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Born in Prairie Village, tenor Ben Bliss has a very busy international performing career, including performances at the Metropolitan Opera and the great opera houses of Europe. He will be starring in the Lyric Opera of Kansas City's upcoming production of "Romeo et Juliette." Brooke Knoll speaks with Bliss about his journey from Kansas to the great concert halls of the world, meeting his Juliet and what's on the horizon for him.
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This week, learn the full story behind Gioachino Rossini's "William Tell" Overture. Plus, we'll hear two towering musical expressions of nature with Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 1 and Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony. Co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies delve into each composer's frame of mind and what it is required of the orchestra to perform each work.
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A slate of superstars will appear in Kansas City this month, including Bad Bunny, Drake, Sleater-Kinney and Jenny Lewis. Easter Sunday features a performance by R&B evangelist Anthony Hamilton to end the month on a high note.
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Music for strings is often associated with heartfelt emotion, and for good reason. We’ve heard it in movies, television and anytime the drama requires a special tug at our heartstrings. We have gorgeous music by Richard Strauss, Anton Bruckner and a familiar work with a mysterious past.
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Nearly two-hundred years after a twenty year old Frédéric Chopin composed his first piano concerto, the work still delights. This week, we'll hear rising piano star George Li perform the piece, plus the eminent violinist Gil Shaham performs Alban Berg's melancholy concerto. We'll also hear the Kansas City Symphony in a recent performance of Jean Sibelius' swan-inspired Symphony No. 5.
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Hear two 20th century first symphonies born of very different circumstances. One was created under extreme hardship during World War II, the other an affectionate tribute to the composer’s immigrant parents.
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Poet Amanda Gorman and German cellist Jan Vogler combine poetry and Bach's cello suites at New York's Carnegie Hall to share the "lows and highs" of human experience.
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While they’re known as violin sonatas, these masterworks are an equal partnership between the piano and violin. We’ll hear superb examples in two contrasting sonatas by Hugo Alfven and Ludwig van Beethoven.
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This week, hear the Kansas City Symphony perform masterworks by Felix Mendelssohn and Richard Strauss. We'll hear Mendelssohn's Overture to "Ruy Blas" as well as his third symphony, which evokes his time in Scotland. We'll also hear Richard Strauss' depiction of Salome's shocking final dance, plus the composer's inventive showpiece for orchestra: "Don Quixote."
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On Feb. 12, 1924, a sassy fusion of jazz and classical music debuted in New York, sparking a mutual exchange of ideas still debated today.
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Virginia music teacher Annie Ray started an orchestra for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She just won a Grammy for music education, and a $10,000 grant for her school.
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The late American composer John Cage left it up to the performer to decide how long his work, Organ2/ASLSP, should take. A group in Germany is testing the limits.