March and April are particularly exciting months at the UMKC Conservatory. Student recitals take place almost daily; large ensembles perform; guest artists visit; dance, opera and jazz take center stage, and Musical Bridges has its annual fundraising luncheon with special guests, including alumnus Andrés Salguero. Here are some of the highlights of our spring.
CELLISSIMO! Enjoy an evening of music from the Conservatory cello studio of Carter Enyeart, during which ensembles large and small perform music from Rossini to Sousa, including the U.S. premiere of Arvo Pärt’s O-Antiphonen for 8 Violoncelli. Guest artists include faculty Sarah Tyrrell, soprano, and conductor Douglas Moore. March 12, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, FREE.
Our second main stage opera is Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, March 22–25 as part of the Conservatory Artist Series. Join us for a spine-tingling evening of theatre, virtuosic orchestral playing, and alluring, otherworldly vocalism.
Directed by Fenlon Lamb and guest-conducted by John Baril, Benjamin Britten’s enigmatic and chilling chamber opera The Turn of the Screw is based on the Henry James novel. It tells the tale of good versus evil, natural versus the supernatural, possession and exorcism, all of which follow the trials and tribulations of a new governess at Bly House.
Tensions mount as the governess gets to know the inner workings of the house and those living within. This tautly constructed opera tightens and closes in with astonishing dramatic and musical power, creating the overwhelming feeling of intense claustrophobia. 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall Tickets: $12 general public; UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID.
The 6th Annual Musical Bridges Benefit Luncheon is Wednesday, April 6, 2016, 11:30 a.m., Pierson Auditorium, UMKC.
Since 2007 Musical Bridges has prepared urban core students through classical music instruction to go on to higher education. Administered by the UMKC Conservatory’s Academy, Musical Bridges provides free private instrumental music lessons, participation in advanced ensembles, and summer music camps as well as other arts opportunities to students in the Kansas City metropolitan area, totaling about 2,000 hours of instruction each academic year.
In 2015–2016, Musical Bridges is serving 61 students in grades 6–12 from Kansas City, Kansas; Hickman Mills, and Kansas City, Missouri. Students are selected by their school music teacher to audition for Musical Bridges. Once in the program students receive weekly private lessons during the school day at their school.
This year’s benefit luncheon features performances by Musical Bridges students and remarks by the 2016 Musical Bridges/Francis Family Foundation Fellows, Damien Crutcher, CEO, Crescendo Detroit; and Conservatory alumnus and Latin Grammy nominee Andrés Salguero, (DMA and AC, clarinet performance, 2011). Salguero’s nomination in the children’s album category is for his album ¡Uno, Dos, Tres, Andrés! En Español y En Inglés. Andrés, who lives in Washington, DC, credits his time teaching in the Academy’s Conservatory in the Schools programs for the impact he is having with children today. Musician, educator and innovator Dan Trahey is our third 2016/Francis Family Foundation Fellow. Mr. Trahey is Artistic Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s nationally celebrated OrchKids initiative and was named the Most Valuable Player in the Arts by Baltimore Magazine.
The Fellows will also teach master classes at Musical Bridges schools and moderate a round-table discussion with local arts leaders and educators.
There are opportunities to join us as a sponsor for the Musical Bridges Luncheon. For more information and to sponsor or purchase tickets visit www.umkcalumni.com/MBB2016.
Tickets are $75. Questions? Contact Jennifer Wampler, Senior Director of Development at 816-235-1247 or wamplerj@umkc.edu.
For all of the Conservatory’s spring performances, please check our calendar at conservatory.umkc.edu. We’ll see you soon!
