Here are some calendar picks from KC Studio editor Alice Thorson to help you enjoy the beautiful fall weather this weekend. Tonight, The Nelson-Atkins Museum presents its annual Atha Lecture at 6pm, and Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey kicks off its first night of Ailey II performances at the Folly, which continue through Friday. The Living Room Theatre also begins its production of the play Annapurna tonight, with performances through October. Tomorrow, the Kansas City Symphony’s Classical Series begins with Tchaikovsky’s 4th, or you can get a taste of more experimental sounds at the benefit for Columbia, Missouri-based record label Dismal Niche at Voltaire. For more ideas, visit Kansas City’s most comprehensive arts calendar at kcstudio.org/events.
Talk | 34th Annual Joseph S. & Ethel B. Atha Lecture
September 29 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm | Free
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The annual Atha Lecture celebrates the lives and vision of Joseph S. and Ethel B. Atha. Deeply dedicated to the arts, their legacy at the Nelson-Atkins includes many generous gifts of seminal works. Special guest speaker is Kathleen A. Foster is the Robert L. McNeil, Jr., Senior Curator of American Art and Director, Center for American Art, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Americans learned to love watercolor in the years between 1860 and 1925. This lecture highlights works in the Nelson-Atkins collection currently on-view in Drip, Splatter, Wash: American Watercolor, 1860-1960, and offers a preview of a major loan exhibition, American Watercolor in the Age of Homer and Sargent, to open at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the spring of 2017.
KCFAA PRESENTS: AILEY II
September 29 @ 7:30 pm
October 1 @ 2:00 pm
October 1 @ 7:30 pm
$28 – $68
Folly Theater
The Folly Theater has been home to the Ailey II Dance Company for a many years. Don’t miss the 2016 Ailey II performances!
Every other year, Folly patrons can experience this incredible group of rising stars on the stage of Kansas City’s oldest historic theater.
Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best young dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding emerging choreographers. Founded in 1974, the company embodies Mr. Ailey’s pioneering mission to establish an extended cultural community that provides dance performances, training, and community programs for all people. Under the direction of Sylvia Waters, Ailey II flourished into one of the most popular dance companies in the country.
With Artistic Director Troy Powell at the helm, Ailey II will continue to thrive as he brings a fresh dimension to this beloved company.
Annapurna
September 29 – October 23 | $25
The Living Room Theatre
The Living Room will jump start its 2016-2017 season with Sharr White’s Annapurna, featuring two of KC’s most beloved performers, Charles Fugate and Vanessa Severo, directed by Rusty Sneary.
After twenty years apart, Emma tracks Ulysses to a trailer park in the middle of nowhere for a final reckoning. What unfolds is a visceral and profound meditation on love and loss with the simplest of theatrical elements: two people in one room. A breathtaking story about the longevity of love.
Kansas City Symphony Classical Series Begins! – TCHAIKOVSKY’S FOURTH
September 30 @ 8:00 pm
October 1 @ 8:00 pm
October 2 @ 2:00 pm
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Thrills, chills and passion abound in the Kansas City Symphony opening weekend concerts featuring Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony — a blazing depiction of humanity’s struggle with fate. Kicking off the program is American composer Patrick Harlin’s Rapture, a work inspired by a history-making expedition into Earth’s deepest cave. Captivating violinist Stefan Jackiw also returns as soloist in a lush, romantic concerto, based on melodies from some of Korngold’s greatest film scores. Tickets start at $30.
Dismal Niche Fest Benefit + Showcase
September 30 @ 9:30 pm – 1:30 am | $5
Voltaire
Dismal Niche is–first and foremost–a Columbia, Missouri-based record label producing and elucidating some of the finest sound artists native to Middle America.
In 2015, they launched the first iteration of Dismal Niche Music Festival, a 4-day celebration of performances highlighting a company of composers working in the outer limits of sonic mediums–ambient, drone, experimental electronica and sound collage. The festival returns for its second installment on October 6-9 in Columbia, Missouri and we’re pleased to help spread the word in Kansas City.
On Friday, September 30, we present the KC Satellite Benefit + Showcase for the upcoming festival at West Bottoms’ esteemed gastro-tavern Voltaire. The event will feature DJ sets by label head Matthew Crook as well as live performances by three festival-associated artists hailing from St. Louis–Jake Leech, Biggie Stardust & Solid Waste.
Proceeds from the event will go directly toward the Dismal Niche Music Festival offering resources to encourage and aid in the flourish of an important new cultural exponent to the region.
Performances will begin at 9:30pm and a suggested donation of $5 will be requested of those in attendance.
Dismal Niche Satellite Benefit + Showcase is an event created and promoted by Uncanned Music, a music programming service that specializes in ambiance for hospitality.
