Creativity thrives in The Coterie's theatre classes. Acting builds confidence, empathy, cooperation, and listening skills that last a lifetime. Each class is a new adventure, inspired by the students themselves and letting imagination lead the way. Our classes use creative, process-based education to encourage growth in imaginative storytelling, on-the-spot thinking, and confident movement. Students will be challenged to grow as actors and creative thinkers while learning collaboration and self-assurance, tools that will remain valuable throughout their lives.

SPRING 2019 CLASSES:

• BUGS AND BUTTERFLIES for Ages 3-5 (Pre-K)
• IMAGINATIVE INVENTORS for Grades K-1
• LEGENDS AND MYTHMAKERS for Grades 2-4
• ROCK 'N' ROLL ROADSHOW for Grades 4-6
• AUDITION LAB for Grades 5-7 and Grades 8-12

SPRING 2019 LOCATIONS:

• Midtown - The Coterie in Crown Center
• Lee's Summit - MCC-Longview Campus
• Overland Park - Miller-Marley School of Dance & Voice
• Northland - MCC-Maple Woods Campus

All Coterie Teaching Artists are theatre professionals and experienced theatre teachers under the direction of Jeff Church, Producing Artistic Director, and Amanda Kibler, Education Director. Many instructors have extensive professional acting credits; others work professionally as directors, choreographers, designers or in other aspects of theatre.

Using music of The Beatles to learn life lessons while having adventures, one little independent bug learns the value of friendship with “A Little Help From My Friends.”

Three characters are playfully positioned next to one another. They each have their own sense of reality, and maybe even sanity, around a terrorist suspect and a love affair being conducted exclusively via email. Which of these people are grounded in reality? Who is telling the truth? Who is to blame? Playwright Dipika Guha looks at the slippery slope regarding culpability and expectations, using absurdist humor as a powerful tool.

The Conservatory Wind Symphony is comprised of the very finest wind and percussion students at the Conservatory and is guided by a philosophy that seeks to expose its students and its audiences to the highest quality of music written for wind instruments. Through the rehearsal and performance of this diverse repertoire, students are exposed to a wide variety of compositional techniques, rehearsal processes and expressive possibilities that challenge students to develop their individual musicianship. This wide range of experiences affords the members of the ensemble an opportunity to receive a comprehensive musical education through a demanding and rigorous process of both rehearsals and performances. The Conservatory Wind Symphony has a rich history of creative programming and collaboration – a hallmark of its existence. Numerous compositions have been written for this esteemed ensemble by some of the world’s leading composers. In addition, the ensemble regularly collaborates with select student composers found within the Conservatory’s 80 composition majors. The Conservatory Wind Symphony is under the direction of Steven D. Davis.

After suffering polio as a child, a grisly bus accident in her teens that left her with permanent injuries and in almost constant pain, and an addiction to Morphine, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo’s life is explored in this astonishing play by KCRep’s Fox Fellowship Resident Actor Vanessa Severo. Through beautiful physicality and raw honesty, the triumphs and challenges of the now-celebrated painter and wife of the equally-renowned artist, Diego Rivera, is unearthed in the brave new work.

The Conservatory Wind Ensemble, founded in 2002, is comprised mostly of undergraduate students who are pursuing degrees in music performance, music education, composition and music therapy. The Conservatory Wind Ensemble is guided by a philosophy that seeks to expose its students and its audiences to the highest quality music written for wind instruments. Through the rehearsal and performance of a diverse repertoire, students are exposed to a wide variety of compositional techniques, rehearsal processes and expressive possibilities. The Conservatory Wind Ensemble is under the direction of  Dr. Joseph Parisi.

by Logan Black

Kansas City playwright, actor, and veteran Logan Black explores the age old relationship between K-9 and human in this deeply affecting true story. While serving in Iraq, Black and Diego, his Specialized Search Dog, were one of the most successful K-9 bomb sniffing teams ever. They worked side by side, saved each other’s lives, and survived the bloodiest year of the war together. With a life-sized Diego puppet created by Mesner Puppet Theater, this KC Fringe favorite takes on a whole new life in this expanded, full length and fully-realized production.

In the Ziegfeld Follies, in Hollywood films, and on the radio, Fanny Brice was one of the most celebrated entertainers of her time. With humor, talent, and chutzpah, young Fanny defies the odds and becomes one of the greatest stars of her generation. Bob Merrill and Jule Styne’s unforgettable score includes “People,” “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” and “I’m the Greatest Star.”

The Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra is the premier Salsa & Latin Jazz ensemble in the Kansas City region. Navigating the universe of Afro-Latin music under the influence of jazz, Pablo has 15 years of dedication to the uplifting of Latin American culture in the Heartland. A Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra concert is always a high energy and timeless experience for intercultural audiences.

This performance includes a collaboration between jazz faculty Bobby Watson and Cleo Parker Robinson, founder and artistic director of Denver's Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, and choreography by Kevin Iega Jeff, who worked with Conservatory dancers in November 2018

Follow the evolution of Broadway and jazz into the 1960s and 70s as popular culture shifted to reflect the changing times. Kander and Ebb (CABARET, CHICAGO) and Stephen Sondheim (COMPANY, FOLLIES) transformed the way Americans experienced the Broadway musical through their commentary on society – current and past – while the jazz scene was turned on its head through music that reflected the turbulent change of the era. Celebrate the era of innovation with favorites like “All That Jazz,” “Being Alive,” “Take Five,” and jazz inventions on American standards.

More than 10 years of partnership between American trombonist, composer Steve Swell and German tenor saxophonist, bass clarinetist and composer Gebhard Ullmann after their successful first collaboration, The Ullmann/Swell Quartet featuring bassist Hill Greene and drum legend Barry Altschul continues now with a new version of the quartet featuring renowned Chicagoans, Michael Zerang, drums, percussion and Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello. This ensemble is appropriately named The Chicago Plan. The plan of course is to integrate the leaders' fresh written material to inspire and be in the service of groundbreaking areas of improvisation that include world rhythms, universal textures and other worldly sound experiences.

Passion. Betrayal. Vengeance. Just another day in paradise.

Two old friends, one a simple pearl diver and the other a powerful island chieftain, are unexpectedly reunited with the woman whose beauty nearly destroyed their friendship, and now threatens to destroy their entire way of life. This “goddess among us” is a veiled priestess who wards off storms and evil spirits through a life of solitude and celibacy. To break her vow means certain death, but she and the young pearl diver fan the flames of a fiery forbidden love anyway.

*Photos by Elise Bakketun for Seattle Opera

The 36th Annual Folly Jazz Series presents: Arturo Sandoval

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS AVAILABLE ON AUGUST 13TH

To close out the Folly’s 36th Annual Jazz Series, we’re excited to bring Arturo Sandoval to the C. Stephen Metzler Hall at the Folly Theater. The 10-time Grammy-award winning artist, Arturo Sandoval, was born outside Havana, Cuba and began studying trumpet at the age of twelve. Sandoval has performed at the Grammys, Oscars, and Billboard Awards. This iconic artist has performed with a variety of artists including Alicia Keys, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett. Arturo Sandoval’s most recent release is Ultimate Duets! under Universal Music. This album features Sandoval performing with artists like Ariana Grande, Stevie Wonder, and Josh Groban!

BAND LINE-UP

ARTURO SANDOVAL – TRUMPET

JOHN BELZAGUY – BASS

TIKI PASILLAS – PERCUSSION

MICHAEL TUCKER – SAXOPHONE

JOHNNY FRIDAY – DRUMS

KEMUEL ROIG – PIANO

The James Ward Band was formed January of 1997 at The Blue Room located on 18th and Vine in Kansas City, MO. James, a native of Kansas City, attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida, where he studied Tuba, and played Acoustic and Electric Bass in numerous bands while attending college. James' experience, skill, and reputation as a Bass Player led him to opportunities to perform with greats throughout the years such as Marcus Roberts, Wycliffe Gordon, Nat Adderly, Mark Whitfield, Bobby Watson, John Cushon, Patti Austin, Jonathan Dubose, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Lisa Henry, Chris Barnett, Jackie Mills, Russell Malone, Marcus Printup, Peter Martin, Scotty Barnhart, and Will Matthews of the Count Basie Orchestra, Gospel Artists Dorinda Clark-Cole and Donald Lawrence, and a host of other artists. James also toured South Africa with Oleta Adams.

Experience the elements in Helzberg Hall as your Kansas City Symphony presents a fun and fascinating family concert about all things weather. KMBC-TV Channel 9 Chief Meteorologist Bryan Busby explores the musical side of weather including rain, snow, wind and so much more! Sponsored by U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management. Tickets start at $25 for adults and $10 for children.

Benny is a proud product of the Suzuki Method, which he began at age 10 with Doris Preucil. He continued his violin studies with Almita Vamos and at age 15 won the Chicago Symphony Youth Symphony Auditions, making his solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. One year later he won the St. Louis Symphony Youth Auditions and the Julius Stulberg Auditions. Kim went on to graduate with Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied with legendary pedagogue Dorothy DeLay. In 1983, Mr. Kim won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions at age 20. While at Juilliard, the residents of Macomb, IL, Benny’s hometown, heard the news that he was preparing to puchase a violin. This small community, along with faculty members of Western Illinois University, began a fundraising campaign to contribute to the purchase. In 1987 he acquired a 1732 Stradivarius violin.

Collaborating with long-time friends plays an important role in Benny Kim’s musical career and has resulted in two EMI recordings with Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Bella Italia and Night and Day, frequent performances with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, and many engagements with his brother, cellist Eric Kim. In past seasons, Benny has performed in concert with violinist Daniel Hope at the Savannah Music Festival, Norway’s Trondheim Chamber Music Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and most recently at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, New York, NY.

Benny has performed with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Boston, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Detroit, and internationally with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Orquésta Sinfonica Nacional de México, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the major orchestras of South Africa. In recital, Kim has performed in virtually every major city in the United States, including critically acclaimed engagements at New York’s 92nd St. Y and at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center.

Mr. Kim is first violinist of the Miami String Quartet, winner of the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, and Quartet in Residence at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Highlights of recent seasons include performances on the Quartets Plus Series at Carnegie Hall and the Fortas Chamber Music Series at the Kennedy Center. The quartet has also enjoyed working with students in limited residencies in Hong Kong and Bogotá, Colombia. The ensemble’s commitment to new music has led to many commissions and premieres, including Concierto de Cámara by Roberto Sierra, Septet by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Angels by Joan Tower and Green Sneakers by Ricky Ian Gordon. Benny spends most summers playing chamber music with friends at
festivals around the world, including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Bravo!-Vail Valley Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Mecklenburg and Schlewig–Holstein Festivals in Germany and the Bristol Festival in England.

Benny and his golden retriever, Cubby, make their home outside Kansas City on the Falcon Ridge Golf Course.

The Louis Neal Big Band plays traditional big band music as well as contemporary hits. Comprised of five saxes, four trumpets, four trombones, and a rhythm section, this big band puts one in the mindset of Duke Ellington or Count Basie. The band was formed in the mid 1990s and consists of Kansas City’s finest jazz musicians. The band plays for notable venues in and around the Kansas City area such as the Blue Room on 18th & Vine and The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Come as you are and join the scene for our casual, after-work concerts! Enjoy a drink in the Kauffman Center lobby and then experience a variety of dance-inspired pieces played by Kansas City Symphony musicians. Hear Piazzolla’s lively Libertango arranged for woodwind quartet, a concert waltz for cello quartet and much more. Cash bars open at 5 p.m. followed by a one-hour concert in Helzberg Hall at 6 p.m. Reserve your free general admission tickets in advance starting March 1 by visiting kcsymphony.org. Sponsored by Lead Bank.

Using music of The Beatles to learn life lessons while having adventures, one little independent bug learns the value of friendship with “A Little Help From My Friends.”

Join the Conservatory Orchestra and choirs, directed by Robert Olson and Robert Bode, respectively. The performance includes music from Wagner's Götterdämmerung; Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos' Chôros No. 10, "Rasga o Coração" for chorus and orchestra. Villa-Lobos, who has said "I learned music from a bird in the jungles of Brazil, not from academies," is one of South America's most famous composers. The University of Missouri-Columbia's University Singers join the Conservatory Choirs and Orchestra for this performance of the Villa-Lobos.The winner of the Chancellor's Concerto Competition, Kelli Van Meter, also performs with the orchestra.
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SCHUBERT: Rosamunde Overture
BERG: Sieben frühe Lieder (Kelli Van Meter, soprano)
WAGNER: "Siegfried's Death and Funeral March" and "Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene" from Götterdämmerung
MAHLER: 'Adagio' from Symphony No. 4 in G Major
VILLA-LOBOS: Chôros No. 10, "Rasga o Coração"