Local music

Bach Aria Soloists — Kansas City's all-star, all female chamber ensemble — is releasing a brand new album. Classical KC welcomes founder, artistic director and violinist Elizabeth Suh Lane and soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson to talk about the new release and what they're working on next. We'll hear selections from the album including music from Bach, Handel and a new work from contemporary British composer Cecilia McDowall.

Our January birthday celebration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart concludes with a hearing of his "Divertimento in D" and a recent performance of his "Concerto for Clarinet" featuring Kansas City Symphony principal clarinet player Raymond Santos. Co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies will also celebrate the January birthdays of composers Francis Poulenc and Witold Lutoslawski.

After two weeks of music inspired by controlled substances, take time for a detox. In this episode of Sound Currents, explore music reflecting on recovery and healing with guest Ben Stevenson.

Classical KC's Brooke Knoll welcomes Jim Murray and Andrea Johnson from the Northland Symphony Orchestra. We'll learn about the group's origins, mission to keep concerts free and educational efforts. We'll hear performances of music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Édouard Lalo and Camille Saint-Saëns.

Join co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies as they continue a birthday month celebration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart paired with a celebration of composers also born in January: Josef Suk and Édouard Lalo. We'll hear the 17th and 20th piano concertos of Mozart, Suk's "Scherzo Fantastique," and Lalo's "Concerto in D Minor for Cello and Orchestra."

Musician Danny Cox faced discrimination while touring in Missouri in the 1960s, while public servant Al Brooks marched across the city during the 1968 riots. They've seen firsthand the long arc of the Civil Rights Movement, and how the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is still ongoing in Kansas City.

Kansas City’s 5-time bluegrass ‘Guitarist of the Year,’ Greg Blake, is in demand around the country and abroad. In 2022, the International Bluegrass Music Association nominated him for ‘Male Vocalist of the Year.’

Classical music has a long history of substances inspiring composers. Guest Seth Andrew Davis joins us for the second show in our series exploring music influenced by drugs and alcohol in light of Missourians voting for recreational use of marijuana.

This week, the Kansas City Symphony on Classical KC continues to celebrate the January birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by showcasing his "Concerto for Piano No. 23" in a performance from Orion Weiss under the direction of the late Bramwell Tovey. You'll also hear Mozart's "Concerto No. 1 for Flute" featuring the Kansas City Symphony's principal flutist, Michael Gordon. The program will close with a recent performance of Gustav Mahler's "Symphony No. 1," which marked the orchestra's full scale return to Helzberg Hall following pandemic restrictions.

Guest host Brian Ellison speaks with composer Mason Bates and Kansas City Symphony Associate Conductor Gonzalo Farias about performing Mason's multimedia depiction of the orchestra, "Philharmonia Fantastique." We'll also learn about their early music influences and how orchestras are embracing 21st-century technology.

Rod Fleeman, a mainstay of the Kansas City jazz scene and a longtime sideman, is out with his first album under his own name: "Saturday Afternoon Live at Green Lady Lounge."

In the spirit of a new year, co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies highlight five works never before heard on these broadcasts. We'll hear Mozart's "Serenade No. 11 for Winds," Haydn's "Symphony No. 64," "Rainbow Body" by Christopher Theofanidis, Carlos Simon's "Warmth From Other Suns," and the "Burlesque in D Minor for Piano and Orchestra" by a young Richard Strauss.