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Kansas City has long been associated with barbeque, fountains and jazz music — but accordions? Meet the 90-year-old woman who is keeping the city's rich legacy alive. Plus: Kansas City journalist Ebony Reed takes an "immersive" dive into the nation's racial wealth gap in her new book.
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Thousands of people took over the small town of Sedalia, Missouri, on this day in 1974 for the Ozark Music Festival, a party full of nudity, drugs and rock 'n' roll music. Half a century later, people still talk about the lore from that hot wild weekend. Plus: One very fluffy prison resident is changing the men around him in a Missouri correction facility.
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After 19 seasons, Michael Stern is stepping down as music director of the Kansas City Symphony, with Matthias Pintscher taking over at the start of the next season. Classical KC spoke with the outgoing maestro and his longtime friend Yo-Yo Ma about Stern's time at the helm and what’s ahead for the orchestra.
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Kansas City is home to talented musicians of all ilk. Here are some of our favorite local bands who entered NPR's 2024 Tiny Desk Contest.
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The Lyric's Opera To Go program brings live performances to retirement communities across the Kansas City metro. For the residents of these communities, in-person concerts are an experience that can't be replicated by recordings.
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The Greeting Committee was formed by four Overland Park high schoolers in 2014 and has since become one of Kansas City’s most well-known and beloved indie bands. Their third studio album is coming out in June.
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Taylor Swift isn’t in town, but her connections will make a local impact at Travis Kelce’s music festival and Jack Antonoff’s show at Grinders. Kansas City legend Tech N9ne, revenge song expert Ashley McBryde, and blues slinger Gary Clark Jr. round out the concert calendar.
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A pair of noisy upstarts are out-hustling the establishment to create a space for themselves in Kansas City's jazz scene. Plus: A Platte City man with Down syndrome has built a life with a job he loves and a place of his own to call home.
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Alana Washington knows how much trauma her middle school students in southeast Kansas City students can go through on a daily basis. She started the Save a Life Mentorship program to give students the tools they need to get through it. Plus: The Medical Arts Symphony of Kansas City community orchestra has helped Kansas City doctors and nurses reduce stress for more than 60 years.
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The Medical Arts Symphony of Kansas City community orchestra has given amateur musicians in the health care profession a place to perform since 1959. For the doctors, nurses, dentists, medical students, and more who take part, the music can be therapeutic.
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Seth Andrew Davis and Evan Verploegh know their music of choice will never be mainstream, so the pair have cobbled together a set of spaces where their Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society can thrive.
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This month marks the onset of the most rewarding season for music under the stars, and groove-rock band 311 is set to oblige Kansas City audiences outdoors. Waxahatchee, Kane Brown and others will entertain this April’s indoor listeners.