Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Brightness of Light, 2024-2025 by TheIndependentMagazinePA

A NOTE FROM DEBORAH SANDLER KEMPER

Welcome to the start of the new season!

This year promises changes yet unknown. Amidst the uncertainty, we are fortunate to stay grounded in the beauty of the arts. We will tell stories of real and imagined people, elevating narratives with visual and aural splendor. I am thrilled to have Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfry join us to share the stories of the remarkable artists Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, to open the season.

Our featured work for our opening weekend, The Brightness of Light, holds a special place in my heart. Composed by Kevin Puts, a living composer and friend of Lyric Opera, this piece brings profound artistry to our stage. Puts’s Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night (with librettist Mark Campbell) poignantly tells the story of the Christmas truce at the start of World War I. If you were fortunate enough to see our 2014-2015 season production, you were undoubtedly transported by its magic.

Regarding our schedule this year, all performances will take place over one weekend as we continue to recover from the challenging and disruptive pandemic years. This change is temporary, intended to efficiently use our resources and offer four different productions at our artistic home, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. With your support and generosity, we look forward to returning to our regular schedule in the future.

On behalf of the entire company, I want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support and for being with us to share inspiring performances. You are the reason we can continue to bring the beauty of the arts to life.

Deborah Sandler Kemper, General Director and CEO

BOARD OF TRUSTEES: 2024–2025

OFFICERS

Anthony Durone, President

Richard English, Vice President

Scott Blakesley, Secretary

Mark Benedict, Treasurer

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Dr. Ivan Batlle

Richard P. Bruening

Tom Butch

Casey Claps

Dr. Melinda Estes

Michael D. Fields

Christina Hager

Kenneth V. Hager

COUNSEL

Mary Leonida

Mira Mdivani

Edward P. Milbank

Thomas E. Nanney

Andrew Robb

Jug Stanovcic

Wade Kerrigan, Ex-Officio

AUXILIARY MEMBERS

Pam Bruce, Ex-Officio | President, Lyric Opera Circle

Kelly Privitera, Ex-Officio | Ball Co-Chair, Lyric Opera Circle

Lisa Pruch, Ex-Officio | Ball Co-Chair, Lyric Opera Circle

Drewbie Price, Ex-Officio | Chair, Orpheus KC

Established 1899 | Kansas City’s Journal of Society

The first issue of The Independent was published on March 11, 1899. The magazine was the brainchild of Arthur Grissom and George Creel. Young Mr. Grissom soon returned to New York, where he was a founder of The Smart Set prior to his death at the age of 31. George Creel continued to run The Independent until 1909. (In later years, Mr. Creel would serve as chairman of the Committee for Public Information under President Woodrow Wilson. He devised much of the propaganda that encouraged Americans to support World War I.) The next owners of the magazine were Clara Kellogg and Katherine Baxter of the Kellogg-Baxter Printing Company, who lived and worked together. After Miss Baxter’s death from pneumonia at the age of 43 in 1924, Miss Kellogg published an annual tribute to her. Martha Nichols Gaylord (Mrs. Gleed Gaylord) became the editor and owner in 1939, a decade after she joined the staff. Mrs. Gaylord headed the magazine during a time when the arts were proliferating in Our Town: The Kansas City Ballet was founded in 1957, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City in 1958 and the Kansas City Repertory Theatre in 1964. Mrs. Gaylord sold The Independent to Robert P. Ingram in 1983. Laureen Ingram, Mr. Ingram’s daughter-in-law, purchased the magazine from him in 1996. Rachel Lewis Falcon became the new owner and publisher in 2017.

The Independent Magazine Publisher

Director of Program Guide Operations Graphic Design

Rachel Lewis Falcon

Christin Painter BurningStar Studios, LLC

The Independent Magazine 2400 West 75th Street, Suite 120 • Prairie Village, KS 66208 • 816.471.2800

Christin Painter • Christin@kcindependent.com

Lyric Opera of Kansas City program guides are a publication of the Performing Arts Division of The Independent magazine. Information in this publication was carefully compiled to ensure accuracy. However, the publisher does not assume responsibility for accuracy. Editorial program content was provided by the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Copyright by The Independent magazine. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. kcindependent.com

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

FOR ADULTS

Community Conversations

This free event series uses opera to discover our shared humanity, on and off the stage. We invite the culturally curious to explore the “here and now” implications of our productions, featuring live music and stimulating conversation. No prior opera knowledge necessary!

Opera Dives Deep

This free series provides audiences with fresh insights from regional scholars and industry professionals to enrich appreciation and understanding of the operas in our season. Both established operagoers and curious newcomers alike are sure to make discoveries.

Pre-Opera Talks

Do you have tickets to see an opera at the Kauffman Center? Come fifty minutes early to learn about the who, what, where, when, and why of the production you’re about to see.

FOR SCHOOLS

Lyric Opera offers several comprehensive educational experiences in which students in grades K–12 and their teachers are invited to unlock the potential of opera through a variety of programs deliverable in schools or community spaces. The 2024–2025 programs include:

• The Haberdasher Prince—a touring opera for elementary schools

• Narrative Storytelling Workshop an interactive recital for secondary schools

• Student Dress Rehearsals an opportunity for school groups to attend the final dress rehearsal of our mainstage operas

FOR FAMILIES

Maya and the Magic Ring

In this new opera for families, a young girl named Maya discovers a dazzling ruby ring in her grandmother’s belongings. She rubs the jewel and accidentally releases a genie, leading to chaos. Realizing she is in a pickle, Maya must choose her final wish carefully. Join Lyric Opera of Kansas City for this hilarious story of family and magic, touring Kansas City community spaces where families gather in March and April 2025.

Visit kcopera.org/learning to view our entire menu of programs, learn more, and register.

Resident Artists are chosen by national audition. The program bridges graduate training to professional careers by providing performance opportunities, coaching, and career training.

BETHANY JELINEK (Soprano)

Bethany Jelinek, soprano, is a passionate performer and a dynamic competitor from Dallas, TX. In 2024, Jelinek was a semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and was a finalist in the inaugural Heartland Sings Vocal Competition. She was awarded the 2023 Jonathan Pell People’s Choice Award from the Dallas Opera Guild Biennial Lone Star Vocal Competition, the 2022 Roy and Sue Johnson Opera Theatre Award, and the 2021 Thomas Hayward Memorial Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Singer at Southern Methodist University where she received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in vocal performance. Recent credits include Micaëla (Carmen), Female Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), Abigail Williams (The Crucible), and Fiordiligi (Cosí fan tutte).

VIRGINIA REED (Mezzo-Soprano)

New York native, Virginia Reed was a recent finalist in the Southeast Region of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Versed in lyric repertoire, recent roles include Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), the title role in La Cenerentola, Sesto (La clemenza di Tito), Olga (Eugene Onegin) and Der Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos). Reed was a scholarship recipient in the 2022 3rd Internationale Opernwerkstatt Waiblingen, performing with the Wurttemberg Philharmonic under Maestro Vlad Iftinca. She has worked as a Young Artist with Wolf Trap Opera, Central City Opera, and Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center. Reed is a champion of concert and oratorio work, having performed as a choral artist with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

JAEMYEONG LEE (Tenor)

Tenor Jaemyeong Lee, a native of South Korea, graduated in 2024 with a Performer Diploma and Artist Diploma in Voice Performance with Performance Fellowship at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with Carol Vaness, Kevin Murphy, and Gary Arvin. He earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Voice Performance from Seoul National University as a student of Yonghoon Lee.

Lee performed the role of Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro) at Aspen Music Festival in Summer, 2024. Lee has also been a Young Artist at Summer Opera Tel Aviv. Other credits include Roméo (Roméo et Juliette), Ruggero (La rondine), Rodolfo (La bohème), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), and Ferrando (Cosí fan tutte). Recent soloist concert work includes Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Verdi’s Requiem.

JA Z Z

Folly Jazz Series FOLLYTHEATER.ORG/JAZZ 24/25

SOME ENCHANTED EVENING

Starring

YELLOWJACKETS JAN. 25

KARRIN ALLYSON SEPT. 21

BENNY BENACK III & STELLA COLE

Showcasing

JABU GRAYBEAL AN EVENING WITH

SÄJE FEB. 28

HELEN SUNG Meets BACH ARIA SOLOISTS

Visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum to experience Ike and Mamie’s story in their own words.

“Thethinproudest g I can claim is that I am from Abilene.”

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Best U.S. Small Town to Visit TravelAwaits (2023)

Top 10 True Western Town of the Year True West Magazine (2023)

Best Historic Small Town USA TODAY (2023)

GIVE TO LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY

You can help bring the magic of opera to all of Kansas City! Your generosity allows us to:

• CREATE high-quality artistic experiences, through world-class opera, curated right here in Kansas City

• TRANSFORM the lives of more than 26,000 people every year with extraordinary music, artistry, and performances

• CAPTIVATE new audiences by introducing children (and adults!) to their first opera experience

• DEVELOP the next generation of opera performers through our nationally recognized Apprentice and Resident Artist Programs

EVERY GIFT IS MEANINGFUL

For more information about giving and the exciting benefits available, please scan the QR code below, or contact our Development Team at (816) 802-6061, or giving@kcopera.org.

RESIDENT ARTIST PROGRAM CONT.

ALEX SMITH (Baritone)

Baritone Alex Smith received his Master of Music in Voice from the Yale School of Music in the spring of 2024, under Adriana Zabala. He received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Lorraine Manz. During his time at Yale, Mr. Smith performed the roles of Musiklehrer (Ariadne auf Naxos), Junius (The Rape of Lucretia), Raimbaud (Le comte Ory), Father Trulove (The Rake’s Progress), and Marco (Gianni Schicchi). In the summer of 2023, he attended The Glimmerglass Festival as a Young Artist where he performed in the chorus of La bohème and Roméo et Juliette, in addition to covering roles in Roméo et Juliette

MATTEO GENERANI (Coach-Accompanist)

Matteo Generani is an acclaimed Italian pianist, recognized for winning several competitions such as the Villa Oliva National Piano Competition (Italy, 2018), White Lake Young Artist Solo Performance (Michigan, USA, 2019), and Jefferson City Symphony Orchestra Piano and Orchestra Competition (Missouri, USA, 2020). He performs across Europe and the United States, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. Matteo co-founded the Medhelan Duo with violinist/violist Doriano Di Domenico and the Neo-Art Piano Duo with pianist Regina Tanujaya. In May 2020, he premiered and recorded the complete set of Études Op. 23 by Giovanni Albini. He looks forward to a CD and streaming release of his recording of piano works by Giuseppe Martucci, slated for December 2024 on the Naxos label. Matteo also serves as the festival coordinator and assistant to the artistic director of the Piano Lieven Foundation, and as co-artistic director of Classical Music Express.

The Haberdasher Prince photo by Andrew Schwartz for Lyric Opera of Kansas City

Hi,

There are so many options currently available to enhance your appearance that sifting through the information is often overwhelming. I provide information on our website that I hope will help you gain a clearer understanding of expectations, procedures and outcomes.

PROGRAM

Renée Fleming, soprano

Rod Gilfry, baritone

Kansas City Symphony

Robert Moody, conductor

The Brightness of Light Kevin Puts

Introduction, Georgia O’Keeffe (b. 1972)

First Correspondence, Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz

A Soul Like Yours, Alfred Stieglitz

Ache, Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia and Alfred, Orchestral Interlude No. 1

Violin, Georgia O’Keeffe

Faraway, Alfred Stieglitz

Taos, Georgia O’Keeffe

The Thing You Call Holy, Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz

The High Priestess of the Desert, Orchestral Interlude No. 2

Friends, Georgia O’Keeffe

Sunset, Georgia O’Keeffe

INTERMISSION

Overture

Leonard Bernstein (from Candide) (1918–1990)

Kansas City Symphony

“Almost Like Being in Love” Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986) (from Brigadoon) Frederick Loewe (1901–1988)

Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfry

“Some Enchanted Evening” Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) (from South Pacific) Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960)

Rod Gilfry

PROGRAM

“’Til There Was You” Meredith Wilson (from The Music Man) (1902–1984)

Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfry

“People Will Say We’re in Love” Richard Rodgers (from Oklahoma!) Oscar Hammerstein II

Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfry

“The Carousel Waltz” (from Carousel) Richard Rodgers

Kansas City Symphony

“Luck Be a Lady” Frank Loesser (from Guys and Dolls) (1910–1969)

Rod Gilfry

“So Big, So Small”

Justin Paul (b. 1985) (from Dear Evan Hansen) Benj Pasek (b. 1985)

Renée Fleming

“The Impossible Dream”

Mitch Leigh (1928–2014) (from Man of La Mancha) Dale Wasserman (1914–2008)

Rod Gilfry

“Climb Ev’ry Mountain” Richard Rodgers (from The Sound of Music) Oscar Hammerstein II

Renée Fleming

Featuring Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfry

SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Brightness of Light was originally performed at the Tanglewood Music Center, 2019

Presented in English with English titles

Running time: One hour and forty-five minutes with one intermission

CREATIVE TEAM

CONDUCTOR

PROJECTION DESIGNER

LIGHTING DESIGNER

PROJECTION PROGRAMMER/ACCOMPANIST

SOUND DESIGNER

LIGHTING SUPERVISOR

MUSIC LIBRARIAN

TITLES OPERATOR

STAGE MANAGER

HEAD CARPENTER

HEAD PROPSMAN

HEAD ELECTRICIAN

HEAD FLYMAN

HEAD SOUND ENGINEER

WARDROBE SUPERVISOR

WARDROBE ASSISTANT

Robert Moody*

Wendall K. Harrington

Selena Gonzalez-Lopez

Paul Vershbow

John Story

Rachael Honnold*

Elena Lence-Talley

Sarah Zsohar

Alayna Powell

Kyle Deckman

Steve Cochran

Dan McMahan

Evan Suellentrop

Grant Conrad

Desiree Baird Story

Amanda McCarty

* Lyric Debut

How toys, scouting and storybooks taught a clear lesson: loyalty and commitment will win the war. NOW OPEN

THE BRIGHTNESS OF LIGHT IMAGE CREDITS

Projection Design by Wendall K. Harrington

Projections & Supertitle Programming by Paul Vershbow

Text Animation by David Biedny

Research by Susan Hormuth and Mary Recine

Typography by G. Eriksson

This program would not have been possible without the extraordinary archival resources and generous cooperation of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Images courtesy of:

Alamy Stock Photo

Alfred Stieglitz, An American Place, 1938(c) The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Gift of The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation © Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington

Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth Texas

The Art Institute of Chicago / Art Resource, NY

Everett Collection Historical / Alamy

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, The Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Gift of Georgia O’Keeffe

LOOK Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Archives and Records Administration

The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY

The Museum of Modern Art / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza / Scala / Art Resource, NY

National Archives and Records Administration

The Philadelphia Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY

The Estate of Yusef Karsh

The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

PUBLISHING CREDITS

The Brightness of Light by Kevin Puts, published by Ricordi (NY), presented under license from Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.

Overture from Candide: music by Leonard Bernstein, musical materials courtesy of the Kansas City Symphony.

“Almost Like Being in Love” from Brigadoon by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, presented under license from G. Schirmer, Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners.

“Some Enchanted Evening” from South Pacific: music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals Concert Library.

“‘Til There Was You” from The Music Man: words and music by Meredith Wilson, musical materials provided by Paul Beck.

“People Will Say We’re in Love” from Oklahoma!: music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals Concert Library.

“The Carousel Waltz” from Carousel: music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, musical materials courtesy of the Kansas City Symphony.

“Luck Be a Lady” from Guys and Dolls: music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, presented by special arrangement with Music Theatre International Inc.

“So Big, So Small” from Dear Evan Hansen: words and music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, musical materials provided by Paul Beck.

“The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha: by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion, arranged by Larry Blank.

“Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from The Sound of Music: music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals Concert Library.

“Anything You Can Do” from Annie Get Your Gun: music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals Concert Library.

COMPOSER’S NOTES

By Kevin Puts

In 2015, I received the honor of a commission from my alma mater, the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. The school’s orchestra was planning a trip to perform at Lincoln Center and wanted to include a new work written by an alumni composer to feature an alumni performer. The performer they had in mind was Renée Fleming and—to my great excitement—she accepted the offer, thereby initiating one of the most treasured collaborations of my career. We wanted to focus on an iconic American woman as the subject, and I happened on a quote by Georgia O’Keeffe:

My first memory is of the brightness of light, light all around.

I could imagine this line sung right at the start. I learned that O’Keeffe had written thousands of letters over the course of her lifetime, many of them to Alfred Stieglitz, the renowned photographer and art curator who became her husband. Sarah Greenough’s indispensable two-volume My Faraway One (Vol. 2 forthcoming) includes the complete correspondence between O’Keeffe and Stieglitz from their first contact in 1915 until Stieglitz’s death in 1946. With intense emotion—and often humor—these letters chronicle O’Keeffe’s journey from a young artist, enthralled by and indebted to the older Stieglitz, to her complete immersion in the North American Southwest where she lived alone for many years, finding inspiration for her best-known works. The letters themselves are the property of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University, and I am deeply grateful for the right they granted me to craft a “libretto” made of excerpts from the letters. Letters from Georgia was premiered by Ms. Fleming and the Eastman Philharmonia at Alice Tully Hall on November 14, 2016, with Neil Varon conducting.

Having wholeheartedly embraced the role of O’Keeffe, Renée proposed expanding the work to include an equal part for Stieglitz. I welcomed this challenge of creating a larger work which would encompass their years both together and apart, from the first cautious exchanges between the two artists, through their impassioned and complicated relationship, to the years long after Stieglitz’s death, when I imagine O’Keeffe writing to him even still.

By design, all the music from Letters found its way into The Brightness of Light Ironically perhaps, it was the vivid, poetic language of these two artists, best known for their visual art, which I found most inspiring in the creation of these works.

It has been a great privilege to work with the baritone Rod Gilfry who brings his tremendous gifts to the role of Stieglitz. I am grateful to Wendall Harrington for creating the projections which accompany the work, to Bette and Joseph Hirsch for their generous support of the work’s first incarnation, and to all the co-commissioners who have made its creation possible.

CONDUCTOR’S NOTES

By Robert Moody

“My first memory is of the brightness of light, light all around.”

– Georgia O’Keeffe

Around a decade ago, the Eastman School of Music commissioned composer Kevin Puts to write a work for opera superstar Renée Fleming, which would premiere at Alice Tully Hall in New York City. While searching for a theme, Puts came across the above quote from American modernist painter Georgia O’Keeffe. The quote became the spark that lit a fire of creativity for Puts, materializing in this now most important song cycle for soprano, baritone, and orchestra.

I believe there is an overarching theme of “connection” in this work. First, there is a school connection. Kevin Puts and Renée Fleming are graduates of the Eastman School of Music (as is this conductor!), and that lauded conservatory commissioned the work. Legendary American Baritone Rod Gilfry, alas, is not an Eastman alum. But his captivating voice (thanks in part to study at the great Thornton School of Music in California) and his mastery of dramatic text interpretation brought this connection full circle.

A connection clearly existed between two artists of the early twentieth century: painter Georgia O’Keeffe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz. They were newly-met colleagues who quickly became lovers and eventually husband and wife. Sadness intruded those early stages of their connection, for just at the time of their meeting, O’Keeffe’s mother passed away—a complex and powerful connection of love intertwined with grief.

There is a connection between bodies—a steamy, physical connection. After all, Stieglitz’s first marriage found dénouement when his wife walked in on Stieglitz taking nude photographs of the young O’Keeffe! Also, the connection was born of language, made beautifully available to posterity through a treasure trove of O’Keeffe and Stieglitz’s letters.

Connection to the earth and land is also a key player in this work. O’Keeffe elevated the landscape of Taos and northern New Mexico to the status of an artistic oasis long before even the Santa Fe Opera arrived. Finally, there is a century-long connection (O’Keeffe lived to be ninety-nine). Every sight, sound, emotion, and sensory experience in the work can only be fully appreciated through the lens of longevity.

I used one word multiple times in this description: “connection.” Because, for me, the genius of The Brightness of Light is the artistic and—I dare say— spiritual connections omnipresent throughout this musical journey.

THE LEGACY OF VITALITY IN THE PAINTINGS OF GEORGIA O’KEEFFE

By Julie Farstad, Professor of Painting and Social Practice at Kansas City Art Institute

Born on a farm in the Wisconsin prairie and eventually finding her true home in the semiarid valleys and mesas of New Mexico, Georgia O’Keeffe marveled at the awe she felt in the natural world and spent her life trying to create paintings that embodied that wonderment. Her dynamic compositions of saturated color and surprising scale subverted European conventions of landscape and still-life painting that boasted the spoils of wealth and colonization. Through her phenomenological paintings of nature, O’Keeffe challenged the empirical, human-centered hierarchies imposed upon nature, instead inventing a visual lexicon of awe.

Georgia O’Keeffe was not painting sexual metaphors. O’Keeffe disdained that interpretation, which emerged from a generation of art critics who were enamored with Freudian theories and couldn’t imagine that a woman, who was free enough to pose nude for publicly exhibited photographs, could be anything other than some kind of vixen. She thought that the sexualized interpretation of her work said much more about the minds of those writers than her own. As for her own mind, O’Keeffe once said, “Where I come from, the earth means everything.” She wanted to communicate the profound liveliness with which each natural being hums, selecting the most essential forms to create a work of art that confronts, disorients, and thrills. O’Keeffe defined art as “filling space in a beautiful way.” A painting, like an ecosystem, is all about the complex relationships between interdependent parts within a region, and O’Keeffe was inspired by the way the elements of design (line, shape, value, color, form, texture, and space) can endlessly interact and recombine to create a sense of vitality on a two-dimensional surface.

In Sunrise, 1916, washes of saturated yellow, magenta, and red watercolor softly bleed into each other while two delicate, white lines of bare paper define the horizon and the arc of the emerging sun. More than depicting a sunrise, this painting evokes the spectacular phenomenon of sunlight permeating the world. The wet-into-wet painting technique suggests the ephemeral transition from darkness into light as the stark lines punctuate the monumentality of the event. In On the River I, ca. 1965, the viewer peers up past three striated, warm brown cliffs toward a warped, triangular shape of peach-colored sky. As the large, hard-edged sky advances toward the viewer, and the darker rock forms bleed off the edges, the viewer is humbled and disoriented. In this way, O’Keeffe shifts the focus of landscape painting from the predictable forms of mountain and sky to the embodiment of the phenomenon of being entangled in nature. Subjects in O’Keeffe’s works continuously teeter between flower and flowering, sunrise and sun rising. By hovering between object and verb, Georgia O’Keeffe redefined the beautiful from that which is pleasing to that which is vital.

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC FEELING

By Trey Hock, Assistant Professor of Animation at Kansas City Art Institute

Born in 1864, Alfred Stieglitz was just twenty-five years younger than the medium of photography itself. As a young man, Stieglitz was driven by a love of theater, music, as well as the visual arts. It wasn’t until his late teens that he came across a camera that was smaller and far more portable than many previous cameras that his passion for photography was kindled.

Stieglitz was a stalwart proponent for photography to take its place amongst the other respected art forms. Not only was he showing in galleries and competing in and winning competitions, but his contributions as editor of the publication, Camera Work, led the way in showing some of the premiere photographers of the time as well as promoting the artform in general.

Most of Stieglitz’s early work falls in the category of pictorialism, which seeks to convey a feeling or idea through the photograph that goes beyond the documentation of the subject. Stieglitz would often photograph subjects that were commonplace or mundane. These could include parks, buildings, and people throughout New York. He would then use rich shadows, ethereal highlights, and a soft focus to create an image that slowed the viewer, allowed them to see again anew, and question what thoughts were behind the image.

At his gallery, 291, Stieglitz showed a variety of two-dimensional works, including drawings, paintings, and photography. This is how he first met Georgia O’Keeffe. She gave him some of her charcoal drawings, and they began a letter writing exchange in 1915. This would grow and developed into a love affair in 1918 and ultimately a marriage between the two artists.

Their relationship emerged out of a mutual respect, and O’Keeffe would remark on the power of Stieglitz’s photographs. It is with this in mind that I would encourage you to look at the photographs that Stieglitz took of O’Keeffe, less as documentation of an artist and more as artworks of Stieglitz. Try and ponder the ideas and feelings that he was attempting to convey, beyond simply capturing the likeness of an individual.

There is a particular image that can act as bridge to this way of seeing Stieglitz’s photographs. It is Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918. The thirty-one-year-old O’Keeffe is seen low in the frame, her arms twisted and held above her head, mimicking the movement in the artwork above her.

This photograph was taken in the earliest days of their love affair and is clearly an attempt to show O’Keeffe as a lover, an artist, an equal. Stieglitz was attempting to create a photograph that conveyed his feelings in the moment. As you listen to the music, and look at the art works, allow yourself to also feel as Stieglitz might, manipulated willingly by his powerful photography.

RENÉE FLEMING

Renée Fleming is one of the most highly acclaimed singers of our time, performing on the stages of the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. A 2023 Kennedy Center Honoree, winner of five Grammy® awards and the US National Medal of Arts, she has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Diamond Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. In 2014, she became the first classical artist ever to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. In 2023, the World Health Organization appointed her as a Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health.

Renée’s latest recital and concert program, Voice of Nature: the Anthropocene, inspired by her 2023 Grammy Award-winning album, includes an original film created by the National Geographic Society to reflect the musical selections. In May at the Metropolitan Opera, she reprised her starring role in The Hours, an opera which premiered last year, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and award-winning film. In 2023, she portrayed Pat Nixon in a new production of Nixon in China at the Opéra de Paris.

Renée’s new anthology, Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness, was published this spring. A prominent advocate for research at the intersection of arts, health, and neuroscience, as Artistic Advisor to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Renée launched the first ongoing collaboration between America’s national cultural center and its largest health research institute, the National Institutes of Health. She created her own program called Music and the Mind, which she has presented in more than 60 cities around the world, earning Research!America’s Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion. She is now an advisor for major initiatives in this field, including the Sound Health Network at the University of California San Francisco and the NeuroArts Blueprint at Johns Hopkins University.

In 2023, Renée received the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo for her album, Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, with Yannick Nézet-Seguin as pianist. The same year, Decca released a special double-length album of live recordings from Renée’s iconic performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Renée Fleming: Greatest Moments at the Met. Her voice is featured on the soundtracks of Best Picture Oscar winners The Shape ofWater and The Lord of the Rings.

Advisor for Special Projects at LA Opera, Renée is also Co-Artistic Director of the Aspen Opera Center and VocalArts at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Renée’s other awards include the 2023 Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, Germany’s Cross of the Order of Merit, and honorary doctorates from ten leading universities. www.reneefleming.com

ROD GILFRY

American baritone Rod Gilfry—a two-time Grammy Award nominee, singer and actor—has performed in all the world’s music capitals. His most recent Grammy Award nomination was for his performance in the title role of Messiaen’s monumental opera Saint François d’Assise in Amsterdam. Gilfry is an acclaimed opera singer, recitalist, and concert artist, and appears frequently in musical theater classics. His discography of 28 audio and video recordings includes the DVD and CD of his one-man show My Heart is So Full ofYou. His radio program, Opera Notes on Air, aired on K-Mozart 105.1 FM in Los Angeles for over three years.

He originated the role of Alfred Stieglitz in Kevin Puts’s The Brightness of Light, opposite Renée Fleming, and has appeared in this role with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Dallas Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Colorado Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Tanglewood Festival, Naples (FL) Philharmonic, and Aspen Music Festival and School.

Gilfry gained worldwide attention when he created the role of Stanley Kowalski in the 1998 premiere of André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire at the San Francisco Opera, opposite Renée Fleming. Other world premieres include Nicholas in Deborah Drattell’s Nicholas and Alexandra, Nathan in Nicholas Maw’s Sophie’s Choice, Jack London in Libby Larsen’s Every Man Jack, Edward Gaines in Richard Danielpour’s Margaret Garner, the title role in Marc-André Dalbavie’s Gesualdo, and Master Chen in Christian Jost’s Die Rote Laterne He also originated the role of Walt Whitman in Matthew Aucoin’s Crossing, the Father in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice, Claudius in Brett Dean’s Hamlet, Mr. Potter in Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life, Robert McNamara in Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s Written in Stone, and David Lang’s the loser

Other recent credits include Owen Hart in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, the Father-in-Law in Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence, Alberto Roc in Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, Danilo in The Merry Widow, Howard K. Stern in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Anna Nicole, Scarpia in Tosca, Don Alfonso in Cosí fan tutte, and the title role in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd

Gilfry devoted an entire season to the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, starring as Emile de Becque in the U.S. National Tour of the Lincoln Center production of South Pacific, a production that garnered seven Tony Awards. He also appeared as Captain von Trapp with the Théâtre du Châtelet in The Sound of Music, with his daughter Carin Gilfry in the role of Liesl. A lifelong Californian, Rod resides in Rancho Cucamonga with his wife, Tina.

KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY

MATTHIAS PINTSCHER, Music Director

FIRST VIOLINS

Jun Iwasaki, Concertmaster, Miller Nichols Chair

Stirling Trent, Associate Concertmaster

Sunho Kim, Assistant Concertmaster

Anne-Marie Brown

Michael Brown

Betty Chen

Anthony DeMarco

Susan Goldenberg*

Tomoko Iguchi

Dorris Dai Janssen

Aaron You-Xin Li^

Chiafei Lin

Vladimir Rykov

Alex Shum*

SECOND VIOLINS

Tamamo Someya Gibbs, Principal

Kristin Velicer, Acting Associate Principal

Minhye Helena Choi, Acting Assistant Principal

Mary Garcia Grant

Kazato Inouye

Rena Ishii

Paul Kim

Stephanie Larsen

Jinyou Lee

Filip LazovskiΔ

Sodam Lim

Ayrton Pisco^

VIOLAS

MingYu Hsu, Principal

Duncan Steele, Associate Principal

Jessica Nance, Assistant Principal

Kent Brauninger

Sean Brumble

Marvin Gruenbaum

Jenifer Houck

Duke Lee

Jesse Yukimura

CELLOS

Mark Gibbs, Principal, Robert A. Kipp Chair

Susie Yang, Associate Principal, Richard Hill Chair

Alexander East, Assistant Principal

Maria Crosby

John Eadie

Lawrence Figg

Sally Kim^

Meredith McCook

Allen Probus

DOUBLE BASSES

Evan Halloin, Acting Principal

Richard Ryan, Acting Associate Principal

Nils Aardahl

Lena GoodsonΔ

Joseph Nunez

Keith WymerΔ

FLUTES

Michael Gordon, Principal, Marylou and John Dodds

Turner Chair

Shannon Finney, Associate Principal

Alejandro LomboΔ

Kayla Burggraf‡

PICCOLO

Alejandro LomboΔ

Kayla Burggraf‡

OBOES

Kristina Fulton, Principal, Shirley Bush Helzberg Chair

Alison Chung, Associate Principal

Matthew Lengas

ENGLISH HORN

Matthew Lengas

CLARINETS

Raymond Santos, Principal, Bill and Peggy Lyons Chair

Trevor StewartΔ, Acting Associate Principal

Silvio Guitian‡, Associate Principal

John Klinghammer

E-FLAT CLARINET

Trevor StewartΔ

Silvio Guitian‡

BASS CLARINET

John Klinghammer

BASSOONS

Ann Bilderback, Principal, Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Chair

Thomas DeWitt, Associate Principal

Maxwell Pipinich

CONTRABASSOON

Thomas DeWitt

HORNS

David Sullivan, Acting Principal, Landon and Sarah Rowland Chair

Elizabeth Gray, Acting Associate Principal

David Gamble

Stephen Multer, Associate Principal Emeritus

Benjamin BacniΔ

TRUMPETS

Julian Kaplan, Principal, James B. and Annabel Nutter Chair

Shea KelsayΔ, Acting Associate Principal

Hyojoon ParkΔ

George Goad‡

TROMBONES

Evelyn Carlson, Principal

Porter Wyatt Henderson, Associate Principal

Jahleel SmithΔ

BASS TROMBONE

Jahleel SmithΔ

TUBA

Joe LeFevre, Principal Frank Byrne Chair

TIMPANI

Timothy Jepson, Principal, Michael andSusan Newburger Chair

PERCUSSION

David Yoon, Acting Principal

Justin OchoaΔ, Acting Associate Principal, Adrian and Nancy Kay Hertog Family Chair

HARP

Katie VenturaΔ, Acting Principal

LIBRARIANS

Elena Lence Talley, Principal

Fabrice Curtis

DAVID T. BEALS III

ASSISTANT CONDUCTORS

Luke Poeppel

Daniel Wiley

Justin White, Director of Orchestra Personnel

Kirsten Loynachan, Assistant Personnel Manager

Tyler Miller, Stage Manager

* Non-Rotating Musician

^ New Member

‡ On Leave of Absence

Δ One-Year Member

CREATIVE TEAM

ROBERT MOODY CONDUCTOR

Recent

Conductor, Cavalleria rusticana, Lakeland Symphony and Opera Conductor, Madama Butterfly, Lakeland Symphony and Opera Conductor, La bohème, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera

Upcoming

Conductor, Mozart Requiem, Memphis Symphony Orchestra

Conductor, Man of La Mancha, Lakeland Symphony and Opera Conductor, An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma, Memphis Symphony Orchestra

WENDALL K. HARRINGTON PROJECTION DESIGNER

Recent

Projection Designer, The Elements, LA Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl

Projection Designer, The Grapes ofWrath, Carnegie Hall

Upcoming

Projection Designer, Sleeping Beauty, Pacific Northwest Ballet

Projection Designer, Wartime Elegy, Ballet de Monte Carlo

Projection Designer, Pictures at an Exhibition, Ballet West

SELENA GONZALEZ-LOPEZ LIGHTING DESIGNER

Recent

Lighting Designer, Sondhiem on Sondheim, Lyric Opera of Kansas City

Lighting Designer, Journey toValhalla, Lyric Opera of Kansas City

Lighting Designer, Porgy and Bess, Music Theater Heritage

Upcoming

Lighting Designer, Government Inspector, University of MissouriKansas City

PAUL VERSHBOW

PROJECTION PROGRAMMER/ACCOMPANIST

Recent

Video Programmer, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Dallas Opera

Video Programmer, Jersey Boys, The Orleans Showroom Theater

Video Programmer, Breaking the Story, Second Stage Theater

Upcoming

Video Programmer/Visual Accompanist, Joshua Bell’s The Elements Tour

Video Programmer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Miami Ballet

JOHN STORY SOUND DESIGNER

Recent

Sound Designer, Big Trouble at LittleYalta (World Premiere), Central Standard Theatre

Producer, One and The Other, Camden Fringe Festival

Sound Designer, Journey toValhalla, Lyric Opera Kansas City

Upcoming

Sound Designer, NewYork, NewYork, Quality Hill Playhouse

Sound Designer, Kristen Hertzenberg at Quality Hill Playhouse

INDIVIDUAL GIVING

Lyric Opera of Kansas City extends its deepest appreciation to the individual contributors who help support the Company’s productions and programs.

We recognize annual giving to the Company and Lyric Opera Ball of $250 or more received between August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024.

*Includes contributions to Lyric Opera Ball +Includes giving to the Special Gifts Campaign

RICHARD J. STERN SOCIETY

($50,000+)

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Bruening

Virginia & Charles Clark+

Shirley and Barnett Helzberg, Jr.*+

Joan Horan*+

Ingram Family Foundation*

Mrs. Carol Tinsman+

MAESTRO'S

CIRCLE

($25,000 - $49,999)

Ann Baum

Matt & Kate Beem+

Mr. & Mrs. A. Joseph Brandmeyer

Ken & Marilyn Hager

Innes & John Hale

Mr. & Mrs. T.E. McCullough+

Mr. Edward P. Milbank*

Paul & Elizabeth Uhlmann+

Ms. Connie Walker*+

BEL CANTO

($10,000 - $24,999)

Mrs. Raymond Backstrom

Drs. Ivan & Karla Batlle*+

Mark T. Benedict & Dr. Kim Mongeau

Thomas & Mary Beth Butch+

Ann Dickinson

Anthony & Meredith Durone*+

Dr. Melinda Estes & Dr. Harold Morris+

Michael D. Fields*

Joyce G. Holland

Kirk Foundation

Walter & Gayle Richardson

Jug & Rachel Stanovcic

Mr. Michael Waterford

IMPRESARIO

($5,000 - $9,999)

Scott & Joyce Blakesley

Richard & Lauren English*+

Mr. & Mrs. Lafayette Ford, III+

Marilyn A.W. & Norman E. Gaar, Esq.*

Trudy & Jack Gabriel*

Dr. Gary Grunewald Charitable Fund

Yong Y. Han, M.D.

Ellen & Irv Hockaday

Jill Ingram Reynolds*

Judy Kirk

Dana Koehn*

Mary Leonida*+

Estate of Carolyn Kay McDill

Paul Moravec/Adelphi University+

Tom & Kathy Nanney+

Andrew & Brittany Robb*

Mr. & Mrs. Charles Schellhorn*

Stephen & Dolores Schroff

Mr. J. Michael Sigler*

Steve & Linda Taylor*

H. Wayne & Melanie Thompson

LYRIC OPERA ANGEL

($3,000 - $4,999)

Andy & Kathy Anderson*

Craig Armstrong

Sharon Barry*

Mr. & Mrs. Lee Baty*

Gary & Suzy Bennett

Nan Chapman*

Robert L. Claassen

Mrs. Una Creditor

Tim & Deanna Diebolt*

Kurt & Linnell Gretzinger*

Richard Gutknecht

Donald J. Hall*

John and Sharon Hoffman

Caleb & Julia Jackson

Mary Lou James & James Taylor

Dr. Robert E. & Dr. Rebecca Johnson

Graham & Helen Marcott

Drs. Margaret & Barry Nickell

George & Suzy Pagels

Tim Pratt & Christie Geier-Pratt

Joseph & Kelly Privitera*

Don & Pamela Raffurty

Dennis & Palle Rilinger

Michelle & Chuck Ritter

Deborah Sandler Kemper & Crosby

Kemper*

Joseph & Carol Suhor

Megan Toal

Fr. Paul Turner

Dr. Linda E. Voigts & Mr. Gene Voigts

INDIVIDUAL GIVING CONT.

Lynne & Carl Weilert*

Howard & Irene Weiner

Dr. Edward A. Wortham, Jr.

Dr. Michael J. & Cindy S. Wurm*

Dr. & Mrs. John Yungmeyer*

ARIA SOCIETY

($1,500 - $2,999)

Andrew & Peggy Beal*

Ann & Terry Bender*

Peter & Lynne Brown*

Richard & Nicole Browne*

Robert & Pamela Bruce*

Gerard & Judy Bukowski

Dr. Akin & Ayca Aktas Cil*

James & Diana Cusser*

Randy & Edie Downing*

Mr. & Mrs. David Embry*

Darold & Melinda Frenzen*

Dr. & Mrs. James K. Gentry*

Estate of Marrillie Good

Michael Hunter & Sherry Love*

Kirk & Gretchen Ivy*

Craig Kemp

Mr. & Mrs. William Kort*

Julia & Greg Malter*

Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Mayer

Lee & Carl McCaffree*

Mr. & Mrs. John Middelkamp*

Patricia E. Cleary Miller, PhD

Donald & Linda Milligan

Barbara Nelson*

Edward & Chris Null

Debra & Allen Parmet

Dr. Ronald & Donna Patton*

Ms. Lisa Flynn Pruch*

Curt Roberts & Ora Reynolds*

Ms. Carmen M. Sabates*

Bruce & Nancy Schall*

Darren Sextro & John Rensenhouse*

Suzanne Shank & John Lohmeyer*

Clarence Simmons

Juliette Singer & Ian Spinks*

VIRTUOUSO

($1,000 - $1,499)

Blue Heron Foundation

Ms. Joyce Castle

Mr. & Mrs. Paul Copaken*

Dr. Michael De Priest & Ms. Barbara Braznell

Steven & Carolyn Faenger*

Ellen Feldhausen

Donna Gould Cohen

Michael & Judy Graf

Carol Grantham

George Helmkamp

Ms. Robin L. Huff*

Bev Leonard*

Barbara Loots & William J. Dickinson

Andrew McDonald

Dr. Sieglinde Othmer*

Lawrence & Pamela Scott*

Karen Seaberg

Kelton W. H. Smith

Joshua & Jane Sosland

Mr. & Mrs. Terrence P. Sullivan

Clyde & Katie Wendel

Sophia C. Zetmeir

Karl & Beth Zobrist

COMPRIMARIO

($500 - $999)

Ronald & Kathleen Bremer

Robert & Silvy Brookby*

Wendy Burrell*

Arden & Mary Ann Carr

Casey Claps*

Mr. C. L. Cocke

Mr. H. Hurst Coffman

Dr. Suzanne C. Crandall*

Pat & Liz Daniels

Michael Dunaway*

Laurie & Jason Eck

Warren & Jenny Erdman*

William & Eileen Everett*

Michael & Melanie Fenske*

Barbara Fessler*

Connie & Antoni Firner

Michael Fischbach

Karen Florio

Alexandra Fontana

Laura Gabriel

Dan & Mary Carol Garrity*

Mark & Nancy Gilman

Charles & Barbara Haviland*

Rebecca Hawkins

INDIVIDUAL GIVING CONT.

Drs. Robert & Jane Henney*

Lisa Merrill Hickok*

Dr. & Mrs. Edward Higgins

Joan Kurz & Larry Jones

Nicholas & Charlotte Liddeke*

Mr. Robert Lunn

Michael & Julie McCann*

Heidi McIntyre

JoZach Miller & Peter Bali*

Ed Moore*

Bill Pallucca

Joanne Reed

Gigi & Gary Rose*

Dr. & Mrs. Nelson R. Sabates*

Jon Scheinman & Anita Toby Grow

Aidan Schorgl

Patricia Ann Scott*

Edward M. Sien

Dr. Christopher & Lisa Sirridge*

Greg & Ann Smith

Lora Smith*

Mark Trenton Smith*

James & Margaret Stadler*

Ms. Linda S. Stevens*

Kathleen Sutton*

Sven & Julie Sykes*

Ms. Beverly Thomas

Tracey Tilley*

Maarten van Swaay

Jeff & Alisha Walker*

Mrs. Barbara Weary

Frank & Helen Wewers

Jeff & Danielle Whitman*

Jean Wise

Dean Zollman & Jackie Spears

CHORUS

($250 - $499)

David Actenberg & H. Alice Jacks

Ellen & John Aisenbrey

Richard & Emily Ballentine

Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Barksdale*

Erik Bergrud & Kimberlee Ried*

Christopher & Sharon Bradford

Nathanael Brown

Matthew & Nancy Buchmann*

Donna & Ed Carper*

James Cook

Ms. Ellen Cooley

Dr. Patricia Mary Cox

Dr. & Mrs. Steve Crouch

Doug & Terri Curran

Cathy Daicoff

Jerry L. Daniels

Dr. & Mrs. John M. Davis

Jo Anne & Bill Dondlinger*

Carla Dyer*

Mr. Kenneth Eiler

Chris & Martha Gabel

Olga Ganzen*

George & Frances Gerritz*

Charles & Barbara Gorodetzky

Mr. & Mrs. Winston Grantham

Ms. Roberta Gumbel

Dr. & Mrs. Thomas B. Hall III

John & Bernice Hamra Foundation*

Mr.& Mrs. George E. Handley

Susan & Zack Hangauer

Roger Hiatt & Patricia Haegelin-Hiatt

Mr. & Mrs. William Hirsch

Harold & Vicki James

Drs. John & Anna Kenney*

Jolle Kirpensteijn

Kristina Klug*

Jim David Koger

Greg & Nancy Koons*

Petra Kralickova*

Angela Kramer*

Dr. Jan-Marie & Bradford Kroh*

Rodney & Margaret LaMothe

Jane Lee

Jenny Manka*

Matt & Christy Mayo*

P. Alan McDermott

Douglas & Nina McKenna

Kathy & Bill Migneron

Karen Mische*

Richard & Anne Morse

Ann Nigro*

Andrea Norris & Tom Beisecker

Mark & Lynne O’Connell

Vernon & Trish Church Podlasek*

William & Stacy Pratt

Ms. Maggie Presson

Ms. Carolyn Price *

Mr. Hal Douglas Quinn*

Scott & Jeannette Redick*

Ms. Lucinda Rice-Petrie*

Bridget Richards*

James & Laurie Rote*

Elaina Marie Sansone*

Ms. Dorie R. Sheppard*

Barbara Spilker*

Daniel L. Turner & Carol Dziadik Turner

Mrs. John D. Turner*

Sandra Vogel

Mr. Hal vonBohnhoff

Thomas Whalen

LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY

You don’t have to be an opera singer to play a leading role at Lyric Opera of Kansas City! Making a gift from your will or trust creates a lasting legacy for generations to come, allowing future audiences to share your passion for opera.

GIVE YOUR ENCORE.

For more information scan the QR code above or contact Molly Fisher at (816) 802-6061 or email giving@kcopera.org.

INSTITUTIONAL GIVING

Lyric Opera of Kansas City extends its deepest appreciation to the foundations, corporations, organizations, and government entities that help support the Company’s productions and programs. We recognize annual giving to the Company and Lyric Opera Ball of $250 or more received between August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024.

*Includes contributions to Lyric Opera Ball

+Includes giving to the Special Gifts Campaign (Shining or ONA)

OPERA PRESENTING SPONSORS:

LYRIC OPERA UNDERWRITERS

($100,000+)

E. Kemper Carter & Ann Curry

Community Memorial Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee

R.C. Kemper Charitable Trust

Lyric Opera Circle

Lyric Opera of Kansas City Endowment Fund

Lyric Opera of Kansas City –Our Next Act Endowment

Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation

Muriel I. Kauffman Fund for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City

Sherman Family Foundation

The State of Missouri

The Sunderland Foundation

RICHARD J. STERN SOCIETY

($50,000 - $99,999)

Francis Family Foundation+

Theater League

MAESTRO’S CIRCLE

($25,000 - $49,999)

Arvin Gottlieb Charitable Foundation, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee

H & R Block Foundation

Hallmark Corporate Foundation

William T. Kemper FoundationCommerce Bank Trust

Lyric Opera Guild

Lyric Opera of Kansas City - William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund

National Endowment for the Arts

Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund

Pemberton Family Charitable Foundation

J.B. Reynolds Foundation*

Kearney Wornall Foundation, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee

BEL CANTO

($10,000 - $24,999)

Cyr Family Charitable Remainder Trust

Estelle S. and Robert A. Long Ellis Foundation

Lyric Opera of Kansas City FoundationPolsky Fund

Mdivani Corporate Immigration Law Firm

Saint Luke’s Health System

The Sosland Foundation

John W. and Effie E. Speas Memorial Trust

IMPRESARIO

($5,000 - $9,999)

Elsberry Family Foundation*

High Touch Inc*

The Mader Foundation

Thomas and Sally Wood Family Foundation

CORPORATE

& COMMUNITY COUNCIL ($3,000 - $4,999)

Aristocrat Motors*

Arvest Bank

Burch & Company

Commerce Bank, n.a.*

FCS Family Office, Molly & Tom Freeman+

Halls Kansas City*

Husch Blackwell LLP*

Jack F. & Glenna Y. Wylie Charitable Foundation - Midwest Trust*

JE Dunn Construction Company*

Orpheus KC*

R.A. Long Foundation

RC Williams Company*

RubinBrown LLP*

INSTITUTIONAL GIVING CONT.

CORPORATE & COMMUNITY

SPONSORS ($250 - $2,999)

EPR Properties

John and Bernice Hamra Foundation*

JoAnn Meierhoff Charitable Foundation

Vernon & Trish Podlasek, Cuorebella

Louis and Frances Swinken Supporting Foundation

The Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund

The Trudy Foundation

TruPay

Uncover KC

CORPORATE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank our valued individual, community, and corporate partners whose generous contribution of time, resources, and talents have been essential to our success. We deeply appreciate your dedication to bringing opera to life throughout the Kansas City region. Thank you!

Aristocrat Motors

Calvin Arsenia

Ivan & Karla Batlle

Classical KC

Consulate of Mexico in Kansas City Cupini’s

Carla and Dan Dyer

First Baptist Church of Kansas City

Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral

Greenwood Social Hall

Deanna Hanson-Abromeit

High Touch Technologies

Home2 Suites

Husch Blackwell

John Kander II

Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools

Kansas City Public Library

Kansas City Public Schools (MO)

Kauffman Foundation Conference Center

Kansas City Young Audiences

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

Wade Kerrigan

Vanessa Knight

Lawrence Arts Center

Rebecca Lepping

Lyric Opera Circle

Lyric Opera of Kansas City Community Advisory Council

Mid-Continent Public Library

Ed Milbank

newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble

Orpheus KC

Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church

Rainy Day Books

RC Williams Company

Carmen Sabates

Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church

Turn the Page KC

Victory Hills Baptist Church

Walz Tetrick Advertising

Wandering Vine at the Castle

We’d like to thank all school partners who participated in Learning programming over the last year.

MATCHING GIFT & CORPORATE SHARE COMPANIES

Baird Foundation, Inc.

Merrill Charitable Foundation, Inc.

Sanofi-Aventis

The Sosland Foundation

Restoring Dreams Restoring Hope 100 Years

SEP 3-22

Spencer Theatre

An uplifting and heartfelt musical featuring gorgeous songs like the Oscar-winning “Falling Slowly”

OCT 8-27

Copaken Stage

A spellbinding journey through the life of iconic songstress Billie Holiday

NOV 23-DEC 28

Spencer Theatre A CHRISTMAS CAROL

MAY 6-25

Spencer Theatre

Ebenezer Scrooge learns the true meaning Christmasof

An enchanting romp through Regency-era England

A quietly powerful play by Kansas City, KS playwright, Nathan Louis Jackson, highlighting the enduring power of family bonds

FEB 11-MAR 2

Copaken Stage

In Honor of Beth Ingram

Jack & Trudy Gabriel

J. Michael Sigler & Greg Oborny

In Memory of Clarabelle Belcher Corson

Marilyn Cox

In Memory of Elvira E. Calhoun

Marilyn Cox

In Memory of Judy L. King

Annette Fibuch

Friends of the Kansas City, MO Mounted Patrol

Jeannette & Scott Redick

Jill Ingram Reynolds

Dorene Shipley

Earl Shreckengast & Julia K. Muller

In Honor of Steve and Linda Taylor

Michael & Julie Kirk

Fewer Treatments. Better Outcomes.

The future of cancer care is here. The AdventHealth Cancer Institute will be the first and only health care provider in Kansas City to perform MRI-Guided Radiation. This advanced therapy allows us to see tumors as we treat them, resulting in pinpoint precision, fewer treatments, reduced side effects and better outcomes.

APPRENTICE ARTIST PROGRAM

Lyric Opera’s Apprentice Artist Program gives university vocal students the opportunity to gain valuable experience and training on their way to becoming professional opera singers. Throughout the season, our Apprentice Artists gain practical career experience working alongside the industry’s most notable singers, conductors, and directors. Learn more about our artist development programs at kcopera.org/learning.

MADELINE FRIESEN (Mezzo-Soprano)

University of Missouri-Kansas City

Mezzo-soprano Madeline Friesen’s recent roles include Le Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. Friesen also studied the role of Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict in a scenes program at The University of North Texas. She has performed as the alto soloist in the world premiere of Milcžinsky’s Oratorium during a tour of the Czech Republic with University of North Texas’s Fantasmi. Madeline is a native of Olathe, Kansas and received her bachelor’s degree in voice performance from The University of North Texas where she studied with Professor Molly Fillmore. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in voice performance at The University of Missouri-Kansas City, studying with Dr. Aidan Soder.

Roméo et Juliette photo by Don Ipock for Lyric Opera of Kansas City

Turning 65 soon? Medicare questions?

We are your local Medicare resource! We can help answer your Medicare questions at no cost to you.

We are an independent agency with over 14 years of experience in Medicare products and we can help answer your Medicare questions at NO COST to you.

Why deal with someone who carries ONE plan? We offer MANY plans and we will find the right coverage for you.

521 N Jefferson St. Raymore, MO 64083 816-265-0859 or 866-991-7189 Toll Free

Jeffrey Adams

2024 - 2025

Season Opener with pianist Behzod

Abduraimov in collaboration with Park University ICM SEPT. 20, 2024

Ingrid Stölzel: A Musical Portrait OCT. 12, 2024

Thanksgiving with NAVO NOV. 30, 2024

NAVO Chamber Orchestra with pianist Steven Spooner and violinist Véronique Mathieu

FEB. 22, 2025

The Art of Cello with Daniel Veis MAR. 22, 2025

Frontier String Quartet APR. 2025

Season Finale Fest with violinist Maria Ioudenitch MAY 7, 9, 11, 2025

JOIN FUN!

The American Royal is celebrating its prominent 125-year legacy of food and agricultural events and educational programs in 2024.

SCAN THE QR CODE TO FIND OUR CALENDAR OF EVENTS AND WAYS TO GET INVOLVED.

LYRIC OPERA PATRON SERVICES

Phone: (816) 471-7344

E-mail: patronservices@kcopera.org

Mail: Lyric Opera Patron Services, 1725 Holmes St., KCMO 64108

Regular Business Hours: Monday–Friday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Weekend Performance Day Hours (mainstage only): For performance weekend hours, please visit kcopera.org.

Ticketing & Patron Services representatives are available at the Kauffman Center box office beginning ninety minutes before every performance and through the first intermission.

GROUP TICKETS

BRING A GROUP TO THE OPERA!

Group orders of ten or more seats receive up to a 25% off discount, subject to standard facility fees. To book your group today and learn about options to amplify the experience, call Ticketing & Patron Services at (816) 471-7344 or visit kcopera.org/groups.

OPEN YOUR WORLD.

Emergency Evacuation Procedures

The Kauffman Center is equipped with advanced life-safety early alert systems. Each performance hall is designed with emergency exits in case of an evacuation. In the event of severe weather, shelter in place inside the hall, not in a lobby area, and await further instructions.

In the event of an emergency, the performance will be interrupted. Horns and strobes will sound. Emergency instructions will be delivered from the stage.

Please remain seated as staff use an appropriate amount of investigational time to verify the source of the alarm.* Should an evacuation be necessary, lighted red (Muriel Kauffman Theatre) and green (Helzberg Hall) exit signs will lead patrons to one of eight emergency exit paths.

Patrons with mobility limitations and/or those who are not able to navigate stairs should remain in the venue near one of the marked “Emergency Evacuation Assistance” areas. First responders will evacuate those requiring assistance immediately upon their arrival.

Elevators, primary entrances and the Brandmeyer Great Hall staircase are NOT used in the case of an emergency evacuation.

For more information on emergency evacuation procedures, visit kauffmancenter.org/policies

*Kauffman Center’s emergency egress plan, which includes an appropriate amount of investigational time to verify the source of an alarm, was developed with the assistance of the Kansas City, MO Fire Marshall’s Office.

2024-2025 Signature Series:

Visit KCJO.org for ticket information

Fri. Oct. 11th, 7pm UNFORGETTABLE

ft. Sachal Vascandani

Sat., Nov. 16th, 7pm BRIGHT SIZE LIFE

ft. Rod Fleeman

Tues., Dec. 10th, 7pm A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

Selections from Charlie

Sat., March 1st, 7pm ALWAYS & FOREVER

ft. Lucy and Bram Wijnands

Sat., April 5th, 7pm LEVEL UP!

Selections from Classic Video

Sat., May 31st, 7pm GLAMOUR OF OLD HOLLYWOOD

ft. Brenna Whitaker

2024-2025 Concerts Including Works of Brahms, Parry, Rachmaninoff, Holst and many others along with American spirituals and gospels 2025 performance of Bach's immortal MASS IN B MINOR with chamber orchestra and soloists

PARK UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR MUSIC

When Stanislav loudenitch first started the Park International Center for Music, he began with a simple concept. Find exceptional music teachers, and give them the time, tools, focus, and dedication needed to transform exceptional students into masters themselves. An internationally-recognized Van Cliburn gold medalist, Ioudenitch assembled a team that shared his world-class skills and his passion for teaching. Other outstanding programs have great master instructors. But no other American conservatory lets those masters devote the time to their students like they do at Park ICM.

Come experience the birth of our international stars. Visit ICM.PARK.EDU for our concert schedule today.

Stanislav loudenitch Artistic Director /Piano Studio

Ben Sayevich Violin Studio

Daniel Veis Cello Studio

Peter Chun Viola Studio

ENCORE SOCIETY

The Lyric Opera planned giving program allows you to share the gift of opera with future audiences and create a legacy of your own. Through the Encore Society, you support programs you are passionate about and receive tax benefits for yourself and your estate.

FOUNDING MEMBERS

Mrs. Madeline Benoit*

Mrs. Jacqueline Coen*

Mr. & Mrs. Bernard D. Craig

Dr. Morton C. Creditor* & Mrs. Una Creditor

Mr. & Mrs. Don Dagenais

Mrs. Carolyn Dayani

Mrs. Ann K. Dickinson

Dr. Fred D. Fowler*

Mrs. Caroline French*

Mr. & Mrs. Keith Gard

Melanie Mann & Joe Harter

Mr. & Mrs. Stephen H. Hill

Joyce G. Holland

Ms. Julie Holmquist

Mrs. Beth Ingram

Mr. & Mrs. H. Elvin Knight, Jr.

Dr. Revis Lewis*

Mr. Jacob F. May

Mr. & Mrs. Joe Miller

Mrs. Vivian Menees Nelson*

Mr. & Mrs. L. Joshua Sosland

Mrs. Alice Statland & Dr. Harry Statland*

Robert M. Suhre Foundation

Mrs. Carol Tinsman & Mr. C. Humbert Tinsman*

Mr. Hal vonBohnhoff

Dwight Youngman

CHARTER MEMBERS

Mr. Bob Baughman*

Mr. John Grow* & Mrs. Edith Grow

Gary D. Harms

John Kander

Elizabeth Liftin*

Virginia M. Long

Ann T. Reed

Mr. Jack Rosenfield* & Mrs. Jean Rosenfield

Lisa Sicola

Mr. J. Michael Sigler

Mr. John J. Strandberg*

Mr. Thomas Sotham*

Dr. Wilma B. Wilcox

Ms. Paula Winans

Mr. & Mrs. Jonah Wright

LEGACY MEMBERS

Carolyn Banta

Matt & Kate Beem

Jerry & Meghan Carpenter

Dr. Michael Frost

Hilda Gibbs Trust Fund – Rae Ann DeVargas Trustee*

Ken & Marilyn Hager

Mr. Richard Hill*

Lothar P. Kraus*

Dr. Melinda Estes & Dr. Harold Morris

Mr. & Mrs. Doyle Patterson*

Annie Zinn*

*Deceased

DON’T MISS OPERA’S CATCHIEST COMEDY. Get tickets to The Barber of Seville today! Scan the QR code, visit kcopera.org , or call us at (816) 471-7344 to purchase.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE REST OF THE SEASON

You can still purchase a Lyric Opera subscription for the remaining three productions! Scan the QR code on the left to purchase your subscription.

Orpheus KC

BUILDING ENGAGED AND PASSIONATE OPERA AUDIENCES FOR TODAY AND THE FUTURE

Orpheus KC is a supporting organization of Lyric Opera of Kansas City and offers lovers of the arts opportunities to get involved, connect with likeminded enthusiasts, and support Lyric Opera.

JOIN TODAY

Membership benefits include:

• 35% discount on single tickets

• Exclusive access to special events

• Behind-the-scenes tours

NEW THIS YEAR

Orpheus KC members can purchase a discounted season subscription to all Lyric Opera productions at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

LYRIC OPERA STAFF

LEADERSHIP

Deborah Sandler Kemper, General Director and CEO

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION

Jeffrey Walker, Chief Financial Officer

Danny Boteler, Controller

Amy Tungol, HR & Payroll Specialist

Melissa Roberts, Executive Assistant & Board Liaison

ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION

Brad Trexell, Director of Artistic Administration

Piotr Wiśniewski, Head of Music Staff & Chorus Master

Michaela Martens, Resident Artist Voice Teacher

LEARNING

Neal Long, Director of Learning

Emily Bridges, Manager of Learning

PRODUCTION

Tracy Davis-Singh, Director of Production

Rafael Toribio, Technical Director

Sarah Zsohar, Artist Services Manager

Selena Gonzalez-Lopez, Assistant Technical Director/Lighting Supervisor

DEVELOPMENT

Molly Fisher, Senior Manager of Individual Giving & Partnerships

Rebecca Ballinger Clark, Manager of Institutional Giving

Laurie Eck, Manager of Development Operations & Donor Research

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Gregory Campbell, Director of Marketing & Communications

Amanda Schuster, Senior Manager of Ticketing & Patron Services

Emily Stott, Marketing Operations & Social Media Manager

Enrique Zabala, Graphic Design Specialist

Gabriella Swoboda, Assistant Manager of Ticketing and Patron Services

Ellen McDonald, Publicity Consultant

Ticketing & Patron Services Representatives: Laura Blankenship, Catherine Cone, Rowan Frazier, Aimee McCormack, Josephine Meyers, Jonathon

Moldovan, Dennis Pearson, and Brianna Volkmann

LEGAL COUNSEL

Wade Kerrigan, Husch Blackwell, LLP, General Counsel

HERE’S TO ARTISTRY.

At FNBO, we believe in the art of relationships. Since 1857, we’ve spotlighted our customers and communities, dedicated to understanding their passions and how to help them do more.

You deserve the best care in the region. We are proud to be consistently recognized as the best, year after year.

As the best hospital in Kansas and in Kansas City, we deliver unparalleled outcomes and world-class care.

We put you ﬁrst because we genuinely care. Our dedication to our patients drives us to provide exceptional outcomes and the very best service – the kind of care that makes you feel seen, heard and valued.

We are trusted experts who believe you deserve unmatched care. With unmatched care comes unrivaled outcomes. Our relentless pursuit of excellence fuels us to make a lasting di erence for patients, their families and the entire region.

We are proud to still be the No.1 hospital in Kansas and in Kansas City. We are also the only hospital in the region to have any medical and surgical adult specialties that ranked among the top 50 nationwide, with 6 nationally ranked specialties.

When you choose the best, you receive excellent care from a compassionate team of experts. Discover what sets the best care in the region apart. Schedule an appointment at 913-588-1227 or visit KansasHealthSystem.com/StillTheBest.