Places March 2011
A preview of Performing Arts at Johnson County Community College www.jccc.edu/TheSeries
Opole, Philharmonic of Poland with soprano Izabela Matula and violinist Marta Kowalczyk Hot Tuna Blues Backstage Janis Ian
I Have a Dream Vince Gill
Janis Ian
A cosmopolitan evening pairs Polish orchestra with Viennese classics
Opole, Philharmonic of Poland One of its country’s leading orchestras, Opole, Philharmonic of Poland, under the baton of Boguslaw Dawidow, will perform a Vienna Gala featuring light Viennese classics at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 4, in Yardley Hall. Soprano Izabela Matula is the star soloist in a generous program of 20 works with some “surprise” pieces featuring the violin. The mix of orchestral, vocal and violin music includes waltzes, arias and polkas composed by Johann Strauss, Johann Strauss, Jr., and Franz Lehar. Artists Insights by William Everett, musicologist at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, begins at 7 p.m. The history of the Opole, Philharmonic of Poland can be traced back to the years immediately following World War II, when it became the resident Orchestra of Opole in 1947 as the city began rebuilding its cultural identity. In 1952, a major Performing Arts Center was built in the city of Opole as permanent home to the orchestra. In 1999 Dawidow was appointed music director and principal conductor of the Opole, Philharmonic of Poland. Under his leadership, the orchestra has hosted a continually growing number of world-famous musicians, winners of international piano, violin and conducting competitions. Among them are the two evening soloists. Polish soprano Matula is known for performances of the oratory repertoire. She performed Mozart’s Coronation Mass, under Wojciech Czepiel in Kraków Philharmonic Hall
(2005) and under Lex Wiersm, also in Kraków (2006). Her operatic repertoire includes the roles of Dido in H. Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas; the Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro; Margarita in Gounod’s Faust; and Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen. In 2010 she performed as a soloist in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Symphony No. 8, in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and in Mikolaj Górecki’s Symphony No. 2 in Krakow during the celebrations of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald. Violin soloist Marta Kowalczyk, born in 1991, has been performing as a soloist with the Symphonic Orchestra of Koszalin Philharmonic, Polish Radio Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia. She has performed as a soloist and with orchestra in countries such as Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Norway, Canada and China, and won many prizes in Polish and international competitions. The Opole, Philharmonic of Poland was the only Polish Orchestra invited to participate in the Gala Concert in Rome to mark the 80th birthday of Pope John Paul II in May 2000. In the winter of 2011, the Opole, Philharmonic of Poland has undertaken its first cross-country tour of the United States. Tickets $45, $55
Nothing fishy about Hot Tuna’s blues Hot Tuna, the American blues band created by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane, is joined by blues-harp player Charlie Musselwhite, and country-and-bluegrass artist Jim Lauderdale in Hot Tuna Blues at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 12, in Yardley Hall. The Kaukonen-Casady duo created much of Jefferson Airplane’s signature sound, and Kaukonen’s lead and finger-style guitar playing characterizes some of the band’s most memorable tracks. As Jefferson Airplane wound down, Hot Tuna began playing independently in 1970, and the group has recorded and toured ever since. After two decades of acoustic and electric concerts and albums, the 1990s brought a new focus on acoustic music to Hot Tuna. They played more intimate venues with more individual connection to the audience. The loud electric music and the truckful of equipment disappeared entirely from Hot Tuna tours. Along the way, they have been joined by a succession of talented musicians. For this performance, Musselwhite incorporates his musical experiences — from early Mississippi Delta days to immersion in Chicago urban blues that make him “the world’s greatest living blues harmonica
Jorma Kaukonen
player” (New York Press). Although he has 18 W.C. Handy (“Father of Blues”) Awards, six Grammy nominations and the Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, Musselwhite says he is constantly working on new material. He is famous for his quote, “Blues is tough.” Two-time Grammy Award-winner Lauderdale, one of the premier Americana and bluegrass artists in music today, is a multi-talented musician and songwriter. He is among Nashville’s “A” list of songwriters with songs recorded by artists such as Patty Loveless, The Dixie Chicks, Mark Chesnutt, Vince Gill, George Strait and Kathy Mattea. He has hosted the American Music Association for seven years, and won “Artist of the Year” and “Song of the Year” from the Association. While Kaukonen and Casady, along with members of the Jefferson Airplane, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, Hot Tuna’s sound today is primarily original and traditional blues songs. From psychedelic rock to blues, the musicians have changed, but two things have not: they still love to play music together, and they plan to continue their musical odyssey. Tickets $35, $45, $80
Jack Casady
Backstage peek • The Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sept. 25, 2010, with singer Natalie Cole. A sold-out audience in Yardley Hall enjoyed Cole’s extensive repertoire backed by a big band, including 12 Kansas City musicians. The event raised about $40,000 with corporate sponsorships from AT&T, Commerce Bank, Shawnee Mission Medical Center, Garmin, PGAVArchitects, Capitol Federal Foundation and the Marriott-Overland Park.
JCCC trustees Melody Rayl, Dr. Bob Drummond and Lynn Mitchelson; Natalie Cole; Dr. Terry Calaway, JCCC president; and Jon Stewart, JCCC trustee
Natalie Cole and Sandy Price, JCCC Foundation president
Menorah Medical Center event donors Jennifer Eslinger, Brent Eslinger, Dr. Makeba Williams Boatwright, Susan Krouse, Dan Krouse, Wanda Wilkinson, Steve Wilkinson, Nancy Mellard and Ken Mellard attend a post-show reception in the Polsky Theatre. Steve Hahn, president, AT&T Kansas; Phyllis Brownlee; Doug Brownlee; Sen. Karin Brownlee; Natalie Cole; Phyllis Merrick; Rep. Ray Merrick, Kansas majority leader; Beth Carroll and Chris Carroll, regional director, AT&T
Rachel Franklin, JCCC student, and Harvey S. Bodker, event patron/donor
• Country music star LeAnn Rimes appeared Nov. 14, 2010. The audience included loyal out-of-town groupies as well as local fans. Here she is seen with lucky attendees before the show.
LeAnn Rimes and Nga “Thy” Do, JCCC Dining Services, assistant
Marlene and Dr. Terry Calaway, JCCC president, with LeAnn Rimes
Tom Mitchell, DLR Group, Rimes and Chanie Mitchel
Dana Spoor, Rimes and Melody Rayl, JCCC trustee
Jill Stinson and her husband Don Barnum, Rimes
Jeff and Terri Schlicht, executive assistant to the president and board, Rimes
Alicia and Lynn Mitchelson, JCCC trustee, Rimes
Janis Ian is a voice re-mastered
Janis Ian catapulted to fame as a 15-year-old with her controversial song Society’s Child about interracial romance. That was 1966, and Ian is still making headlines. The singer, guitarist and songwriter will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 12, in Polsky Theatre. Born in 1951, Ian has been the voice of a generation in two different periods of her life. Fans who grew up during the early rock years already know the artist, her early hits and soulful voice. A great American songwriter of the 1960s and ’70s, she wrote Jesse, a song recorded by so many others that few remember Ian wrote it, and Stars, recorded by artists as diverse as Mel Torme and Cher.
apartment. A versatile and talented performer, known for her “substance, depth and musicality” (New York Times), Ian refused to be pigeonholed as a “protest singer.” Her 1975 hit At Seventeen, an anthem about teenaged angst, would garner her five Grammy nominations and two Grammy awards. She performed it on the first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live that October. While her counterparts, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, met early deaths, Ian survived despite challenges — unsuccessful abusive relationships with both men and women, health crises, financial problems and a nine-year hiatus from the music business. In 1992, she staged her musical comeback with Grammy-nominated Breaking Silence. Since then she has enjoyed CDs, a book, tours and speaking engagements.
A new generation is discovering her formidable talent through her 2008 two-CD autobiography of songs, Best of Janis Ian, and book, Society’s Child, Ian is still touring in cabaret-style venues and haunting people with a voice that stands alone or with her guitar. (Chet Atkins once said, “Singer? You in which she candidly discusses her roller-coaster life. ought to hear that girl play guitar; she gives me a run for my money.”) She With her family under surveillance by the FBI during the Cold War era, also shares short stories. Ian grew up looking over her shoulder. By the age of 16, she was a regular For those “who learned the truth at 17,” Ian is a champion of “ugly duckling performer at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village, had played to a sold-out girls,” a woman whose spirit and soul have triumphed over beauty queens. audience at Carnegie Hall and was nominated for a Grammy — all while living with her parents and younger brother in their Upper West Side Tickets $35
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
March 2011 Monday
6*The Odd Couple, JCCC academic theatre
*Fontana Trio Ruel Joyce Recital noon Recital Hall
Youth Symphony of Kansas City *Concerto Showcase 4 p.m. Yardley Hall
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*Brown & Gold Men’s Follies 1 p.m. reception, lobby 2 p.m performance Polsky Theatre
*Nathan Granner Beau Bledsoe Ruel Joyce Recital noon Recital Hall
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28 *Kansas City Baroque Consortium Ruel Joyce Recital noon Recital Hall
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21 *Marimba Sol de Chiapas Ruel Joyce Recital noon Recital Hall
For best seats, order early.
Call 913-469-4445 or buy tickets online
www.jccc.edu/TheSeries
*Jazz Nights 7:30 p.m. Polsky Theatre
Thursday 3 I Have a Dream — The Life and Times of Martin Luther King, Jr. 9:45 a.m., noon Yardley Hall $5
Friday 4
Saturday 5 Hot Tuna Blues
FLAUNT JCCC fashion show noon, 7 p.m. Polsky Theatre
8 p.m. Yardley Hall $35, $45, $80
*The Odd Couple, JCCC academic theatre 7:30 p.m. Bodker Black Box Theatre Opole, Philharmonic of Poland with soprano Izabela Matula
8 p.m. Yardley Hall` $45, $55
9 *Killer Strayhorn Jazz Series noon Recital Hall
15 David Basse and City Light Orchestra Jazz Series noon Yardley Hall
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*JCCC Chamber Choir 7:30 p.m. Polsky Theatre
Janis Ian 8 p.m. Polsky Theatre $35
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Vince Gill Cohen Series 8 p.m. Yardley Hall $50, $65, $100
*Dennis Winslett Quartet Jazz Series noon Recital Hall
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Izabela Matula
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20 Kansas City Symphony Sunday Four Dances from Estancia, plus Mozart 2 p.m. Yardley Hall $18 (youth)-$58
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*JCCC Concert Band 7:30 p.m. Polsky Theatre
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2 p.m. Bodker Black Box Theatre
1*Mark Lowrey Trio with Shay Estes Jazz Series noon Recital Hall
Wednesday
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Watch for 2011-2012 season announcement.
Tuesday
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Sunday
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*James Ward Trio Jazz Series noon Recital Hall Vince Gill
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. 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
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
Fans thrill to ‘An Evening with Vince Gill’ in a warm tenor and a quick and easy wit. Gill’s music career has garnered 20 Grammy Awards and sold more than 26 million albums. In 2007, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, one of the youngest inductees ever. If anyone in country music defines humility, it is Gill. His generosity and kindness are legendary. Hailing from Norman, Okla., Gill achieved his big breakthrough with When I Call Your Name, which won the Country Music Association’s Single of the Year award. Since then, he has won 17 more CMA honors, including Song of the Year four times. Gill co-hosted the CMA Awards for the first time in 1992. He continued to host Country Music’s Biggest Night for 12 consecutive years, ending his run in 2003. He has recorded 25 albums, including 2006’s These Days, successfully weaving country, pop, gospel and rock influences together in a groundbreaking four-CD set.
Vince Gill
Good news for country music fans — superstar Vince Gill performs at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 24, in Yardley Hall as this year’s presenter for the Cohen Community Series. All proceeds for this event go to JCCC scholarships and educational programs.
An Evening with Vince Gill will feature Gill performing hits from his 30-year career backed by a live band. The playlist includes favorites like One More Last Chance, I Still Believe in You and What the Cowgirls Do. One of the most popular singers in modern country music, Gill has a love for country music, top-notch songwriting, and world-class guitar playing, all wrapped
As a strong influential force on the country music scene, he has been a coveted duet partner, collaborating with Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand and his wife, celebrated singer Amy Grant. A true humanitarian, Gill has been active in hundreds of charity events including Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Special Olympics, and his own Pro-Celebrity Golf Tournament (“The Vinny”), supporting junior golf programs in Tennessee. Gill is the fourth presenter in the Cohen Community Series, inaugurated in 2008 in honor of the late Barton P. Cohen, president of Metcalf Bancshares, vice chairman and general counsel of Metcalf Bank and an attorney with Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP. The Cohen Community Series was funded through a gift from Jon Stewart, vice chairman of the JCCC board of trustees, college alumnus, and former president of Metcalf Bank. Previous presenters have been George Will, Phil Vassar and Marcus Buckingham. Tickets $50, $65, $100