Summerfest is the annual series of concerts that brings some of the best chamber musicians in the region to Kansas City to perform together each July. Brooke Knoll speaks with Summerfest musicians and artistic advisors Jane Carl and Evan Halloin about the upcoming season. We'll hear music from Ludwig van Beethoven and Olivier Messiaen.

The team of Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony set a standard that has rarely been equalled. We’ll hear this dream team in two of Mozart’s most beloved symphonies and a Mozart moment from Reiner’s time in the opera pit.

As Michael Stern's time as Kansas City Symphony music director comes to an end after 19 seasons, he and co-host Dan Margolies put together a very special program of music from two of Stern's favorite composers: Leonard Bernstein and Richard Strauss. We'll hear Bernstein's shore leave ballet "Fancy Free," and Strauss tone poems "Death and Transfiguration" and "A Hero's Life."

We might think of “pastoral” as being soft music with bird calls, but the word’s roots go back more to rural scenes and shepherds. This week we have two contrasting, self-described “pastoral” works by Emanuel Chabrier and Alexander Glazunov.

The French horn is expressive. it can be mellow, it can be heroic. It has some of the greatest parts in the orchestral literature, but is also a thrilling solo instrument. We’ll hear it in a chamber music setting and as a soloist partner with a tenor. The full resources of the instrument are on full display.

This week we'll celebrate the birth of Robert Schumann with performances of his Overture, Scherzo and Finale, and his A minor Cello Concerto featuring soloist Narek Hakhnazaryan. Also, bassist Xavier Foley is featured on his own composition "Soul Bass," and we'll hear a world premiere by Angel Lam. The program closes with Alberto Ginastera's "Variaciones concertantes," where everyone in the orchestra gets a moment to shine.

When Antonin Dvorak received a state stipend allowing him to compose full-time, music poured from him including his lovely String Serenade Op. 22. We’ll hear the original version of the serenade, contrasted with a compelling arrangement for winds and strings that’s inspired by a prior version of the serenade Dvorak then later scored for strings. It’s a fascinating comparison.

This week, we celebrate the June birthdays of composers Edward Elgar and Mikhail Glinka. We'll hear Glinka's barn burner of an overture to his opera "Ruslan and Ludmila." We'll also hear Edward Elgar's first symphony led by guest conductor Michael Francis alongside a performance of his violin concerto featuring Pinchas Zukerman.

Sometimes, less is more. That’s definitely the case with the incredible octets by Felix Mendelssohn and Ludwig van Beethoven on this week’s show. One was composed at age 16 and it’s a work of genius that still amazes scholars, musicians, and audiences.

Not only was Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold a brilliant film composer, he also wrote acclaimed works for the concert stage. We'll hear the Kansas City Symphony perform his Symphonic Serenade and Symphony in F sharp. Co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies delve into his composing technique and explain how he borrowed material from his own film scores. We'll also hear "Amen!" by modern American composer Carlos Simon that pays homage to his gospel influences.