After celebrating our 1,000th performance last season, it’s exciting to imagine where the Harriman-Jewell Series will go from here and what incredible artistic performances are on the horizon. Since 1965, we’ve been bringing the best of the performing arts to Kansas City audiences, keeping the four core tenets at the forefront of programming – Quality, Variety, Diversity, and Discovery.
Each season is unlike any other. From global artists who are at the pinnacle of their performance careers, to concerts never before performed on a Kansas City stage, to events that showcase a wide range of diversity and talent, to new emerging artists who are just getting started – we cover them all.
More American Recital Debuts this season
This season will bring two more American Recital Debuts to our Kansas City stages, making the 25th and 26th debuts in the Series, respectively. Award-winning pianist Mahani Teave joins us from her native Easter Island, and Macedonian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska will join this distinguished list of performers, which includes the legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti who made his American Recital Debut with the Series in 1973.
In addition to these two American Recital Debuts, we’ll welcome eight more artists who will make their Series or Kansas City debuts with us in Season 59 – violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, and Discovery Concert artists Chelsea Guo, soprano and piano, Joseph Parrish, bass-baritone, and Santiago Cañón-Valencia, cello. Almost half of our artists in Season 59 will make their Kansas City debuts with us!
We will also welcome back three-time Grammy® Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn for her second Series appearance. Her first appearance in 2004, nearly two decades ago, is long overdue. She returns with a program of works for unaccompanied violin by Bach and from her celebrated commissioning project of new encores.
Treasured Series’ Favorites will return
With another big orchestra season ahead, we’re elated to bring you innovative and exciting experiences, along with long-time treasured favorites. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring nine time Grammy® Award-winner Wynton Marsalis is back this season and we know you’re ready! The Minería Symphony Orchestra of Mexico will bring Musical America’s 2019 Conductor of the Year, Carlos Miguel Prieto, back to Kansas City along with celebrated pianist Gabriela Montero and will include Montero’s own piano concerto “The Latin Concerto.” We’ll welcome the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra along with award-winning pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, who made her Kansas City recital debut with the Series in 2022. And in early 2024, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine returns with a program even more important in these times, as this tour is a showcase and symbol of the ensemble’s artistry and war-torn perseverance.
A new format in programming this season will bring the beloved Disney Pixar’s Coco in Concert, perfect for families and single ticket patrons alike. A full screening of the film will be accompanied by the 20-member Latin ensemble Orquesta Folclórica Nacional de México performing the original musical score just in time to celebrate the Day of Dead, also referred to as el Día de los Muertos.
Dynamic artists and spectacular visual experiences
Legendary artists Juan Diego Flórez, one of the most admired operatic tenors of our time, and Grammy® Award-winner and Series favorite Emanuel Ax make their return this season along with brand new, dynamic performances from Step Afrika! and Mark Morris Dance Group performing The Look of Love featuring the music of Kansas City icon, the late Burt Bacharach. NoGravity performs Divine Comedy which will not only captivate the audience, it will literally boggle the mind with spectacular feats of technical choreography that will keep you on the edge of your seat. And we are thrilled to bring American Modern Opera Company’s El Niño, a nativity opera-oratorio, just in time for the holidays and performed in the intimate setting of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral.
Heading into our 59th season, and looking ahead to our 60th anniversary on the horizon, we invite you to join us again for another spectacular ride as we welcome you to the beautiful concert halls of Kansas City!
Our entire season schedule is live now at: www.hjseries.org
Contact the Series office at 816-415-5025 or info@hjseries.org for assistance.
The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Presents The Root
The origin of jazz lies in another great Black American art form: the blues. But the relationship that Kansas City jazz has with the blues is unique, maintaining a strong association throughout the past century.…