Kansas City Symphony

When you’re secretly wiping your tears away behind your elbow or jumping at a horror scare, you might not be thinking about the music. Behind the scenes, though, timeless tunes are hard at work to spark your emotions. From the Silent Era to the latest blockbusters, classical music is a crucial, hidden element in film composition that can make you laugh, cry, and sometimes spill your popcorn.

This week, Igor Stravinsky pulls the musical strings with his groundbreaking ballet "Pétrouchka," and Antonin Dvořák's melodies soar through Helzberg Hall in a performance of his Symphony No. 6. We'll also hear the Kansas City Symphony perform Josef Suk's "Scherzo fantastique" and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capriccio espagnol."

This week we'll hear two recent Kansas City Symphony performances: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Serenade No. 10 known as the "Gran Partita," and Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis." The program closes with Peter Tchaikovsky's rousing Symphony No. 3.

This week we'll hear the Kansas City Symphony perform a delightful early symphony by Franz Joseph Haydn known as "The Philosopher" and Ludwig van Beethoven's groundbreaking third symphony: "Eroica." We'll also hear two crowd pleasing tone poems: Richard Strauss' "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks" and Ottorino Respighi's majestic "Pines of Rome."

This week we'll hear Kansas City Symphony perform Giuseppi Verdi's Overture to his opera "Nabucco" and Leoš Janáček's haunting work "The Fiddler's Child." The program closes with Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9, the last symphony that he completed.

After 19 seasons, Michael Stern is stepping down as music director of the Kansas City Symphony, with Matthias Pintscher taking over at the start of the 2024-25 season. Dan Margolies and Classical KC spoke with the outgoing maestro, as well as cellist Yo-Yo Ma, a longtime friend of Stern’s, about Stern's time in Kansas City and what’s ahead for the orchestra.

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."

Classical KC's Brooke Knoll speaks with outgoing Kansas City Symphony music director Michael Stern about a brand new album for the group called "Brahms Reimagined" that features orchestral arrangements of Brahms' music by Virgil Thompson, Bright Sheng and Arnold Schoenbeg.

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.

While in Kansas City, cello superstar and arts advocate Yo-Yo Ma spoke with Classical KC's Sam Wisman about his decades-long friendship with Michael Stern, finding joy in learning an instrument, how music affects human wellness and recording a premiere for an upcoming Kansas City Symphony album.