Störling Dance Theater, seen here performing “Near Enemies” choreographed by Hélène Simoneau at New Dance Partners in 2024, will be part of this year’s New Dance Partners Sept. 19-20 at the Midwest Trust Center. (photo by Lindsay Clipner)
Marking Milestones, Celebrating Favorites
Throughout the centuries, the arts sustain us in trying times. This season reflects on beloved music that permeates the culture, celebrates many of our favorite composers and artists, presents new work and exciting collaborations and honors many significant milestones for artists and organizations.
The Kansas City Symphony presents an appealing season … appealing to many different types of music lovers, with mega-famous guest stars, movies with live orchestra, and a fun selection of pop music, favorites of the classical realm, less frequently performed gems and exciting new works. From this exceptional lineup, in September, KC Symphony presents a one-night-only new stage performance in “La Nuit Sombre,” with vocalists, choreography and visual design, collaborating with performers from Quixotic. Later in the season comes part one of their Sergei Rachmaninoff celebration, featuring pianist George Li and two world premiere pieces. kcsymphony.org
La Nuit Sombre: Friday, Sept. 5, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts; Rachmaninoff Celebration: Oct. 31-Nov. 2, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
For over a decade, Midwest Trust Center has presented the annual New Dance Partners, with exciting new works from local dance companies paired with national choreographers. The Kansas City Ballet works with Kansas City-based choreographer Caroline Dahm (featured in KC Studio July/Aug. 2025), and Owen/Cox Dance Group partners with New York-based Caili Quan. Originally from Lebanon but based in the U.S., Dolly Sfier comes to Kansas to work with Störling Dance Theater, and Chicago- and Boston-based Jessi Stegall will work with Wichita-based Regina Klenjoski Dance Company. jccc.edu
Sept. 19-20, Midwest Trust Center
Friends of Chamber Music celebrates its 50th anniversary with a Golden Jubilee concert at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, Sept. 27. Artistic directors Dmitri Atapine and Hyeyeon Park are joined by chamber music extraordinaire talent Benjamin Beilman, Kansas City’s own Maria Ioudenitch, Lawrence Dutton, and the Viano Quartet. The concert features Joseph Haydn’s Op. 50 string quartet along with work by Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn. chambermusic.org
Saturday, Sept. 27, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Our local choral groups are a constant beacon of light, with innovative programming deftly performed. Te Deum opens its season with Rachmaninoff’s fervently spiritual “All-Night Vigil” in its English translation. te-deum.org
Saturday, Sept. 27, Village Presbyterian Church
Sunday, Sept. 28, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
It’s a big year for anniversaries and Opus 76 string quartet celebrates one of classical music’s greatest hits with “Centenaries and Celebrations: Vivaldi and the U.S.A.” Along with music from founding father and Renaissance man Benjamin Franklin and classical music icon Josef Haydn, the organization will celebrate the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” performed by students from the Youth Symphony of Kansas City. Vivaldi originally wrote the work for a student orchestra, so that is particularly fitting. opus76.org
Sunday, Sept. 28, Midwest Trust Center
Taking inspiration from the aesthetic of film director Wes Anderson, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City presents a new production of Gioachino Rossini’s playful “Cinderella” made right here in Kansas City, with rising star Siphokazi Molteno in the title role making her Kansas City debut. kcopera.org
Sept. 27, Oct. 3 and 5, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Spire Chamber Ensemble works with the William Jewell College Choirs for “Reflections,” pairing Renaissance-era work from Thomas Tallis’ “Spem in alium” with modern settings of the same text. This massive undertaking requires eight choirs in five voices each, a complex, spiritual work that is one of the most well-regarded pieces of the 1500s. spirechamberensemble.org
Saturday, Oct. 4, Redemptorist Catholic Church, 3333 Broadway Blvd.
The Harriman-Jewell Series presents a concert version of Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up In My Bones,” with excerpts from his opera featuring Blanchard on trumpet, the E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet, with vocalists Adrienne Danrich and Justin Austin. This masterful fusion of musical styles illuminates a young man’s journey to overcome hardships and reflects on the Black experience. hjseries.org
Sunday, Oct. 12, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
The Kansas City Ballet brings back the epitome of classic ballet with “Swan Lake.” Set to the iconic music by Peter Tchaikovsky, the story of enchantment and true love is presented with gorgeous detail. The company performed this full-length production for the first time in 2016, choreographed by KCB artistic director Devon Carney, receiving rave reviews. kcballet.org
Oct. 17-26, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Bach Aria Soloists are joined by the Missouri Choral Artists in a debut collaboration. Local choral fans will recognize many of the featured vocalists, who are frequent performers on Kansas City stages. This performance is headlined by Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata 204. bachariasoloists.com
Saturday, Nov. 15, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
