College Town. City Life.

Photo by James Allison

Each week, the University of Missouri-Kansas City offers an array of on-campus activities. It’s nothing new. UMKC has a long legacy of hosting countless culturally enriching events. These activities are part of what give UMKC a vibrant campus life, and make UMKC an arts and culture powerhouse. The influence of UMKC-based and UMKC-trained alumni extends well beyond the campus’ edge, so their activities are listed here as well.

Featured Event: 

What: Fall Dance Concert
The dance concert features performances by students and choreography by faculty of the UMKC Dance Division. Performance pieces include Disruption (Abbott); Unplugged (Weber); Excerpts from West Side Story (Madison-Cannon); Camerata Nouveau (Henry); and The Miraculous Man (Hiett, Tice).
Where: White Recital Hall, James C. Olson Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: Oct. 29 – 31
Tickets are $8, $6 for seniors; and free for UMKC faculty, staff and all students with UMKC or student ID and can be purchased online.


Oct. 29 – Nov. 3

What: Carol Oja Guest Lecture and Master Class
Carol Oja, professor of musicology at Harvard University, is the UMKC Conservatory’s Barr Institute Scholar Laureate. This program is supported in part through a grant from the Patricia and Howard Barr Institute for American Composition Studies at UMKC.
Where: Room 333, Grant Recital Hall, 5227 Holmes St., Kansas City, Mo.
When:
Thursday, Oct. 29,, 10 – 11:30 a.m., and repeated 4 – 5:15 p.m.
It’s free.

What: UMKC Volleyball vs New Mexico State
To help celebrate and honor the late Cynthia Gable, former UMKC Athletics staff member, proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Cynthia Gable Scholarship Fund. The first 200 fans will receive a free Think Pink Tote Bag. Special guests and survivors will be recognized during the match.
Where: Swinney Recreation Center, 5030 Holmes, St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 29
Current UMKC students receive free admission to all UMKC athletic events with ID. Single game tickets start at $7 and can be purchased online. To purchase all-inclusive tickets that include a pre-game reception, please contact the UMKC Ticket Office.

What: Jay Carter, Doctoral Recital
This doctoral recital features Jay Carter, countertenor; with Richard Williams, piano; Sarah Reed, soprano; and Joshua Lawlor, bass. Performance pieces include Purcell, real. Britten: “Music for a while” from Oedipus, Z. 583; Purcell: in guilty night (Saul and the Witch of Endor), Z. 134; Poulenc: “Chanson à boire” from Chansons gaillardes; Hahn: Trois jours de vendange; Saint-Saens: Danse macabre; Schumann: Belsatzar, Op. 57; Schumann: “Waldesgespräch” from Liederkreis, Op. 39, No. 3; Wolf: “Bei Einer Trauung” from Mörike-Lieder; G. Butterworth: “Is my team ploughing?” from Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad; Trad., arr. Kohn: The Ocean Burial; and Trad., arr. Kohn: The Farmer’s Curst Wife.
Where: St. John’s United Methodist Church, 6900 Ward Pkwy., Kansas City, Mo.
When: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 29
It’s free.

What: UMKC Men’s Soccer vs UNLV
UMKC Athletics wants to help all kids get ready for trick-or-treating; so all kids 14 and younger who attend the match will receive special UMKC candy pails. Other special Halloween activities will include pumpkin painting contests and face painting.
Where: Durham Soccer Stadium, 5025 Cherry St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: 7 p.m., Friday Oct. 30
Current UMKC students receive free admission to all UMKC athletic events with ID. Single tickets start at $7 and can be purchased online.

What: Bráulio Bosi, Doctoral Recital
This doctoral recital is for Bráulio Bosi, guitar. Performance pieces include Reis: Gente boa; Reis: Xodó da Baiana; Piazzolla: Invierno porteño; Dowland: The Frog Galliard; Dowland: Sir John Smith, his Almain; Garoto: Duas contas; Pujol: “Guajira” from Tres piezas españolas; Rodrigo: “Fandango” from Tres piezas españolas; Periera: Baião cansado; Pereira: Sarará; Pixinguinha, arr. Pereira/Bosi: Carinhoso; Tarrega: Rosita; Tarrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra;Sanz: Canarios; Dyens: Saudade No. 1; Ponce: Tres canciones populares mexicanas; and Escobar: Chopí.
Where: Grant Recital Hall, 5227 Holmes St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 30
It’s free.

What: Brittany Klever, Master’s Recital
This master’s recital is for Brittany Klever, euphonium; with Michelle Nam, piano. Performance pieces include Bara: Andante et allegro; Bourgeois: Trombone Concerto, Op. 144; Newman: Milori Blue; and Sparke: Harlequin.
Where: Central United Methodist Church, 5144 Oak St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 30
It’s free.

What: UMKC Volleyball vs UTRGV
To celebrate Halloween all children 14 years and younger will be given a free candy bag. All fans are encouraged to wear their best costumes, for a chance at an on-court experience. On-site photo booth, pumpkin painting contests, and more fun will be a part of this Halloween Saturday.
Where: Swinney Recreation Center, 5030 Holmes, St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 31
Current UMKC students receive free admission to all UMKC athletic events with ID. Tickets can be purchased online.

What: The Learned Ladies
UMKC Theatre graduate students present this play by Moliere, a comedy that illuminates shared human foibles. Come see this wonderful collision of silly academic pretension versus sincere love. The outrageous comic characters will battle it out with rapier-like wit & wordplay so come prepared to laugh heartily and question deeply. The play was translated by Richard Wilbur and directed by Theodore Swetz, the Patricia McIlrath Endowed Professor at UMKC Theatre. Handicapped parking is available in the surface lots east of the PAC. All other guests, please park on levels 5 and 6 in the Cherry Street Parking Garage (50th and Cherry streets).
Where: Studio 116, James C. Olson Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: Now through Oct. 31
Tickets can be purchased online. Please Note: The lobby renovations at the PAC may still be underway, so please plan extra time for parking.

What: UMKC Men’s Soccer vs Grand Canyon
Where: Durham Soccer Stadium, 5025 Cherry St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 1
Current UMKC students receive free admission to all UMKC athletic events with ID. Single tickets start at $7 and can be purchased online.

What: Saxophone Studio Recital
This recital features students from the saxophone studio of Zachary Shemon with Dan Velicer, piano. Performance pieces include Prokofiev: Moderato from Sonata for Flute and Piano in D Major, Op. 94; Maurice: Selections from Tableaux de Provence; Piazzolla: “Café 1930” from L’histoire du tango; Glauzunov: Concerto for Alto Saxophone in E-flat Major, Op. 109; Biedenbender: Dreams in the Dusk; Swerts: Klonos; Creston: “With tranquility” from Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, Op. 19; and Gabrieli, arr. Londiex: Canzona XV, arr. for Saxophone Ensemble.
Where: White Recital Hall, James C. Olson Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry St., Kansas City, Mo.
When:  7:30 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 1
It’s free.

What: Conservatory Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble
The Conservatory Wind Symphony, directed by Steven D. Davis; and Conservatory Wind Ensemble, directed by Joseph Parisi, perform at the Folly Theater, featuring special guest faculty artists Zachary Shemon, saxophone; and Aidan Soder, mezzo soprano. Performance pieces include Grainger: The Duke of Marlborough Fanfare; Grainger: “The Gum-Suckers March” from In a Nutshell; Gilmore: Five Folk Songs for Soprano and Band; Deemer: In Paradisum for Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (world premiere); and Maslanka: A Child’s Garden of Dreams.
Where: Folly Theater, 300 West 12th St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: 7:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 2
Tickets are $12 for the general public; and $5 for UMKC faculty, staff and all students with UMKC or student ID and can be purchased online.

What: Arianna String Quartet – Conservatory Artist Series
The Arianna String Quartet joins forces with shakuhachi grand master James Nyoraku Schlefer, world-renowned koto virtuoso Yumi Kurosawa, and acclaimed master shamisen player Yuko Reikano Kumura, as the Kyo-Shin-An ensemble returns for another memorable evening of music making with the ASQ. This unique concert fuses the ancient traditions of Japanese instrumentation with Western classical music’s string quartet, forging new frontiers in music and providing audiences with a once-in-a-lifetime concert experience. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Performance pieces include Kengyo: Yachiyo Jishi; Debussy: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10; and Schlefer: Dream Corner. This concert is underwritten by the James and Vera Olson Fund for the Arts.
Where: White Recital Hall, James C. Olson Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 3
Tickets are $25 for general admission; and $10 for UMKC faculty, staff and all students with UMKC or student ID and can be purchased online .

What: Abraham Wayman, Master’s Recital
This master’s recital is for Abraham Wayman, choral conductor, with the University Singers. The performance piece is Handel: Judas Maccabaeus, HWV 63.
Where: Central United Methodist Church, 5144 Oak St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 3
It’s free.

What: Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin World Premiere
The Kansas City Repertory Theatre presents this play written by and starring Michael Benjamin Washington. Those who stand up for equality in 2015 are following in the footsteps of Bayard Rustin, the lesser-known but powerfully influential civil rights leader who orchestrated the March on Washington and stepped forward himself as an openly gay man at a time when few had the courage to do so. In this ode, an exiled Rustin masterminds “a tribute to the ancestors” 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Where: Copaken Stage, 1 H&R Way, Kansas City, Mo.
When: Now through Nov. 15
For more information and show times, visit the KC Rep website.

What: You Can’t Take it With You
In this Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy, Alice wants to marry Tony, the banker’s son, and invites his parents to dinner to give their blessing to the marriage. But when Tony’s snooty, high-class parents met Alice’s peculiar extended family – including her grandfather the philosopher, her nutty ballerina sister and the fireworks enthusiast Mr. De Pinna – things become hilariously explosive. Cast members include New Theatre favorites Cathy Barnett, Craig Benton, Deb Bluford, Dodie Brown and Jim Korinke.
Where: The New Theatre Restaurant, 9299 Foster St., Overland Park, Kan.
When:
Now through Nov. 29
For tickets and show times, visit the website.
UMKC Connection: Co-owners Dennis Hennessy and Richard Carrothers are both UMKC graduates and both were presented with honorary doctorates by the UMKC College of Arts and Sciences in 2012.

What: People, Places, and Perceptions: Art by Sharon Gradischnig
This new exhibit at UMKC Miller Nichols Library, by artist Sharon Gradisching, is a look into her perspective of art over the last 10 years. The exhibit is a sample of the artist’s creative wanderings while a student at several institutions. Those include the Kansas City Art Institute where, at age 75, she earned a BFA in painting.
Where: Dean’s Gallery, 4th floor, Miller Nichols Library, 800 E. 51st St., Kansas City, Mo.
When: Now through Dec. 20.
It’s free.

What: Art in the Square
Art in the Square is an initiative of the City of Kansas City to showcase public art while reinforcing the city’s commitment to investing in local artists. The exhibit represents a unique collection of thought-provoking artwork that ranges from whimsical to innovative. The first Art in the Square exhibit, which will be placed in Washington Square Park, will feature art from five local artists. UMKC Associate Dean of the UMKC College of Arts & Sciences Kati Toivanen will have her “Flowering Wall” on display. Toivanen is also a professor in the UMKC Art and Art History Department.
Where: Washington Square Park, Pershing Road and Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, Mo.
When:
Now through Dec. 21
It’s free. For information, visit Art in the Square online.


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