Category: Performing
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Artist to Watch: Vanessa Thomas
Lawrence-based singer Vanessa Thomas works as a vocal coach, accompanist, church music director, and full-time single mom to her four children, all while regularly performing nationally with Grammy Award-winning maestro Doc Severinsen. Vocally, she is known for her seamless four-octave range and her unusual musical versatility.
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A Premier Orchestra, A Majestic Work, An Exquisite Hall
Conductor Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra had some big- league competition when they performed in Kansas City in 2015. The same evening as their concert, the Kansas City Royals were playing the first game of the World Series that they ultimately won. But Royals mania did not deter a sell-out crowd from packing Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall to hear a riveting concert of Beethoven and Mahler.
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Ballet Tells a Haunting Tale
Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” has haunted readers for almost seven decades. Its narrative is simple: In a fictional town, an annual rite is held in which one of the citizens is murdered — by stoning. The townspeople approach the lottery with a chilling nonchalance. Betraying one of their own — in this case, a wife and mother named Tessie Hutchinson — is merely something that must be done to maintain the social order.