2010-2011 EVENT DESCRIPTIONS (date order)

Renée Fleming, soprano in recital
Saturday, October 9, 2010 (8:00 p.m., Great Masters: The Ingram Events)
www.reneefleming.com
One of the most beloved and celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, soprano Renée Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence. Known as “the people’s diva,” she continues to grace the world’s greatest opera stages and concert halls. “Fleming is as glamorous as a diva can get, but there’s little that’s diva-ish about her beyond her knockout looks,” wrote Lloyd Schwartz for the Boston Phoenix. “She’s become so comfortable with her celebrity that she can confide in the audience as if we were her old friends, and tell us about how she once dropped her microphone and how much she loves what she’s singing. And we love her all the more.”

Chloë Hanslip, violinist in recital
Friday, October 15, 2010 (7:00 p.m., Free Discovery Concert)
www.chloehanslip.com
Now 22, British violinist Chloë Hanslip is already an established international artist of distinction. “[Hanslip] is likely to become the greatest violinist of her generation,” wrote Limelight’s Christopher Latham. Her recent recording of John Adams’ Violin Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra entered the U.K. Classical Charts at number 2. Philip Clark, writing in Gramophone, concluded that “Playing like this should secure Chloë Hanslip’s reputation for life.” When she was just 11, Hanslip was a featured performer in a BBC presentation Masterclass, led by charismatic Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov. (In 1993, the Harriman-Jewell Series presented Vengerov in his American recital debut.)

Houston Ballet II
Saturday, October 30, 2010 (8:00 p.m., Great Music and Dance)
www.houstonballet.org
The Houston Ballet II, the venerable Houston Ballet’s smaller ensemble, is well suited for the Folly Theater’s intimate space. “They might be called ‘II’ but there’s nothing second-fiddle about these young dancers,” declared ArtsHouston’s Nancy Wozny. The company has planned a program to include the extravagant third act (the wedding and celebration) from the classic love-story ballet Raymonda, and Stanton Welch’s The Long and Winding Road set to Peter Breiner’s captivating, Baroque-styled orchestration of The Beatles’ songs. Additional program details will be announced closer to the event’s date.

Gautier Capuçon, cellist, and Gabriela Montero, pianist, in a duo recital
Friday, November 5, 2010 (8:00 p.m., Great Masters: The Ingram Events)
www.cami.com/?webid=772
www.gabrielamontero.com  
When celebrated instrumentalists Gautier Capuçon (cellist) and Gabriela Montero (pianist) met they quickly moved from fast friends to musical partners. The young duo developed the program to be performed in Kansas City that includes Rachmaninov, Mendelssohn, and Prokofiev cello and piano sonatas. Their collaborative work of Rachmaninov and Prokofiev compositions was released as an album in 2008 titled Rhapsody on Virgin Classics. Gramophone recently praised Capuçon for “distinctive, characterful, and intense performances.” Montero famously performed in a quartet that included Series favorites Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman at the 2009 United States Presidential Inauguration Ceremony.

Alessio Bax, pianist in recital
Saturday, November 20, 2010 (7:00 p.m., Free Discovery Concert)
www.alessiobax.com
Winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant for 2009, Alessio Bax is universally praised for his lyrical playing and insightful interpretations. The Italian-born pianist has won the hearts of critics and audiences across the globe since taking first prize at the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition in 2000. “Great music-making has the illusion of spontaneity—and a quality of ecstasy,” Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News declared. “Start to finish, Mr. Bax sounded as if improvising the music on the spot. He went wherever its spirit, now tempestuous, now sublime, took him. If clarity was occasionally sacrificed to earthquake, wind and fire, so be it. But introspective music became an out-of-body experience… go-for-broke, blood-stirring playing like this was an experience to treasure.”

The King's Singers Holiday Concert
Saturday, December 11, 2010 (8:00 p.m., Great Masters: The Ingram Events)
www.kingssingers.com
The kings of sing will “come a-caroling” to Kansas City in an eighth appearance on the Series. The six a cappella Brits, instantly recognizable for their spot-on intonation and impeccable vocal blend, can flawlessly sing their way from seriously medieval to comical pop. “The King’s Singers have somehow managed to leap across narrow boundaries and pull in a wide audience of enthusiastic fans,” reported the Dallas Morning News. “Part of the King’s Singers’ secret is an endearing informality and a recognition that art and fun are not mutually exclusive.”
view holiday concert program list

Joshua Bell, violinist in recital
Saturday, January 22, 2011 (8:00 p.m., Great Masters: The Ingram Events)
www.joshuabell.com
Joshua Bell, who will play his fourth recital for the Series, has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty. “The American violinist with movie-star good looks has emerged as one of the finest musicians of his generation, whose interpretations can be seriously set beside and favorably compared to players twice his age. Dead players too,” wrote the Washington Post.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, pianist in recital
Friday, January 28, 2011 (8:00 p.m., Great Masters: The Ingram Events)
http://www.imgartists.com/?page=artist&id=880
Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet returns to the Series for a fourth appearance and his first solo recital. The French-born former prodigy is in the prime of his career, enthralling audiences worldwide with his profound and poetic artistry, enlightened interpretations, and thrilling concerts. “Every note he fashions as a pearl…the joy, brilliance, and musicality of his performance could not be missed,” reported the New York Times.

Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano in recital
Sunday, February 13, 2011 (3:00 p.m., Great Music and Dance)
www.joycedidonato.com
Come celebrate St. Valentine’s one day early and get ready to fall in love again. Wherever she sings, Joyce DiDonato earns rhapsodic reviews. Called the “flame-toned American mezzo” by London’s Daily Telegraph, DiDonato is among the world’s most enchanting performers. She will return to sing her fourth recital for the Series in her hometown. “Some performers just seem to have it all. So it was when mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato took the stage Wednesday night at the Folly Theater,” wrote Timothy McDonald for the Kansas City Star of her 2009 appearance. “Simply put, the concert, presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series, was the musical event of the season.”

Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
Friday, February 25, 2011 (8:00 p.m., Great Music and Dance)
www.cpo.org.za
The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra is arguably the most active orchestra on the African continent and substantially contributes to making Cape Town part of the global culture. The Orchestra will perform for the Series as part of its first American tour under the direction of guest conductor Martin Panteleev. The concert’s program will include Walton’s Johannesburg Festival Overture, Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and Stravinsky’s Firebird (1919 version). Russian-born violin soloist Phillippe Quint will join the Orchestra for Korngold’s Concerto in D Major, Op. 35.

Stephen Costello, tenor in his American recital debut
Saturday, March 5, 2011 (8:00 p.m., Great Masters: The Ingram Events)
www.askonasholt.com/artists/singers/tenor/stephen-costello
The recipient of the 2009 Richard Tucker Award “has a lyric tenor voice of great beauty: Stephen Costello will be a big star,” London’s Spectator announced last September. The Harriman-Jewell Series continues its trademark tradition of presenting the American recital debuts of world-class performing artists at the beginning of extraordinary careers. The Philadelphia native’s Kansas City appearance will mark the Series’ 20th American recital debut presentation, a tradition of discovery that began with tenor Luciano Pavarotti in 1973.

Natasha Paremski, pianist in recital
Saturday, March 12, 2011 (7:00 p.m., Free Discovery Concert)
www.natashaparemski.com
“Natasha Paremski has certainly the muscle for a successful career,” announced the New York Times. With her consistently striking and dynamic performances, 22-year-old pianist Natasha Paremski reveals astounding virtuosity and voracious interpretive abilities. She continues to generate excitement from all corners as she wins over audiences and critics alike. “Paremski performs with flawless technique and unbeatable energy,” wrote BBC Music Magazine. Born in Moscow, Natasha began her piano studies at age four. In 1995 she immigrated with her family to the United States and became a United States citizen in 2001. Her growing list of awards includes the Prix Montblanc 2007, the 2006 Gilmore Young Artist Award, top prize in the 2002 Bronislaw Kaper Awards sponsored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and top prize in the Young Artists in Carnegie Hall 2000 International Piano Festival.

I Musici de Montréal, chamber orchestra
Friday, April 8, 2011   (8:00 p.m., Great Music and Dance) 
www.imusici.com
For its third Series appearance, the ever-thrilling I Musici de Montréal led by cellist and conductor Yuli Turovsky will present a dynamic feast of music and visual art. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition will come alive with acoustical splendor by the orchestra coupled with the projected, animated works by Yuli Turovsky’s daughter, the talented artist/violinist Natasha Turovsky. “Knowing that most of the paintings by Victor Hartman which inspired his friend Mussorgsky were lost,” the elder Turovsky explained, “I asked Natasha to paint the Pictures—inspired by the music—inspired by the Pictures. After it was done, the next idea was to make these Pictures and their personages to ‘dance’ with the music. In this ‘symbiotic’ form, the public will listen as well as ‘see’ the music." The concert will open with works by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky.

Romeo and Juliet performed by the Russian National Ballet Theatre
Saturday, April 30, 2011 (8:00 p.m., Great Music and Dance)         
www.cami.com/?webid=418
The Russian National Ballet Theatre has become a mainstay ensemble for the Series in recent years: first with Swan Lake in 1999, then La Bayadère in 2006 and “Great Moments from Russian Ballets” in 2009. “Russia may have lost the Cold War, but it's still the unquestioned superpower of the ballet world,” the Kansas City Star’s Lisa Jo Sagolla wrote of the company’s most recent return. For its fourth appearance, the Company will dance the favorite story ballet Romeo and Juliet to the music of Tchaikovsky. The evening will open with Mikhail Fokine’s masterwork Chopiniana, whichfeatures a score that celebrates the musical genius of Frédéric Chopin. The 50-member ensemble is led by artistic director Elena Radchenko, a former principal dancer with Russia's Bolshoi Ballet.

The Aluminum Show
Thursday, May 5, and Friday, May 6, 2011 (8 p.m.)
Special Engagement
www.aluminum-show.com
The whole family will take a shine to this brilliant show that uses special effects, creative mechanisms, and acrobatic dance to make inanimate objects come to life. “The real triumph of the Israeli-born ‘The Aluminum Show’ is that while the sum of its parts adds up to something unique, its individual elements aren't so unfamiliar,” wrote reviewer Chuck Darrow. “The production borrows liberally from various sources, including Mummenschanz (perhaps its closest relative), Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, Stomp and even the pre-Sesame Street Muppets.” Creator Ilan Azriel mastered the avant-garde uses of the various metallic elements assisted by Yuval Kedem, an expert in designing accessories and effects. The result is a foil-packed performance full of energy, emotion, and even personality, as the silver industrial materials create a luminous and reflective world. The Show’s creators like to “keep it fresh” and will roll out a dazzling, reworked production for 2011.