Conservatory Orchestra

The Conservatory Orchestra performs several concerts each year in the Conservatory’s White Recital Hall and also at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Helzberg Hall.

Click here for photos from the 2019 Finale concert at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Academic Year 2019–20
Fall 2019

Sept. 27, Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Kevin Noe, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, Tickets $8, $6 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or valid student ID.

Oct. 14, Conservatory Orchestra, conducted by Adam Boyles, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, Tickets $8, $6 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or valid student ID.

Nov. 20, Conservatory Orchestra, conducted by Adam Boyles, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, Tickets $8, $6 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or valid student ID.

Spring 2020

Feb. 11, Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Kevin Noe, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, Tickets $8, $6 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or valid student ID.

Feb. 29, Conservatory Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, Tickets $8, $6 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or valid student ID.

May 4, Finale with the Conservatory Orchestra and Choirs, 7 p.m., Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, The program, featuring the Conservatory Orchestra and Choirs, includes Leonard Bernstein’s gorgeous Chichester Psalms and Ravel’s choreographic symphony, Daphnis et Chloé. The choirs are conducted by Eph Ehly, Conservatory Professor Emeritus of Choral Music, and the orchestra is conducted by Kevin Noe, Visiting Professor of Music and Director of Orchestras.
Tickets: $25 general public; UMKC faculty, staff and all students $10 with UMKC or student ID.

Academic Year 2018–19

Spring 2019 Performances

February 7, Conservatory Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., WRH, Tickets, $8; $6 seniors; UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID

March 8, Concerto/Aria, 7:30 p.m., WRH, Tickets, $8; $6 seniors; UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID

May 2, Finale: Celebrating an Era, 7 p.m., Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

This concert celebrates Dr. Robert Olson’s distinguished 50-year career and his contributions to the UMKC Conservatory.  Don’t miss it!
Join the Conservatory Orchestra and Conservatory choirs, directed by Robert Olson and Robert Bode, respectively. The performance includes Wagner’s The Ring Without Words; Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Chôros No. 10, “Rasga o coração” for chorus and orchestra.  Villa-Lobos who has said, “I learned music from a bird in the jungles of Brazil, not from academies,” is one of South America’s most famous composers. The winner of the Chancellor’s Concerto Competition also performs with the orchestra.

Fall 2018 Performances

September 14,  Conservatory Orchestra, Robert Olson, director, 7:30 p.m., WRH, Tickets, $8; $6 seniors; UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID

October 12, Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Steven D. Davis.  7:30 p.m., WRH. Program includes faculty Mike Mermagan performing Elgar: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85, written in the aftermath of WWI.  Tickets, $8; $6 seniors; UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID

October 16, Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., WRH, FREE

December 4, Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., WRH, FREE

Academic Year 2017–18
Fall 2017 Performances

Sept. 15 Conservatory Orchestra, conducted by Robert Olson, 7:30 p.m., WRH, Tickets $8, $6 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or valid student ID.

October 4 Conservatory Orchestra, Conservatory Artist Series, directed by Robert Olson, The program includes Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, with Benny Kim, violin, and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100.  7 p.m., Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Helzberg Hall.  Tickets: $25 general audience, $10, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students with UMKC or valid student ID.

October 26–29 Fall Opera, Hänsel und Gretel, by Engelbert Humperdinck, in German. (Conservatory Artist Series) Directed by Fenlon Lamb, with creative costumes and sets designed in paper.  Sets by Jeff Ridenour, projections by Kris Kirkwood. WRH, Tickets: $12, general public, FREE for UMKC faculty, staff, and all students with UMKC or valid student ID.
Oct. 26–28, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 29, 2:30 p.m.

November 17 Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson, 7:30 p.m., WRH, Tickets $8, $6 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or valid student ID.

December 5 Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., WRH, FREE

Academic Year, 2016–17
Spring 2017 Performances

Feb. 9, Conservatory Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., WRH directed by Robert Olson.
REVUELTAS: Sensemayá
STRAUSS: Vier Letzte Lieder
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
Tickets: $8; $6 seniors; UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID.

Feb. 28, Concerto/Aria Winners Concert, 7:30 p.m., WRH, FREE, winners perform with the Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson

April 24, Conservatory Orchestra, 7 p.m., Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Conservatory Artist Series, directed by Robert Olson.  Program includes Richard Strauss:  An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64 and the Chancellor’s Concerto Competition alternate, Xiangyu Zhao, piano, performing Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43. Tickets, $25 general public; UMKC faculty, staff, and all students $10 with UMKC or student ID.

May 2, Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., WRH, FREE, directed by Robert Olson

Fall 2016 Performances

Sept. 16: Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, tix $8, $6 seniors; UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID.
Oct. 20–22: Fall Opera:  Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi (Conservatory Artist Series), 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, Tix $12, general public, all UMKC faculty, staff and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID.
Oct. 23: opera matinee, 2:30 p.m., $12, general public, all UMKC faculty, staff and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID.
Nov. 4, CRESCENDO:  Dream Within Reach, Conservatory Artist Series, includes Conservatory Orchestra, 7 p.m. concert, Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Tix $30 general public, $15 for UMKC faculty, staff, and all students with UMKC or student ID.
Nov. 11, Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, tix $8, $6 seniors; UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID.
Dec. 6, Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, FREE

Academic Year, 2015–16
Fall 2015 Performances

September 18, Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson, 7:30 p.m., WRH, Tickets $8, $6, seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students free with UMKC or student ID.

October 9, Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson, 7:30 p.m., WRH, Tickets $8, $6, seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students free with UMKC or student ID.

October 21, Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., WRH, FREE

November 17–20, Fall Opera, Die Zauberflöte, (The Magic Flute) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, (Conservatory Artist Series) directed by Fenlon Lamb, guest conducted by Andy Anderson, 7:30 p.m., WRH, Tickets $12, FREE for all UMKC faculty, staff, and students with UMKC or other student ID.

December 2, Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., WRH, FREE

Spring 2016 Performances

February 11, Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson, 7:30 p.m., WRH, Tickets $12, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students free with UMKC or student ID.

March 22–25, Spring Opera, Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, directed by Fenlon Lamb, conducted by John Baril, 7:30 p.m., WRH, Tickets $12, free for all UMKC faculty, staff, and all students with ID.

April 12, Concerto/Aria Winner’s concert, winners perform with the Conservatory Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., WRH, FREE

May 5, Finale, Conservatory Orchestra and Choirs, directed by Robert Olson and Robert Bode, respectively, 7 p.m., Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Helzberg Hall, Tickets $25 and $10.

Academic Year 2014–15

Spring 2015 Performances

March 17-20, Spring Opera, Mark Adamo’s Little Women, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, tickets $12, $10 seniors, all UMKC faculty, staff, and all students free with UMKC or student ID.

April 6, Concerto/Aria Winners Concert, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, FREE.  Featuring the 2015 Concerto/Aria winners performing with the Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson, including the winning work of the 2014 Gerald Kemner Prize in Orchestral Composition Competition.

May 5, 8 p.m., Finale, Join the Conservatory Orchestra and choirs, directed by Robert Olson and Robert Bode respectively, as they conclude our 2014–15 Conservatory Artist Series in the Kauffman Center’s beautiful Helzberg Hall. STRAUSS: Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30; BERNSTEIN: Chichester Psalms; RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloé: Suite No. 2
Tickets: $25 general public; $10 for UMKC faculty, staff, and all students with UMKC or student ID.

Fall, 2014 Performances

September 19 Conservatory Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, Tickets $8, $6, seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students free with UMKC or student ID.

October 17 Conservatory Orchestra, 2014 Snow Symposium, Two Great Cities Making Music Together.  Masters of Ceremonies: Peter Witte, Dean of UMKC Conservatory and Xu Changjun Dean of China’s Tianjin Academy of Music, featuring excerpts from Pulitzer Prize-winning Madame White Snake by composer and ESMF Board member Zhou Long, and fare from Tianjin Academy of Music, 8 p.m., Folly Theater, Tickets, $10, 816-235-6222.

November 7 Crescendo, Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 7 p.m., The Conservatory’s annual fundraising event for scholarships, with music and dance performed by Conservatory students and faculty; 6 p.m. patron party/cocktails,.  Patron dinner in Brandmeyer Hall follows performance.  Sponsored by the Friends of the Conservatory of Music and Dance.  Tickets for concert only, a Conservatory Artist Series performance, $30 general, $15 for UMKC faculty, staff, and all students with ID.  Call 816-235-5982 for sponsorship information.

December 10 Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., WRH, FREE.

In January 2012, the orchestra performed at MMEA, where they performed Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps [The Rite of Spring].  Robert Olson said, “I have always wanted to perform what is considered one of the most famously difficult pieces of classical music at MMEA, and this year seemed to be the time.  The orchestra’s performance was so electrifying that more than 1,000 people leapt to their feet for an instant standing ovation.”  At the 2013 Finale on Helzberg Hall stage the orchestra performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, and Barber’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14 with Chancellor’s Concerto Competition Winner, student Filip Lazovski.

Academic Year 2013–14

Fall 2013 Performances

September 13 Conservatory Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, $8, $6 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID. Tickets, 816-235-6222

October 11 Conservatory Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, $8, $6 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID., Tickets, 816-235-6222.

October 21 Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, FREE

November 14–16 Fall Opera, Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon, 7:30 p.m., WRH, $12, $10 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID. Tickets, 816-235-6222

November 17 Fall Opera, Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon, 2:30 p.m., WRH, $12, $10 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID. Tickets, 816-235-6222

December 4 Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, FREE

Spring 2014

Folly for Five Miniseries, Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m., Conservatory Orchestra with Sora Park, piano, Chancellor’s Chamber Competition Winner, Folly Theater, 300 W. 12th, KCMO, Tickets $5, 816-235-6222.

April 4, Concerto/Aria 2014 Winners Concert with Conservatory Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, FREE

April 25, Finale, Mozart’s Requiem with Conservatory Choirs and Conservatory Orchestra, and Strauss’s Death and Transfiguration, 8 p.m., Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Tickets $25 general and $10 UMKC faculty, staff, and all students with UMKC or student ID. Tickets, 816-235-6222.

Academic Year 2012–13

Fall 2012 Performance Schedule
Sept. 21 and October 18:  Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, Tickets, $8, $6 seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID.

Conservatory Orchestra members also perform for Conservatory operas.  The fall opera:

December 6–9, Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Performed in German, directed by Marciem Bazell, this delightful operetta is a tale of suitors seeking the hand of a wealthy widow.  Elegant ladies, eligible bachelors, can-can dancing, and charm galore, are sure to please.  WRH, Dec. 6–8, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 9, 2:30 p.m., Tickets, $12, $10, seniors, UMKC faculty, staff, and all students FREE with UMKC or student ID.

April 6, 2013, Concerto/Aria Competition Winners Concert, 7:30 p.m., White Recital Hall, FREE, Featuring the 2013 Concerto/Aria winners performing with the Conservatory Orchestra, directed by Robert Olson.
KRAFT: Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra, mvt I (Jennifer Wagner)
KORNGOLD: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, mvt I (Shih-Han Pan)
KERN: Selections from Rusted Mechanism (*world premiere; 2012 Kemner Orchestral Composition Competition Winner)
BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77, mvt I (Sarah Holmes)
HINDEMITH: Symphonic Metamorphosis

May 6, 2013, Finale, 7:30 p.m., Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Join the Conservatory Orchestra, choirs, and soloist Filip Lazovski, winner of the Chancellor’s Concerto Competition.  The evening includes Copland, Fanfare for the Common Man, Barber, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, and Beethoven, Symphony No. 9.  Tickets, $25 general audience, $10 for all UMKC faculty, staff, and all students with student ID.  816-235-6222 or call the Kauffman Center ticket office, 816-994-7222.

Conservatory Orchestra rehearses for Finale 2012 in Helzberg Hall.

photos:  James Allison