The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, opening in downtown Kansas City, Missouri on September 16, 2011, announced today its 2011-2012 season, featuring a diverse array of classical, jazz, and pop music, opera, ballet and contemporary dance, Broadway, comedy, lectures, and more. The inaugural season features legendary performing artists, including Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples, Philip Glass, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, among others. The Kauffman Center's three resident companies-the Kansas City Ballet, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City-will also present seasons filled with world premieres, acclaimed guest artists, and a new production.
"The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will play a dynamic role in our community, not only by inviting the greatest artists from around the world to perform in our spectacular new halls, but also by providing opportunities for local, regional, and student performing arts organizations to perform at the Center," said Jane Chu, CEO of the Kauffman Center. "In our first season, there is something for everyone at the Kauffman Center, and audiences will be able to experience the performing arts in Kansas City in an entirely new way."Five world premiere performances will take place at the Kauffman Center in its first year, with the debut of three new works performed by the Kansas City Symphony, including one written by Chen Yi, a professor at the University of Missouri Kansas City; the Kansas City Ballet's performance of Tom Sawyer, composed by Maury Yeston and choreographed by the Ballet's artistic director William Whitener; and a multi-media chamber music piece based on the life of Charles Darwin. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which has made Kansas City its second home outside of New York, will perform at the Kauffman Center in its first tour under artistic director Robert Battle. Other highlights of the inaugural season include nine performances in the Harriman-Jewell Series, Kansas City's venerable performing arts presenter, including the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Parsons Dance, and two performances from the city's ten-day Bach Festival, featuring pianist Konstantin Lifschitz.
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