September 2010 Places

Places September 2010

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

Takács Quartet

American Voices, Songs of Our Nation Natalie Cole, 20th Anniversary Celebration

Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild Live Young Students Act Up Ruel Joyce Recital and Jazz Fall Series

“Jungle Jack” Hanna

New Season Starts with Strings

Takács Quartet

Recognized as one of the world’s great ensembles, the Takács Quartet plays with a unique blend of drama, warmth and humor, combining four distinct musical personalities to bring fresh insights to the string quartet repertoire. In its fourth appearance with the Performing Arts Series at JCCC, Takács Quartet performs at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, in Yardley Hall.

The program will be Haydn’s String Quartet No. 56 in E-flat major, Op.71 no. 3, one of the Apponyi Quartets; Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 2 in A, Op. 68; and Schubert’s Quartet in D minor, Death and the Maiden, recorded by Takács to critical acclaim.

The talented Takács (pronounced TA-kash) are violinists Edward Dusinberre and Károly Schranz, violist Geraldine Walther and cellist András Fejér. The inherent relationship of the violin, viola and cello and the ongoing bond of these musicians make their performances both deeply moving and vigorously passionate.

The Takács Quartet was formed by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Gabor Ormai, Schranz and Fejér in 1975, while all four were students at Budapest’s Liszt Academy. Now based in Boulder, Colo., the quartet has held a residency at the University of Colorado since 1983.

The quartet is known for its innovative programs, collaborating regularly with the Hungarian folk ensemble Muzsikas in a program that explores the folk sources of Bartok’s music. The Takács performed a music and poetry program on a 14-city U.S. tour with the poet Robert Pinsky, and in October 2007, Takács played a Carnegie Hall concert called Everyman,

based on the Philip Roth novel with the Academy-Award winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The Quartet’s award-winning recordings include the complete Beethoven Cycle on the Decca label. In 2005, the Late Beethoven Quartets won Disc of the Year and Chamber Award from BBC Music Magazine, a Gramophone Award and a Japanese Record Academy Award. Their recordings of the early and middle Beethoven quartets collected a Grammy, another Gramophone Award, a Chamber Music of America Award and two further awards from the Japanese Recording Academy.

In 2006 the Takács Quartet made their first recording for Hyperion Records, of Schubert’s Quartets D804 and D810. A disc featuring Brahms’ Piano Quintet with Stephen Hough was released to great acclaim in November 2007 and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy. Brahms’ Quartets Op. 51 and Op. 67 were released in 2008 and a disc featuring the Schumann Piano Quintet with Marc-Andre Hamelin was released in late 2009. The complete Haydn “Apponyi” Quartets, Op. 71 and 74, will be released in early 2011.

Takács Quartet performs 80 concerts a year worldwide including previous Yardley Hall concerts April 2005, October 2006 and April 2009, in which the Quartet played a program featuring the Schumann Piano Quintet Op. 44 with Hamelin.

Tickets $35 (includes a post-concert reception with the artists)

‘American Voices’ speaks to musical history, heart Crystal Gayle, Larry Gatlin and Andy Cooney combine their distinctive voices in a tribute to American songwriters in American Voices, Songs of Our Nation at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, in Yardley Hall.

Gayle and Gatlin, Academy of Country Music’s Best Female and Male Vocalists of the Year in 1979, team up with Irish America’s Favorite Son, Andy Cooney, in this unforgettable night of patriotic favorites as well as each singer’s well-known hits.

• Gatlin led The Gatlin Brothers through the course of a four-decade career from dusty Texas stages to White House performances, from Broadway to Grammy ceremonies, and to the top of the country charts. After touring with his brothers, Larry starred on Broadway taking the lead role in the Tony Award-winning musical The Will Rogers Follies. Combining his love of music and theater, Gatlin has recently scored an entire musical using only his songs, both old and new. Gatlin has 33 Top-40 singles under his belt, including both his solo recordings and those with his brothers.

• Gayle’s warm, resonant vocal style created a country crossover phenomenon as timeless as the beautiful music in her repertoire. Her

Larry Gatlin

Crystal Gayle

Grammy Award-winning hit, Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue, is recognized as being one of the 10 most performed songs of the 20th century. With humble beginnings in the Appalachian coal mining town of Paintsville, Ky., Gayle has gone on to earn 21 other Top 10 singles and 16 No. 1 singles.

• One of nine children from an Irish-American family in Long Island, N.Y., Cooney has a dynamic stage presence and outstanding voice that makes him one of the busiest entertainers in America. His repertoire spans from sea to shining sea, singing songs from Dublin, Ireland, to Dublin, Calif., and everywhere in between. Cooney’s talent and versatility provide the ability to deliver a song directly to the hearts of his listeners.

Together Gayle, Gatlin and Cooney perform a night of solos, duets and not-to-be-missed trios, accompanied by a live band. This performance honors America’s songbook and celebrates country, heritage and friendship.

Combining American classics and the entertainers’ own compositions, American Voices is touring concert halls throughout the United States.

Tickets $48, $58, $125 in the orchestra pit

Andy Cooney

Natalie Cole gives the Performing Arts Series a bravo 20th Natalie Cole

The Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College is giving itself and its audience a classy and elegant 20th anniversary gift — singer Natalie Cole. Better than the traditional 20th gift of platinum, the PAS has booked the eight-time Grammy Award winner at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center.

Backed by a big band, Cole sings tunes from her extensive repertoire of songs including those from her latest CD Still Unforgettable, standards from her R&B collection, and the ’70s-80s pop songs that made us Cole fans in the first place — This Will Be, Our Love and Inseparable. Through on-stage technology, she is also known to team up posthumously with father Nat King Cole in Walkin’ My Baby Back Home, a duet title from her new CD.

Still Unforgettable, which earned Cole two Grammys and the NAACP Award for Best Jazz Artist, is a recreation of the American songbook with songs like The Best Is Yet to Come, Come Rain or Come Shine, and Nice ‘N’ Easy. It follows 17 years after one of Cole’s best-remembered CDs, Unforgettable … with Love that featured Cole singing her father’s greatest hits.

Much has been written and documented about Cole’s real-life struggles and the effects it has had on her health. In 2000, Cole released her autobiography Angel on My Shoulder, which describes her battle with substance abuse during much of her life. In 2008, Cole was diagnosed with hepatitis C, a viral disease affecting the liver. She also had kidney disease for which she received dialysis until her successful kidney transplant in May 2009.

Now Cole is back in body, soul and song, looking glamorous and strong on stage. She plans to tour extensively – audiences are affectionately welcoming her comeback. The re-born singer lights up the stage with her voice and personality, leaving fans to dub her the “MiraCole.”

Playing with Cole’s big band for the evening are local musicians David Chael, Tim Doherty, alto sax; Doug Talley, James ISAAC, tenor sax; Kerry Strayer, baritone sax; Jeff Hamer, Stephanie Bryan, Karen Zawacki, Paul Roberts, trombones; and Steve Molloy, Jay Sollenberger, Clint Ashlock, Ron Stinson, trumpets.

Tickets $50, $65, $200 patron tickets that include a post-concert reception

Make a toast to 20 years Platinum is the traditional gift for a 20th anniversary. So why settle for gold when you can have platinum? Natalie Cole, whose albums like Natalie Live and We’re the Best of Friends reached gold in the late 1970s, has continued on to legendary fame. For its 20th anniversary, the PAS will have a celebration before and after Cole’s performance at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, in Yardley Hall.

All ticket buyers are invited to a champagne pre-show reception from 7-7:45 p.m. in the Carlsen Center lobby to toast the PAS 20th anniversary.

Three members of Quixotic Fusion, a Kansas City ensemble of musicians, dancers and aerialists, will perform in the lobby as a sneak preview to their appearance later in the fall (Oct. 29 and 30).

A limited number of VIP tickets will be sold at $200 as a fundraiser for the PAS. Those guests will be seated in the center orchestra and are invited to a post-show reception on campus with hors d’oeuvres and drinks.

PAS goes wild with Jack Hanna

America’s most beloved animal expert “Jungle Jack” Hanna brings his animal friends to the Performing Arts Series in Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild Live at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30, in Yardley Hall.

Hanna and his furry and feathered friends provide ahhh-some animal escapades (sometimes unscripted) and educate us about the protection and conservation of some of our planet’s most precious species. Professionals care for all animals performing as part of the show. Hanna also includes fascinating and humorous stories and footage from his adventures around the world. Hanna’s hands-on approach to creatures great and small has won him widespread acclaim as director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, conservationist, author, television personality and lifelong adventurer.

Hanna’s television career began in 1983, when he was invited to appear on Good Morning America following the birth of baby twin gorillas at the Columbus Zoo where he served as director. He has been a regular guest and wildlife correspondent ever since.

In 1985, he appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman for the first time, and he is now a guest on The Late Show several times each year. A few years later he started appearing on Larry King Live, followed by The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Hollywood Squares, The Maury Show, Entertainment Tonight, FOX News, CNN programs and various other news programs.

In 1992, Hanna’s media appearances were taking so much time that he became director emeritus at the Columbus Zoo. In 1993, he became host of the nationally syndicated Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures. After 12 years, he started a new TV series, Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild, an action-packed series that won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Series in 2008.

Author of 11 books and counting, his timeless tales continue to captivate audiences from every generation. Everyone respects this ambassador between the animal and human worlds. And here is a little secret: For a wildlife correspondent, Hanna admits to two rather tame pets — Tasha, a yellow Labrador, and Brass, a golden retriever.

This show is presented by Nationwide Insurance.

Tickets are $22 adults, $18 youth * No koalas or rhinos will appear in Yardley Hall.

PAS arts education will sponsor a school/community show of Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild Live at noon Thursday, Sept. 30, in Yardley Hall.

Tickets are $5, available at the PAS box office.

Young students act up

Andi Meyer added dramatic play to children’s learning through the arts.

Each Monday for eight weeks this spring, children in the Hiersteiner Child Development Center’s Rainforest and Blue Lagoon classes, ages 3 ½ to 6, warmed up their bodies, voices and imaginations with theater classes co-sponsored by the Performing Arts Series arts education program and Starlight Theatre Academy.

Children stretched to touch a bowl of strawberries, bent over to pick flowers, blew out imaginary candles and donned animal masks to act out Meeow and the little chairs.

“We try to keep activities developmentally appropriate,” said Andi Meyer, teacher with the Starlight Theatre Academy.

While passing around an invisible bubble of varying size and weight from child to child looked like way more fun than the rest of us have during the day, the students were learning at the same time.

Angel Mercier, director of the PAS arts education, set up a pre- and post-study of children’s skills before and after the theater classes in four areas: 1. learning arts 2. behavioral change 3. social change and 4. material change (the ability to transfer skills from the arts to everyday life), with 10 criteria covering each of the four areas. Students in associate professor Ron Palcic’s statistics class completed the analysis. This is the fifth research project for Mercier, all examining the arts and learning. Other projects

evaluated dance in early education, development of self-efficacy for at-risk high school students studying jazz music, and using theater to support fourth-grade science curriculum.

The acting class enhanced what HCDC teachers are already doing with music and movement on a day-to-day basis.

“These acting classes add a lot to children’s ability to solve problems in a creative way,” said Claire Ehney, manager, HCDC. “The classes give focus to what teachers do on a daily basis — movement, music and dramatic play. The students love it. It is someone special, a little out of the ordinary coming to their class.”

Amazingly, children as young as three could discuss props, costumes, audience and the various kinds of artists from visual to musicians in their acting classes. They have attended school shows, such as the one by the Little Theatre for the Deaf, in Yardley Hall. HCDC has an open invitation to attend any of the Arts Education school shows that are age appropriate.

A partnership between PAS arts education and Starlight Theatre Academy began introducing students pre-K through high school to musical theater with 14-week classes beginning in fall 2009 and continuing each semester, including this summer.

Alex Armstrong (left) and Zain Cheema (right) were the “cats meow” in their HCDC class.

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

September 2010 Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday 1

Just added to the 2010-2011 season —

Season packages are still on sale.

The Vienna Boys Choir

Thursday

Friday 4

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Choose any five events or more and receive a 10% discount.

Friends receive 15% off season packages.

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Call the box office at 913-469-4445.

Takács Quartet 8 p.m. Yardley Hall $35

Join Friends of the Series (online at www.jccc.edu/TheSeries) and enjoy great benefits.

8 p.m. Feb. 26 Yardley Hall $30, $40

Saturday Takács Quartet

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Sunday

11 American Voices, Songs of Our Nation Larry Gatlin Crystal Gayle Andy Cooney

8 p.m. Yardley Hall $48, $58, $125

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*Ruel Joyce Recital Series Mountain Duo noon Recital Hall

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*Ruel Joyce Recital Series Fedele Trio noon Recital Hall

26 Kansas City Symphony Family Series Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery 2 p.m. Yardley Hall 816-471-0400

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27 *Ruel Joyce Recital Series Ann-Marie Brown, violin Lawrence Figg, cello Robert Pherigo, piano

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*Jazz Series Jazz Disciples noon Recital Hall

noon Recital Hall

For best seats, order early.

Call 913-469-4445 or buy tickets online

www.jccc.edu/TheSeries

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Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild Live 7 p.m. Yardley Hall $22, $18 youth

*A Devil Inside 7:30 p.m.

Bodker Black Box Theatre

Andy Cooney

25 Natalie Cole 7 p.m. pre-show reception 8 p.m. Yardley Hall post-show patron reception on-site $50, $65, $200

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Natalie Cole

Crystal Gayle

20th anniversary celebration

Larry Gatlin

Jack Hanna

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

Recital series marks 22 years Jazz Series Jazz Disciples

Sept. 28

Matt Otto Quartet

Oct. 5

Steve Rigazzi Trio

Oct. 12

Ervin Brown Quartet

Oct. 19

Gerald Spaits Quartet

Oct. 26

Megan Birdsall Quartet

Nov. 2

Polsky Theatre

Ruel Joyce Recital Series Fedele Trio

In 1989 Doreen Maronde, former assistant dean, Arts and Humanities, and Jerry Snider, former director, of what-was-then-called Cultural Education, conceived of a music series appropriate to the intimate setting of the Recital Hall in anticipation of the 1990 opening of the Carlsen Center. A 20-week series began in fall 1989 in the choral room of the Office and Classroom Building. In 1994, the series expanded to its current 30 recitals per year — nine classical (Ruel Joyce) and six jazz, each spring and fall.

The Ruel Joyce Recital Series is at noon Monday, and the Jazz Series is noon Tuesday in the Recital Hall unless otherwise noted. Concerts are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, funded in part by the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts. The 2010 fall schedule is listed here.

Mountain Duo

Sept. 13

Fedele Trio

Sept. 20

Ann-Marie Brown, violin Lawrence Figg, cello Robert Pherigo, piano

Sept. 27

Christina Webster, flute

Oct. 4

Brookside Brass Quintet

Oct. 11

Ji Hye Jung, percussion

Oct. 18

Raymond Santos Clarinet

Oct. 25

Sarah Tannehill, soprano

Nov. 1

Jeffrey Brown, piano

Nov. 8

Polsky Theatre

For more information, call 913-469-8500, ext. 3605.