Kansas City Chamber Orchestra to Present SPRING GLORIES Concert in May

Kansas City Chamber Orchestra will conclude its 38th season with its "Spring Glories" concert on Thursday evening, May 1, at Country Club Christian Church.

The 7:30 p.m. concert is appropriately named for the season it represents with a program of inspiring pieces including Aaron Copland's beloved "Appalachian Spring" Suite. KCCO Music Director Bruce Sorrell will conduct this concert.

Sorrell carefully selected the pieces for this May Day program that reflect the season, including Samuel Barber's "Serenade for Strings," Ralph Vaughan Williams', "The Lark Ascending," featuring soloist Rena Ishii, and the Danish String Quartet's "Nordic Suite".

"The Danish String Quartet's 'Nordic Suite' for strings is a delicious, tuneful, energetic trip through the folk songs of Northern Europe," Sorrell said. "The Lark Ascending" is inspired by the lines from George Meredith's poem, "He rises and begins to round, / He drops the silver chain of sound."

Rena Ishii will bring a special touch to the "Serenade for Strings." A native of Kobe, Japan, Ishii moved to the United States to study as a full scholarship student at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, where she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in violin performance. She continued her studies at the prestigious Cleveland Institute of Music, where she worked closely with former Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil. Ishii continued to build her career from there, spending summers at music festivals in Europe and the U.S., including the Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto U.S.A. and Tanglewood Music Center, where she served as a concertmistress.

Ishii shares her passion for music by teaching for the Kansas City Sprouts program, which offers free string classes to underserved communities in the metro area. She is a member of the Kansas City Symphony and plays regularly with the KCCO. The evening will conclude with "Appalachian Spring".