Tomorrow is First Friday and its time once again for some weekend calendar picks from KC Studio editor, Alice Thorson! Come out to Todd Weiner Gallery tomorrow night to celebrate the release of the March/April issue of KC Studio and the opening of Ole Lislerud’s Image as Metaphor (work featured above). Tonight, post Ellen Bass will be reading at Rockhurst University. The Kansas Symphony will be performing with pianist Behzod Abduraimov Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And on Sunday, The Performing Arts Series at JCCC presents DJ Spooky. To uncover more exciting arts event, check out Kansas City’s most comprehensive arts calendar at kcstudio.org/events.
Midwest Poets Series: Ellen Bass
March 3 @ 7:00 pm | $3
Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Hall Auditorium at Rockhurst University
“The harder the times,” Ellen Bass has said, “the more important to praise.”
Californian Ellen Bass can be called a narrative poet, a lyric poet, a poet of the sensual world. Her latest book of poetry, Like a Beggar, comes from Copper Canyon Press, 2014. Previous poetry books include The Human Line, named a Notable Book by The San Francisco Chronicle, and Mules of Love (BOA Editions), which won the Lambda Literary Award. She co-edited (with Florence Howe) the groundbreaking No More Masks! An Anthology of Poems by Women (Doubleday).
Her poems appear in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and New Letters. She has won NEA fellowships, the Elliston Book Award, Nimrod/Hardman’s Pablo Neruda Prize, the New Letters Poetry Award, and two Pushcart Prizes. Non-fiction books include Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth, I Never Told Anyone: Writings by Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, and The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (those from Harper Collins).
Ellen Bass teaches at Pacific University and has taught creative writing in Santa Cruz, Calif., and at other beautiful locations internationally.
KC Studio Magazine Launch Party
March 4 @ 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Todd Weiner Gallery
Please join us to celebrate the March/April 2016 issue of KC Studio Magazine. The issue features an article on the Artist File Initiative organized by the Spencer Reference Library at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. We will also be celebrating the opening of Ole Lislerud’s Image as Metaphor.
Kansas City Symphony Classical Series: Behzod Abduraimov plays Rachmaninoff
March 4 @ 8:00 pm
March 5 @ 8:00 pm
March 6 @ 2:00 pm
Michael Stern, conductor
Behzod Abduraimov, pianist
LIADOV The Enchanted Lake
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2
COPLAND Symphony No. 3
Hometown piano star Behzod Abduraimov returns to perform Piano Concerto No. 2 by Russian composer and pianist Rachmaninoff. Performing across the globe with the most celebrated orchestras, Abduraimov brings his superb artistry and impressive technique to this work brimming with gorgeous, unforgettable melodies and virtuoso brilliance. The Enchanted Lake by Liadov is a captivating example of the Russian composer’s facsination with tales of fairies, dragons, mermaids and goblins. Copland composed his Third Symphony after World War II, and he “intended to reflect the euphoric spirit of the country at the time.” The finale of this great American Symphony includes his beloved Fanfare for the Common Man. Bravo & Masterworks Series
G. Kenneth and Ann Baum Concert Comments begin one hour before these Classical Series performances. Hosted by Music Director Michael Stern, Associate Conductor Aram Demirjian or Executive Director Frank Byrne, these lively conversations provide insight into the music you are about to hear. Concert Comments are free to attend with a purchase of a ticket to the performance.
DJ Spooky Presents Arctic Rhythms
March 5 @ 7:30 pm | $15
Polsky Theatre, JCCC
Experience the polar regions as never before through the eclectic artistry of composer, author, musician, and 2014 National Geographic Emerging Explorer Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky). Revered in the hip-hop world as a master turntablist, Miller is a sonic artist who hears music in almost everything — from visual forms and economic theory to the great outdoors. In 2007 and 2008, Miller undertook two expeditions to Antarctica to shoot a film, collect data and create an acoustic portrait of the rapidly changing continent. That led to his celebrated 2011 publication The Book of Ice and his 2013 album Of Water and Ice. Sponsored by the Sierra Club, Miller traveled to the Arctic Circle in 2014 and came away with the inspiration for another volume of music, Arctic Rhythms.
Accompanied by a string quartet of local Kansas City musicians, Miller uses his custom designed DJ mixer app and juxtaposes hip-hop, electronic, and minimalist classical sounds to create a unique concert experience. Miller has previously collaborated with an array of musicians, including Metallica, Chuck D, Steve Reich, and Yoko Ono. MIT Press published his award-winning book Rhythm Science in 2004. The Village Voice, The Source, and Artforum have featured his writing, and he’s the editor of Origin Magazine. His work has appeared in the Whitney Biennial, the Venice Biennial for Architecture, Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum, and other museums and galleries throughout the world.
