A rich variety of American musical composers and works graced the stage of Helzberg Hall Sat., June 20, as the Kansas City Symphony performed its season ending program. It was no surprise that an American-themed concert was planned a mere two weeks before the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. What was more surprising, yet very welcome, was the nature and diversity of the musical voices included on the program.
Guest conductor Peter Oundjian opened the evening with the music of Joan Tower, a Grammy Award winning contemporary composer whose music we don’t hear often enough in Kansas City. Her Suite from Concerto for Orchestra is a distillation of music from the larger Concerto for Orchestra and was commissioned by Oundjian and his Yale Philharmonia in 2025. It is a dramatic and technically challenging work with a complex harmonic language, at times tonal but with free use of dissonance.
The music was also intense and unrelenting in its pace and excitement. Oundjian had total control over the score, effectively cueing and expressively anticipating the powerful rhythmic content. Just when you thought the music couldn’t get any faster, louder and more intense, it did, driving to its exciting conclusion. The ensemble delivered a very convincing performance.
Florence Price is a 20th-century African American composer who earned significant regional attention during her lifetime but was not universally known. Her music is receiving much more attention in the 21st century since many unknown scores were discovered in the attic of her summer house in 2009. Scholars and performers are just now coming to grips with her work: the first scholarly biography was published in 2020 and a collection of scholarly essays on all aspects of her music was just released in March of this year.
Soloist Michelle Cann has been an active proponent of Price’s music for the past ten years. In a conversation a few days before the concert, I asked her what attracted her to the composer. She answered “Her musical language has such an amazing mix of styles that fit so well together. Also, there is something visceral and powerful in her music.”
Cann, in her Kansas City debut, compellingly demonstrated the power of Price’s music in a performance of the Concerto in One Movement for Piano and Orchestra. While the title says it is in a single movement, there were three sections that seemed like independent movements. From the outset Cann employed a warm legato tone. Technically adroit, she exhibited the chordal and dreamy passages, travelling up and down the keyboard. Oundjian maintained a good balance between orchestra and soloist. There were a few intonation problems in the upper strings near the end of the first section.
The second section was slow and lyrical. Cann played the music, which sounded like a spiritual, with a heartfelt sensuous tone. She was joined by oboist Kristina Fulton in a lovely duet throughout the movement. The exciting finale was based on an African American Juba dance, featuring strong syncopations and a rollicking sound. It is clear that Price’s music represents an important part of America’s musical legacy and deserves much more attention, and, of course, many more performances and recordings.
As a performer, Cann has it all: passion, expression, technique, sensitivity and extraordinary musicality. She demonstrated it next in George Gershwin’s audience favorite, the Rhapsody in Blue. Cann and the orchestra played with alternating bluesy fervor with free rhythm and technical precision, and the audience responded with an excited ovation. As an encore, she wowed the audience with a set of high-powered jazzy improvisations on Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C-sharp Minor by African American pianist Hazel Scott.
The concert ended with Dvořák’s classic Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, “From the New World.” At the beginning of the concert, Oundjian assured the audience that this, too, is an American work, “since it was written on East 17th Street in Manhattan.” Conducting without a score, Oundjian elicited a dramatic reading of the composition in response to his impassioned direction. The opening movement featured a rich romantic sound, although occasional attention to detail seemed lacking, with some issues in synchronization, balance and transitions in tempo. The occasional slips were forgiven in the exquisite second movement. Matthew Lengas played the famous soulful English horn theme with supple grace and beauty.
This work is quite a showcase for an orchestra. All sections are featured throughout the composition; many soloists are highlighted and there are regular contrasts in mood and tempo. The performers responded persuasively, especially in the explosive finale.
There is one more performance of this program on Sun., June 21at 2 p.m. at the Kauffman Center. The Kansas City Symphony will also present a European Tour Send-Off Concert on Friday, August 21 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets and more information about these events and the 2026-27 season can be found at www.kcsymphony.org.
This concert was reviewed on Saturday, June 20, 2026.
