Local music

Kansas City is alive with the sound of Robert Russell Bennett's music. Bennett is the Kansas City native who orchestrated many of the most well-known musicals of the 20th century. On this episode of Kansas City Local Feature, Kiana Fernandes and Music Theater Heritage founder George Harter examine the life and work of this often-overlooked theater giant.

Co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies celebrate the birthdays of composers Dmitri Shostakovich and Gustav Holst. We'll hear violinist Mayu Kishima bring warmth to Shostakovich's searing A minor Violin Concerto and Michael Stern conduct's Holst's "Walt Whitman" Overture. Also, guest conductor Teddy Abrams leads the Kansas City Symphony and Symphony Chorus in a recent performance of Holst's celestial audience favorite: "The Planets."

When silent films ruled the silver screen, pipe organs were used to enhance the drama of an otherwise quite medium. Now a Lee's Summit musician is bringing back that tradition. Plus: There's more federal dollars behind the push to get locally grown food into school cafeterias.

Hear the Kansas City Symphony perform works by Joseph Haydn and Dmitri Shostakovich. Co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies clear up the myth of Haydn's "Miracle" Symphony No. 96 and explore the emotional depth of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 in C minor as arranged for string orchestra. We'll also hear a recent performance of his searing Symphony No. 5 in a performance led by guest conductor Joshua Weilerstein.

Before sound came to the movies, silent films ruled the silver screen and music from a theater pipe organ enhanced the drama. A Lee's Summit musician is reviving that tradition at the Kansas City Music Hall.

Classical KC's Christy L'Esperance speaks with six time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald about the blurred lines between modern opera and the American musical theater, embracing each performance opportunity and her appearance in Kansas City. We'll hear Audra's rich soprano in works by Leonard Bernstein, John Adams, George Gershwin and more.

Cellist Carter Medina, a Blue Springs South High School student, speaks with Classical KC about his earliest musical inspirations and how playing the cello offers comfort from stressful high school days. Carter's mother Jennifer shares the ways she encouraged Carter's growth, and her heartfelt emotions about Carter's next steps.

Whether you're a student, parent, or a lifelong learner, Kansas City-area libraries have a wide range of resources to check out for back to school season and beyond.

Keelon Vann plays guitar and brings a unique sound to the Kansas City music scene. Love, Mae C. has performed all across the metro, and her music was featured on the second season of the Peacock sitcom “Bel Air.”

You won't hear gendered terms like "ladies" and "gents" at a new square dance in the West Bottoms. Organizers of this do-si-do scene put an inclusive spin on the traditional American art form.

This month may signal the end of summer, but Kansas City's selection of musical offerings will stay hot. To make sense of all the options, we pared the list down to simply the best.

Grab a seat in between the enormous black and white marble columns inside Kirkwood Hall at the Nelson-Atkins Museums of Art and enjoy a performance by the Grammy Award-winning Kansas City Chorale. Charles Bruffy will lead the Chorale in works by Benedict Sheehan, Rene Clausen, Ēriks Ešenvalds and others.