April/May 2010 Places

Places

A preview of Performing Arts at Johnson County Community College www.jccc.edu/TheSeries

April-May 2010

The 5 Browns Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble Brentano String Quartet PAS New Season Little Theater for the Deaf

Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble

Sibling harmony

The 5 Browns

The 5 Browns, America’s first family of piano virtuosos, return to Yardley Hall in a program of classical music and commanding showmanship on five Steinway grand pianos at 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, April 9-10, in the Carlsen Center. Their first appearance with the Performing Arts Series was February 2008, to a sold-out audience.

The 5 Browns once again perform an easy-listening collection of classical piano selections. Artists Insights will be presented by Keith Brown, father of The 5 Browns, at 7 p.m.

Since their last Yardley Hall performance, The 5 Browns having been on national and international tours in support of their recent CD, Browns in Blue.

In descending order of their age, the siblings are Desirae (born 1979), Deondra (1980), Gregory (1982), Melody (1984) and Ryan (1986). In concert, they perform together, individually and in various ensemble combinations. Flawless in precision and steeped in passion, they contradict the preconception of those who find classical music inscrutable or intimidating.

The world-class, classically trained pianists are the sons and daughters of Keith and Lisa Brown from Utah who wanted their Mormon children to have music in their lives. The goal was to raise “five good people.” Not only did they achieve their goal, but they also managed to raise five great pianists. As early as age 9, they had each made his/her debut with a major symphony orchestra.

When Desirae began to plan for college, Deondra, a year younger, decided to accelerate her education in order to attend with her sister. The family began looking into music schools and scholarships before deciding upon New York’s Juilliard School. One year later Gregory, Melody and Ryan were accepted to Juilliard. They became the first family of five siblings ever accepted simultaneously and so the entire Brown family, along with their five pianos, moved from Utah to New York.

The quintet enjoyed their first wave of critical attention in February 2002 when People magazine dubbed them the “Fab Five.” In 2005, The 5 Browns released their debut album, The 5 Browns.

At that time, the New York Post proclaimed: “One family, five pianos and 50 fingers add up to the biggest classical music sensation in years.”

By the end of 2005, The 5 Browns were one of the top classical artists of the year; they were featured on Oprah, 60 Minutes, Good Morning America and The Tonight Show; and No Boundaries, a second CD, spent more than 20 consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical chart. Their latest Browns in Blue CD (October 2007) is classical, romantic and jazz-inspired. They published a book, Life Between the Keys The (Mis)Adventures of The 5 Browns in 2009.

Hearing a five grand-piano version of any piece is formidable, but The 5 Browns, themselves, are unpretentious. They are friends, family and musicians who each play a distinctive part but always in harmony.

Tickets $35, $25

Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble is American classic Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble, a 16-member group of dancers ages 19 to 27, celebrates a legacy of artistic excellence with Interactive Performance at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 24, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center. Artists Insights by a company member will be presented at 7 p.m.

This family-friendly theatrical experience reveals and demystifies the world of dance. As the company warms up on stage, a narrator tells the process of what goes into creating a dance artist, then explains each selection before it is danced to live piano accompaniment. The audience gains an insider’s perspective on how classical dancers are trained and how a show comes together.

The performance is diverse: one-act ballets, dance suites and high-energy contemporary pieces, each costumed accordingly. Dances will be taken from the ensemble’s repertoire that includes Return, New Bach, Hallmark, Billy Wilson’s Concerto in F and Fragments.

To make it even more interactive, a few patrons (best suited for the extrovert) get a chance to go onstage, where they learn basic pas de deux skills and partner with a ballerina in a short dance sequence.

A short question-and-answer segment follows at the end of the performance.

Writing about Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1969, the year the ensemble was founded, Clive Barnes, dance critic for The New York Times, began his article, “Black is beautiful, classic ballet is beautiful, so why are the two so rarely found together?”

That changed when Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook founded Dance Theatre of Harlem. Shortly after the assassination of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mitchell was inspired to start a school that would offer children — especially those in Harlem, the community in which he was born — the opportunity to learn about dance and the allied arts.

Remaining deeply rooted in the Balanchine tradition, Dance Theatre of Harlem extended the vocabulary and forged a neo-classical style all its own with eclecticism that would become its strength.

Together, Mitchell and Shook dispelled the myth that blacks could not do classical ballet because it was foreign to black culture and their bodies were not physically built for it. In launching the only primarily African-American ballet company in the world, Mitchell understood people would “see something they had never seen before.”

Yet, he says, when you watch Dance Theatre of Harlem perform, you don’t think of the dancers as black, white, green or red. He insists the magic happens when his dancers hit the stage. Within the passion, power and perfection is a great love for the art of dance.

Starting from humble beginnings in the basement of the Church of the Master to an internationally celebrated ballet company, professional school and education-community outreach programs, Dance Theatre of Harlem has earned a secure and well-deserved place in ballet history. Today, Dance

Theatre of Harlem is located at 466 West 152nd Street in a newly designated landmark district in Harlem.

Changing perceptions of audiences worldwide with the universal common denominator of excellence as their guiding light, Dance Theatre of Harlem has amassed 40 years of “firsts,” clearly pointing to the “miracle on 152nd Street” as an example of a true American classic.

The Dance Theatre of Harlem is now comprised of an ensemble, school, and community and education outreach program.

This presentation is supported by Mid-America Arts Alliance with generous underwriting by National Endowment for the Arts, Kansas Arts Commission, foundations, corporations and individuals through Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

Tickets $35 and $25

Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble master classes will be offered from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Saturday, April 24, in Yardley Hall. Cost is $10. For a class reservation, call the PAS box office, 913-469-4445.

Brentano String Quartet in sync with clarinet Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has appeared throughout the world to popular and critical acclaim as passionate, uninhibited and spellbinding. Appearing with the Friends of Chamber Music in October 2008, the Brentano String Quartet returns to Kansas City, this time with clarinetist Charles Neidich, at 8 p.m.

Saturday, May 1, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center.

The program highlights are Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet and Shubert’s G Major Quartet. Artists Insights by Dr. Paul Laird, musicologist at the University of Kansas, will begin at 7 p.m.

The Brentano Quartet is composed of Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; and Nina Maria Lee, cello, who joined the quartet In 1998 succeeding founding member Michael Kannen. The Toronto Globe and Mail calls them “one of the classiest string quartets in the business.”

The resident string quartet at Princeton University, The Quartet has performed and received recognition around the world. Within a few years of its formation, the ensemble garnered the first Cleveland Quartet Award and Naumburg Chamber Music Award; and in 1996 the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center invited them to be the inaugural members of Chamber Music Society Two. The Quartet had its first European tour in 1997 and was honored in the U.K. with the Royal Philharmonic Award for “Most Outstanding Debut.”

The Brentano Quartet has a strong interest in both very old and very new music, as well as the standard quartet repertoire. It has performed many musical works pre-dating the string quartet as a medium, among them Madrigals of Gesualdo, Fantasias of Purcell, and secular vocal works of Josquin. Also, the quartet has worked with some of the most important composers of our time, among them Charles Wuorinen, Elliot Carter, Chou Wen-chung, Steven Mackey, Bruce Adolphe and György Kurtág.

Brentano String Quartet

The Quartet has been privileged to collaborate with such artists as soprano Jessye Norman, pianist Richard Goode and pianist Mitsuko Uchida.

All Juilliard graduates, each has a performing career in addition to The Quartet. The Quartet, however, is central to their lives, proven by the extraordinary dynamic between the four players. The Quartet is named for Antonie Brentano, whom many scholars consider to be Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved,” the intended recipient of his famous love confession.

Clarinetist Neidich has performed throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, and is known as a unique clarinetist who maintains a solo career, dividing his time among recitals, orchestra engagements and chamber music concerts. He has also undertaken the role of conductor.

Known as a leading exponent of period instrument performance practice, Neidich has been influential in restoring original versions of works. For the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, Neidich will play a replica of a clarinet used by Richard Mühlfeld, for whom Brahms wrote the work. He has a repertoire of more than 200 solo works includes pieces commissioned or inspired by him, as well as his own transcriptions.

A native New Yorker of Russian and Greek descent, Neidich began clarinet studies with his father at the age of 7 and went at the age of 17 to continue studying with the noted clarinet teacher, Leon Russianoff. After four years at Yale University where he majored in anthropology, Neidich went to the Moscow State Conservatory as the first recipient of a Fulbright grant to study in the Soviet Union. He studied in Moscow for three years as a student of the clarinetist, Boris Dikov, and the pianist, Kirill Vinogradov.

Active in education, Neidich is on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Queens College of the City University of New York, Manhattan School and the Mannes College of Music.

Tickets $25

PAS announces 20th anniversary season JCCC dedicated its Cultural Education Center on Oct. 3, 1990, and offered two performing arts series — the Kansas City Series and Center Series — in spring 1991. For its 20th anniversary, Emily Behrmann, interim general manager, the Performing Arts Series at JCCC, is announcing a gala celebration on Sept. 25 and a season of cutting-edge performances, celebrity names, diverse cultures, dance and music.

Michael Bolton

The Opera Show

Lar Lubovitch Dance Company

True to tradition, another exceptional season unfolds.

Highlights include a worldwide premiere tour by Robert McDuffie, violin soloist, and the Venice Baroque Orchestra of The Seasons Project, which includes a new Philip Glass composition entitled Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra, a co-commission by the PAS; singer Michael Bolton; political comedy troupe Capitol Steps; DRUMLine Live, created by the team behind the hit movie Drumline showcasing the black marching band tradition; a spectrum of dance including modern dance company Lar Lubovitch Dance Company; comedian Martin Short; Silent Surrealism, silent surrealist films accompanied by this country’s most celebrated Gypsy jazz ensemble, The Hot Club of San Francisco; the MTV-style The Opera Show; Opole, Philharmonic of Poland; Hot Tuna Blues with guitarists Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane fame, blues-harp player Charlie Musselwhite, and country-and-bluegrass artist Jim Lauderdale; and Spamalot, a Broadway musical lovingly ripped off from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Spamalot

Patrons can buy the entire season or create their own package of any five performances to receive a 10 percent discount off single-ticket prices.

“Friends” members receive an additional 5 percent discount. New subscriptions of five or more shows go on sale April 26, and single tickets on June 1.

Jungle Jack Hanna

Performing Arts Events J o h n s o n

C o u n t y

C o m m u n i t y

C o l l e g e

April 2010 Monday

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*Ron Stinson, trumpet Patricia Higdon, piano Ruel Joyce Recital Series noon Polsky Theatre

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Kansas City Symphony Classical Series 2 p.m. Yardley Hall $52, $42, $12 youth

*Steven Elisha, cello Larisa Elisha, violin Ruel Joyce Recital Series noon Recital Hall

13 Stories in My Pocket National Theatre for the Deaf PAS Arts Education and GURC 9:45 a.m. and noon Yardley Hall

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Saturday

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10 The 5 Browns Center Stage Series 8 p.m. Yardley Hall $35, $25

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24 Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble Dance Series, 8 p.m.

Yardley Hall, $35, $25

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▲ *Antigone by Sophocles, JCCC Academic Theatre 7:30 p.m. Polsky Theatre 25 Kansas City Symphony Family Series 2 p.m. Yardley Hall Limited seats available at 816-471-0400

26 Season tickets go on sale!

For best seats, order early.

Call 913-469-4445 or buy tickets online

www.jccc.edu/TheSeries

27 Marcus Buckingham Cohen Community Series 7:30 p.m. Yardley Hall $55 single; group rate of 10, $50

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*Antigone

by Sophocles JCCC Academic Theatre 7:30 p.m.

Polsky Theatre

Box Office: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday • Call 913-469-4445 Tickets are required for most events in Polsky Theatre and Yardley Hall. Programs, dates and times are subject to change.

There is a $1 per ticket handling charge at the JCCC box office. Discounts are available for music, theater and dance students.

PAS Administrative Office: Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday • Call 913-469-4450

for tickets and information.

A request for interpretative services must be made 72 hours before a performance. Call the box office at 913-469-4445 or TDD/TTY 913-469-4485.

Service fee applicable.

Persons with disabilities who desire additional support services may contact services for patrons with disabilities, 913-469-8500, ext. 3521, or TDD/TTY 913-469-3885.

Purchase live online

*free-admission event

May 2010 Sunday

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Saturday 1 *Antigone by Sophocles JCCC Academic Theatre 7:30 p.m. Polsky Theatre

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Charles Neidich

Brentano String Quartet Charles Neidich, clarinet Classics Series 8 p.m.

Yardley Hall, $25

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*Antigone

by Sophocles JCCC Academic Theatre 2 p.m. Polsky Theatre

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4*JCCC Concert Band 7:30 p.m.

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*JCCC Jazz Night 7:30 p.m.

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*JCCC Chamber Choir 7:30 p.m.

Polsky Theatre

*Johnson County Chorus 3 p.m.

Yardley Hall

Brentano String Quartet

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20 *Moonlight Serenade Orchestra Brown & Gold May Gala 7 p.m. reception 8 p.m. Yardley Hall

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Kansas City Symphony Classical Series 2 p.m. Yardley Hall $52, $42, $12 youth

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The Opera Show See PAS season announcement page 4

JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 12345 COLLEGE BLVD OVERLAND PARK KS 66210-1299

NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID Johnson County Community College

www.jccc.edu/TheSeries

Seeing and hearing transcend cultures Keep a story in your pocket And a picture in your head And you’ll never feel lonely At night when you’re in bed Some of the stories that may be chosen include, Rich Man, Poor Man, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Little Red Hen and the Butterfly Jar. Also part of the program is “Signing Fun” and “Sign a Song” which is highly entertaining and instructional.

The Little Theatre of the Deaf, comprised of deaf and hearing actors, performs the entire program completely in American Sign Language and the spoken word. The Little Theatre of the Deaf entertains as it educates; the audience sees and hears every word.

Stories In My Pocket, an original work by Little Theatre for the Deaf, will be performed at 9:45 a.m. and noon Tuesday, April 13, in Yardley Hall.

The performance will include an innovative participatory audience warm-up with American Sign Language by members of the company followed by the performance.

Stories In My Pocket draws on the large repertory of stories, fables, poems and riddles the Little Theatre of the Deaf has pocketed during its 40-plus year history. Many of the company’s favorites are tucked into large colored pockets on the stage. After teaching the audience the sign for each of the colors, volunteers from the audience pick stories to be performed by signing the color.

The Little Theatre of the Deaf is the children’s wing of the National Theatre of the Deaf. Each year, LTD gives live performances to thousands of children and adults around the world.

“We want all children to benefit from the arts and encourage the deaf and hard of hearing to be engaged as audiences and artists. Touring companies present an opportunity for both. The production, Stories in My Pocket, invites the audience to participate in the creative process and the actors are seen as role models for students interested in the arts,” said Angel Mercier, program director, arts education, PAS.

Stories in My Pocket is a co-presentation of the PAS Arts Education program and Gallaudet University Regional Center at JCCC. Tickets $5