Libby Hanssen

March 17, 2020

Love, Death and Power – On Steroids

What should you expect from an opera based on one of the most terrifying horror stories of all time? Believe it or not, a story about humanity. That’s what composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell discovered when they turned Stephen King’s novel into an opera for the Minnesota Opera.

February 27, 2020

Concert to Come: William Baker Festival Singers Perform the Music of Ed Frazier Davis

When the William Baker Festival Singers step into Helzberg Hall to perform the music of Ed Frazier Davis, it’s not just a concert. It’s a celebration of friends, family and renewal. “Ed writes like no one else,” said William Baker, founder and director of the Festival Singers.

February 2, 2020

newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble Challenges Apathy with “Dislocation + Defiance”

The city was bathed in fiery light the evening of newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble’s “Dislocation + Defiance” program. The anticipation of the Chiefs’ impending Super..

January 30, 2020

Arts News: Bach Aria Soloists Presents Bach Extravaganza

Bach Aria Soloists continues the group’s 20th-anniversary celebration by going back to their origins with “Bach Extravaganza,” an all-Bach program Feb. 22. When Elizabeth Suh..

January 18, 2020

Devil in the Details: Peter Oundjian conducts the Kansas City Symphony, with violinist Nancy Zhou

The vibe was celebratory during the Kansas City Symphony’s opening Classical Series concert of 2020 and it had nothing at all to do with the..

January 16, 2020

Honors: Haley Kostas

The hallway is blue lit and packed. There are large blue penguin sculptures in random places. In a bottleneck between two rooms, two hands rise up in the middle of the crush. A woman with flyaway blond hair starts to jiggle from foot to foot, creating more space around her than there was before.

January 13, 2020

Kansas City Symphony Celebrates the Centenary of Isaac Stern

His gravestone simply reads, “Isaac Stern, Fiddler.” Born July 21, 1920, he became one of the most celebrated musicians of his lifetime. This year, institutions around the world — including the Kansas City Symphony — honor his contributions. “He was one of the supreme players, one of the great violinists of the 20th century,” said Michael Stern, music director for the Kansas City Symphony, and Isaac’s son.

December 27, 2019

Lyric Opera Celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment with ‘. . . When there are nine’

On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment became law, stating, “The right of citizens in the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.”

December 14, 2019

Kansas City Chorale’s “A Ceremony of Carols” is Joyful and Sophisticated.

I have never heard an audience boo and hiss during a concert before. But folks groaned when artistic director Charles Bruffy said they were cutting some songs..

Author: Libby Hanssen