Irish Tenor Alfie Boe to Perform At Kauffman Center

The Kansas City Irish Center and Lyric Opera of Kansas City today announced a collaborative benefit concert to support both organizations. "An Evening with Alfie Boe" will feature the acclaimed British tenor on the final stop of his first tour of the United States, 7 p.m. Sunday May 6 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

"If there is one thing the Irish love, it is good music, and right now Alfie Boe is one of the best in the world," said Kansas City Irish Center Executive Director Nancy Wormington. "Bringing his amazing talent to Kansas City as part of his first U.S. tour in partnership with the Lyric Opera, is just an incredible opportunity. And the fact that his mom is Irish is just icing on the cake!

"Alfie Boe is a very special kind of artist. He is equally at home on the operatic stage as well as in the world of Broadway musicals and pop concerts. We wanted to partner with the Irish Center to introduce this artist to Kansas City fans of great singing, whether on the operatic or musical stage," notes Lyric Opera General Director Evan Luskin.

About Alfie Boe
Alfie Boe is already known to millions as Jean Valjean from the 25th Anniversary concert of Les Misérables. This concert in the Kauffman Center's intimate Helzberg Hall will draw from Boe's catalog of Broadway, Classics, as well as selections from his recently released recording titled Alfie.

In his teens, as an apprentice mechanic at TVR sports cars, Alfie Boe entertained coworkers by singing his favorite arias and was overheard by a customer who suggested he audition for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Out of more than 1,000 hopefuls, Alfie landed the job, after which he decided to train properly as an opera singer at the Royal College of Music, National Opera Studio and Royal Opera House Young Artists' Program. While at the ROH, Alfie was approached by film director Baz Luhrmann to star in the Broadway production of La Bohème, for which he won a Tony Award. He also won the John McCormack Young Voice and Lyric Tenor of the World Audience Award, and received the prestigious Silver Clef Award for Classical Music in July 2011

Alfie has performed in The Pearl Fishers, Katya Kabanova, La Bohème, and The Mikado at the English National Opera and in Romeo et Juliette at Covent Garden. It was at the request of Sir Cameron Mackintosh that he took the lead role of Jean Valjean in the sold-out 25th Anniversary performances of Les Misérables. Alfie's performance in Kansas City concludes his first tour of the United States, after a sold-out UK tour to begin in December 2011.

Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, November 16. To purchase tickets, call Patron Services (816)471-7344 or 1-800-OPERAKC (673-7252). Patrons can select their own seat and print their tickets at home by visiting www.kcopera.org or www.irishcenterkc.org.

About the Kansas City Irish Center
The Irish Center celebrates, supports, preserves and promotes the Irish and Celtic heritage of our community, families, and individuals year-round. The Center opened in Union Station St. Patrick's Day 2007. Today, the Center is a hub of Kansas City Irish activities, programs, music, and cultural opportunities. The Irish Center includes a modest permanent exhibit on Kansas City's Irish heritage, online and printed genealogy resources, an Irish resource library, educational and cultural programs and classes, and a "wee" gift shop.

About Lyric Opera of Kansas City
The Lyric Opera of Kansas City was founded in 1958; it is one of the nations' premier regional opera companies and brings high quality live operatic performances to the people of Kansas City area and five-state region. Repertoire choices encompass original language performances of standard repertory as well as contemporary and American operas. The Company mounts productions that enrich the community it serves, as well as reflect the highest artistic standards of the profession. The Lyric Opera offers innovative and award-winning programs designed to further music and arts education both in schools and in the community and serves over 20,000 students and educators each year.

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, a new multi-venue Center for music, opera, theater, and dance designed by Moshe Safdie opened in Kansas City September 16, 2011. The Kauffman Center seeks to enrich the lives of all Greater Kansas City residents by presenting vibrant performances, educational programming, and creating a tradition of the performing arts as a catalyst for Kansas City's civic, economic, and educational vitality. Three of the region's leading performing arts organizations - Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City - will be in residence at the Kauffman Center's two performance venues, the 1,600-seat Helzberg Hall and the 1,800-seat Muriel Kauffman Theatre, will offer audiences engaging and intimate experiences, while at the same time providing resident companies with dramatically enhanced performance capabilities. Serving as a cultural cornerstone for Kansas City's dramatic downtown, the Kauffman Center will bring a new spotlight to the region's performing arts community while simultaneously attracting some of the world's most talented performers and entertainers, further establishing Kansas City as a major cultural destination. More information on the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is available at kauffmancenter.org.

The Irish Center and Lyric Opera can be found on Facebook. Tweeters can follow the Lyric Opera @kcopera on Twitter.

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