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Johnson County Community College After nearly 20 years, Johnson County Community College continues to offer one of the largest multidiscipline performing arts series in midAmerica. The Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College connects and enriches the community by serving as a national and community leader for the performing arts, presenting professional performing arts programming, providing a comprehensive arts education program, and commissioning and presenting new artistic work, as well as advancing and assisting in the development of new artistic work and the careers of young and gifted artists. The Series offers performances by nationally and internationally known artists and companies in the Carlsen Center’s 1,250seat Yardley Hall and 400seat Polsky Theatre. Highlights of the 20082009 series were performances by Capitol Steps, Branford Marsalis, Garrison Keillor and Savion Glover. Some of the world’s best classical artists graced the stage of Yardley Hall, including the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Czech Symphony Orchestra and the Takács Quartet, featuring MarcAndré Hamelin on piano. Audiences enjoyed Ain’t Misbehavin’, starring Ruben Studdard; the 1940s musical review, In the Mood; Magic Tree House: The Musical; and the grammynominated vocal harmonies of Cherryholmes. This past season, 24,797 people attended one of the 31 performances in the Performing Arts Series; 54,537 attended events presented by various college departments and community organizations. Local presenters and community groups present 25 percent of the events in the college’s performing spaces.
PERFORMING ARTS SERIES ARTS EDUCATION Each year, the college’s Performing Arts Series Arts Education program provides area students and teachers with lowcost or free services designed to help them explore their own creativity, glimpse the performing world of professional artists, and develop talents and critical thinking skills. The arts education program includes master classes, teacher workshops, residencies, curriculum development, lecture/ demonstrations and performances. In 2008 2009, 149 different schools participated in activities. In 20082009, Performing Arts Series Arts Education offered 12 school shows, featuring artists from Mexico, Marionetas de la Esquina, a premier puppet troupe; Luna Negra, a dance troupe from Chicago bringing contemporary dance with a Latino flare; The Magic Tree House, following the popular book series by Mary Pope Osborne; Harriet Tubman, a historical look at the underground railroad; Spirit Horse, a family legend of the First Nations; and CSI Live!, a forensic case that included the audience in solving the mystery. More than 8,900 students attended. An additional 6,400 students attended more than 133 outreach activities, including master classes, workshops, lecture/demonstrations, film study and seminars at JCCC and in the community. The wide variety of performing arts opportunities connected visiting artists with numerous JCCC campus organizations, including the Hiersteiner Child Development Center, where the children joined in Irish folk songs. At Shawnee Mission West High School, artists conducted an indepth workshop on filmmaking for documentaries. Free performances were offered to residents at area retirement homes; and master classes were held at local dance studios and community centers. Partnerships continued with educational and community organizations such as the Paola Community Center with three performances there, the Olathe school district and its after school programs, UMKC Conservatory of Music Jazz Studies and the Youth Symphony of Kansas City. Partnerships began with the newly opened El Centro. Finally, 20082009 was a record year for school show attendance with an average house capacity of 87 percent.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCES JCCC’s music department offers students the opportunity to compose, study and perform music as part of a choral group or concert or jazz band. JCCC’s musical ensembles – Chamber Choir, MadRegalia, Concert Band, the Midnight Blues Jazz Choir and the Midnight Express Jazz Ensemble – performed concerts throughout the year. JCCC’s academic theatre department offered these productions in 20082009: Proof, a contemporary work about identity and family dynamics; Twelfth Night, Shakepeare’s comedy about love and mistaken identity; Bang, Bang, You’re Dead, inspired by the Columbine High School shootings and toured to local schools as a resource for students dealing with a violent world; Holiday, Philip Barry’s comedy of manners; and Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim’s musical look at the stories we tell our children. The college’s academic theatre program provides a variety of roles and technical work for students and community members. In addition, Trompe L’oeil, presented by the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and the JCCC theatre department, had its world premiere at the college in March. The drama, written by Dorothy Naeymi, JCCC adjunct professor, speech, is set in Kansas City and references Venus Rising from the Sea: A Deception, an internationally famous painting by Raphaelle Peale that’s part of the collection of the NelsonAtkins Museum of Art. In addition, each semester the college presents the Ruel Joyce Recital Series (named for the longtime jazz bassist who headed the local musicians federation from 1977 until his death in 1989) and a Jazz Series. The concerts, featuring local classical and jazz artists, are cosponsored by the JCCC humanities and music departments, Community Services and the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts.
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