Libby Hanssen

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..

November 28, 2019

Arts News: Determined to Make a Difference

After a successful exploratory year, the Opus 76 quartet soars into its sophomore season with a well-defined repertoire, growing audience and a community-focused outlook. London-born..

November 27, 2019

Guide to Choral Christmastide

Among the many magical and mindboggling parts of the Christmas story is Santa Claus’ ability to travel the world in a single night. Well, you..

November 24, 2019

Love and Laments: “La storia di Orfeo” with Philippe Jaroussky, Amanda Forsythe and Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble

We forget, too often, that love and grief are two sides of the same coin. If you love, you will, eventually, grieve; if you do..

November 4, 2019

Kansas City Symphony Presents World Premiere of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Piano Concerto

Throughout many ancient traditions, the soul is equated with the breath: “atman” in Sanskrit, “ruh” in Sufism, “pneuma” in ancient Greek. In Jewish mysticism, the concept is “neshama,” the part of the soul that is intellect and expression and awareness, of God and of one’s self.

October 5, 2019

Kansas City Symphony Opens Classical Series with Themes of Struggle and Triumph

Ah, opening day. The fanfare, the National Anthem, that first pitch…it’s the opening concert of the Kansas City Symphony’s 2019/2020 Classical Series. The orchestra has..

September 22, 2019

Goons, Dames and Mozart: Hometown Tenor Debuts in Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio” Reboot.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City makes “The Abduction from the Seraglio”—a story about love, about pride and about power—into a captivating rom-com set in the seedy back alleys of Hollywood.

September 17, 2019

Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company Presents “Southern Exposure”

This fall, Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company restages its 2010 work “Southern Exposure” with the help of a $10,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. “With all of these things that have happened in the past few years...I thought it was time to revisit it again, in a slightly different perspective,” said Mary Pat Henry.

September 16, 2019

Arts News | Midwest Chamber Ensemble’s Third Album: A Francophile Delight

This summer, Midwest Chamber Ensemble released its third album: “Vieux Amis-Nouveaux Costumes” (Old Friends in New Clothes). It’s a Francophile delight. The album features works..

Author: Libby Hanssen