Libby Hanssen

Libby Hanssen

Originally from Indiana, Libby Hanssen covers the performing arts in Kansas City. She’s written for KCUR, “KC Studio,” “The Kansas City Star,” “The Pitch” and “KCMetropolis.” Libby maintains the culture blog “Proust Eats A Sandwich” and writes poetry and children’s books. Along with degrees in trombone performance, she was a Fellow for the NEA Arts Journalism Institute at Columbia University.

Can’t Buy Me Love: Kansas City Ballet’s “Lady of the Camellias”

Can’t Buy Me Love: Kansas City Ballet’s “Lady of the Camellias”

Kansas City Ballet’s “Lady of the Camellias” is gorgeous. The costuming, the dancing, the sets and lighting evoke a shimmering dream world, enhanced by the romantic music of Frédéric Chopin. Saturday’s performance at the Kauffman Center earned resounding praise from the audience. Choreographer Val Caniparoli used the popular and familiar (and semi-autobiographical) story by Alexander […]

Birds of a Feather: Kansas City Symphony Explores Music of 1919

Birds of a Feather: Kansas City Symphony Explores Music of 1919

The Kansas City Symphony journeyed to the past and into imaginary lands with its 1919-focused program in a bold performance Saturday in Helzberg Hall, conducted by music director Michael Stern. In 1919, the Western world had gruesomely ground itself up for too many years, so it is little surprise that fantasy flitted to the far […]

“Love and Death”: Behzod Abduraimov, pianist in recital

“Love and Death”: Behzod Abduraimov, pianist in recital

Midway through pianist Behzod Abduraimov’s recital at the 1900 Building, some mystery object clattered on the floor. Had a program fallen off a lap, or a button, perhaps, snapped off someone’s winter coat? Or was the mystery projectile actually a key from the piano, wrenched from its base? The latter, while improbable, seemed almost possible, […]

Arts News: Making Music from a Pile of Junk

If you’ve ever investigated the contents of an old garage, you might spot discarded PVC pipe, some old bike valves, a faucet, an unmatched kitchen glove, a broken broom, a vacuum tube without the vacuum, a busted-up rubbish bin or a crumpled-up cluster of grocery sacks. While that might seem like a pile of junk, […]

Arts News: Musical Opinion Straight from the Source

“Performing Music History: Musicians Speak First-Hand about Music History and Performance” is an instructive assemblage of musical opinion straight from the source. Compiled from decades of interviews, this collection of 55 in-person conversations is a wide-ranging display of examination and expertise from some of the leading music-makers of the day. Editor John C. Tibbets conducted […]