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Kansas City unveiled its new performing arts center this year, and this weekend marks the end of the inaugural season for the symphony at the Kauffman Center. The new venue was well worth the wait, and it immediately stands as one of the finest acoustical draws for classical music in the United States. You can see the pride on Director Michael Stern’s face as he strides onto the stage before a performance begins.

The season wrapped up smashingly. Last week Joshua Bell, the Eddie Van Halen of touring classical violin soloists, played with typical energy, and the massive, new pipe organ was employed for the first time for a beautiful Saint-Saens piece. The organ is comprised of over 5,500 pipes – that 550 pipes per finger, assuming the player has a full compliment of digits!

This final weekend features Beethoven’s epic ninth symphony with the full chorus. What a great finale to an impressive season. True, come July I’m ready to turn my attention to outdoor rock concerts, but I’m surely glad I have my reservations in hand for the next symphony season.

This entry was posted on June 23, 2012 at 1:49 pm and is filed under Music with tags Beethoven's 9th, Joshua Bell, Kauffman Center, Michael Stern, Saint-Saens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.