Nicola Benedetti and Anne-Sophie Mutter, the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra (in a Gershwin program), Jessica Lang Dance, the Moscow Festival Ballet, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and KC area native Ben Bliss in his recital debut. (See details in the listing below.)

Nicola first appeared here as a Discovery artist, and since then has grown into major artist. “That’s one of the nice things about the Discovery series,” Clark said. “We can put young emerging artists on the series and see if they advance to the place where we want to bring them back for other projects, or for mainstage concerts. … It’s really nice to see the maturation of an artist, to see potential realized.”

Like Richard before him, Clark takes great satisfaction in fostering promising artists and seeing them advance. “That was a hallmark of Richard’s career: to be able to see young talent and recognize who’s going to be great. And that’s one of the things that we’re attempting to carry on.”

How do they find these young artists in the first place? Through constantly keeping up with what’s going on in the field, with ears and eyes open. Oh, and there’s one other element: “Richard’s training taught him to rely on his instincts,” Clark said. “And that’s what he tried to instill in me as well.”

For tickets and complete Series information go to hjseries.org or call 816-415-5025.

To reach Paul Horsley, performing arts editor, send an email to paul@kcindependent.com or find him on Facebook (paul.horsley.501) or Twitter (@phorsleycritic).

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Harriman-Jewell Series 2016-2017

September 24: Sphinx Virtuosi, chamber orchestra, free Discovery Concert (Folly Theater); This ensemble of the nation’s top Black and Latino classical soloists is led by the Catalyst Quartet.

October 1: Jessica Lang Dance (Muriel Kauffman Theatre); The New York City-based company is dedicated to the works of Jessica Lang, a leading American choreographer and former Twyla Tharp dancer.

October 15: Renée Fleming, soprano (Helzberg Hall); One of the great singers of the modern era, Renée is the recipient of the National Medal of Arts, America’s highest artist honor. (And for you J.R.R. Tolkien/Peter Jackson fans, she can also be heard singing at the end of The Return of the King.)

October 22: Ben Bliss, tenor, in American recital debut, free Discovery Concert (Folly Theater); The Kansas City native, a graduate of the Met’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artists Program, will become just the latest among the many artists who have made their recital debuts on the Series.

October 28: Denis Matsuev, pianist (Folly Theater); Winner of the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998, Matsuev has become one of the most prominent pianists of his generation; he makes a belated Series debut with this concert.

November 15: The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Choir (Folly Theater); This choir of students and alumni has built an international profile performing Western and African repertoire.

December 1: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: Big Band Holidays (Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland); Since its 1999 KC debut, this ensemble’s fun and dazzlingly virtuosic appearances have become a local favorite. They are joined this time by vocalist Catherine Russell.

December 7: Joyce DiDonato and Il Pomo d’Oro, in War and Peace—Harmony Through Music (Folly Theater); Prairie Village native makes good: “Joyce D” performs bellicose (and pacifying) music from the Baroque, as part of an upcoming recording project.

December 15: WindSync, wind quintet, free Discovery Concert: Simple Gifts: A Holiday Sampler (Folly Theater); Wind ensembles are somewhat neglected on the music scene these days, and this hip group offers just the right solution. They’ll perform selections from The Nutcracker and other holiday fare.

January 27: Romeo and Juliet plus great Russian gems, danced by Moscow Festival Ballet (Muriel Kauffman Theatre); Founded in 1989 by former Bolshoi dancer Sergei Radchenko, this company strives to uphold the great Russian ballet tradition.

February 16: Venice Baroque Orchestra and violinist Nicola Benedetti (Folly Theater); Once a Discovery Concert artist, Nicola now appears front and center with one of the world’s leading chamber ensembles.

February 26: Simone Porter, violinist, free Discovery Concert (Folly Theater); A recent recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, this young artist was such a hit in her HJS Prelude Gala in 2015 that she was immediately booked for a full concert.

March 10: National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (Helzberg Hall); The Kiev-based orchestra is joined by pianist Alexei Grynyuk in Prokofiev’s Third Concerto, in a program that also includes Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony.

March 24: Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, By George! The Pops Plays Gershwin (Muriel Kauffman Theatre); Keith Lockhart leads the band in its first Kansas City visit since 2002.

March 31: Anne-Sophie Mutter, violinist (Folly Theater); The acclaimed soloist enters the fifth decade of her career, and is appearing on the HJS for the third time.

April 8: Tomer Gewirtzman, pianist, free Discovery Concert (Folly Theater). Tomer is this season’s recipient of the Young Concert Artists Harriman-Jewell Series prize, chosen by Clark Morris; he also won first prize in the 2015 YCA International Auditions.

April 22: The Great Flood: guitarist Bill Frisell with ensemble, and a film by Bill Morrison (Atkins Auditorium, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art); The river flood of 1927 and its impact on vast regions of the American Midwest is the topic for this multimedia collaboration, which traces evolution of American music from rural blues to urban electric blues and the beginnings of rock.

April 28: Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano, with The English Concert and stellar vocal cast: Handel’s Ariodante (Helzberg Hall); KC’s mezzo joins leader Harry Bicket and soloists in a concert performance of one of Handel’s most scintillating theater works.