Fall music & dance guide: Ghostly ballet, star conductors, more headed to Kansas City

After a long, hot summer, many of us are looking forward to the joys of autumn. In addition to pumpkin spice lattes (if that’s your thing), one of the season’s great pleasures is a brand new concert season. Kansas Citians have a multitude of performances to choose from, and they are as varied as the colorful autumn leaves.

Here are the highlights.

Kansas City Symphony

Michael Stern will not make many appearances on the Kansas City Symphony podium this year, but there’s a host of world-class guest conductors who will take their turns with the orchestra. They’ll be giving it their all because they’re trying out for Stern’s job. Stern is stepping down as music director at the end of the 2023-2024 season.

Venezuelan Domingo Hindoyan will conduct Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique the weekend of Oct. 28 to 30. This opium-fueled vision includes a March to the Scaffold and a Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath. It is perfect Halloween music, and there’s no better work to show what a conductor can do than this over-the-top orchestral extravaganza.

8 p.m. Oct. 28 and 29 and 2 p.m. Oct. 30. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $25-$95. 816-471-0400 or kcsymphony.org.

It’s always satisfying to attend a Kansas City Symphony concert on Thanksgiving weekend. There’s something about following a big feast with a great live musical performance that just completes the holiday. This year, Aziz Shokhakimov, who hails from Uzbekistan, will conduct Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, a cornucopia of glorious melodies and warm feelings. Another Uzbek-born artist, Behzod Abduraimov, will also be featured. This winner of the London International Piano Competition and artist-in-residence at Park University’s International Center for Music, will be the soloist for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2, a virtuosic showstopper and concert hall rarity.

8 p.m. Nov. 25 and 26 and 2 p.m. Nov. 27. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $25-$95. 816-471-0400 or kcsymphony.org.

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Lyric Opera of Kansas City — ‘La Traviata’

The Lyric Opera opens its season with “Carmen,” the second most performed opera in the repertoire. Next, the Lyric will present the number one most performed opera, “La Traviata” Nov. 5 to 13. Verdi’s masterpiece about the consumptive courtesan Violetta is a guaranteed tearjerker.

Nov. 5, 11 and 13. Muriel Kauffman Theatre, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $33.50-$188.50. kcopera.org.

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Kansas City Ballet — ‘Giselle’

October is the spooky season, and there’s no spookier ballet than “Giselle.” The Kansas City Ballet will present Adolphe Adam’s gothic tale of ghostly revenge Oct. 14 to 23 at the Muriel Kauffman Theatre. The ballet’s artistic director, Devon Carney, is a stickler for authenticity, so expect his attention to detail from the ballerinas’ extra long tutus to their chignons, the low bun hair style associated with 19th century romantic ballets.

7:30 p.m. Oct. 14, 15, 21 and 22 and 2 p.m. Oct. 16 and 23. Muriel Kauffman Theatre, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $34-$143. 816-931-8993 or kcballet.org.

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Harriman-Jewell Series

This is the year the big orchestras return to the Harriman-Jewell Series. This season also marks the Kansas City debut of Marin Alsop, who will conduct Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo on Oct. 10. In 2012, Alsop was named the orchestra’s first female principal conductor. She will conduct a healthy serving of music by the Brazilian Heitor Villa Lobos. (When was the last time you heard this important composer’s music in concert?) But the main event is Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, the ever-popular fantasy inspired by the Arabian Nights.

7 p.m. Oct. 10. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $15-$85. 816-415-5025 or hjseries.org.

Violinist Nicola Benedetti has been a Harriman-Jewell Series regular since she made her Kansas City debut on one of its Discovery concerts. Now a full-fledged classical superstar, Benedetti will make yet another appearance Oct. 22 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. She’ll be the soloist in Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and will conduct, appropriately enough, Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony.

7 p.m. Oct. 22. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $12.50-$75. 816-415-5025 or hjseries.org.

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Friends of Chamber Music

This is the first season that the Friends of Chamber Music’s new co-artistic directors, Dmitri Atapine and Hyeyeon Park, are at the helm, and they have an outstanding inaugural season lined up. The Friends will present two concerts this fall with special appeal to early music aficionados.

Europa Galante is a period instrument ensemble committed to authenticity but not at the expense of excitement and thrills. Led by violinist Fabio Biondi, the group will perform a selection of violin concertos by Vivaldi and Bach, including Bach’s dazzling Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.

7:30 p.m. Oct. 7. Atonement Lutheran Church, 9948 Metcalf Ave. $25-$40. 816-561-9999 or chambermusic.org.

Vox Luminis is a highly acclaimed Belgian vocal ensemble most noted for its performances of Renaissance and Baroque music. The group will perform works by Claudio Monteverdi, a genius who straddled both eras. It’s rare to hear Monteverdi’s music live in concert, so don’t miss the opportunity.

7:30 p.m. Oct. 29. Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, $25-$40. 816-561-9999 or chambermusic.org.

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Park University’s International Center for Music

Does Park University’s International Center for Music ever get tired of winning? Stanislav Ioudenitch and the rest of his faculty have the golden touch when it comes to turning out international competition contenders.

The latest is Ioudenitch’s student Ilya Shmukler, finalist and recipient of the award for the Best Performance of a Mozart Concerto in the 2022 Cliburn Competition. Shmukler will give his Kansas City recital debut Oct. 8 at the 1900 Building. In addition to works by Bach, Debussy and Stravinsky, he’ll also perform the complete “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky.

7:30 p.m. Oct. 8. 1900 Building, 1900 Shawnee Mission Parkway. $10-$30. icm.park.edu.

If you want to hear the rest of Ioudenitch’s piano students before they’re famous, don’t miss the Park ICM Piano Studio Recital. Ioudenitch only teaches the best of the best, so this is guaranteed to be a superb concert. And check out those ticket prices. They are most welcome during these inflationary times.

7:30 p.m. Oct. 28. 1900 Building, 1900 Shawnee Mission Parkway. $10-$30. icm.park.edu.

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Bach Aria Soloists

When it comes to local women in classical music, there are no bigger bad-asses than Bach Aria Soloists. On Nov. 12, violinist and founder Elizabeth Suh Lane, harpsichordist Elisa Bickers, cellist Hannah Collins and soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson will present “Women of Note in Shakespeare and Song.” The program will feature all female composers, from the medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen to the French baroque composer Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre. The concert is free, but a reservation is required.

7 p.m. Nov. 12. Kansas City Public Library, Plaza: Truman Forum Auditorium, 4801 Main St. Free. bachariasoloists.com.

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Midwest Trust Center — Opus 76

Opus 76, artists-in-residence at the Midwest Trust Center, is a world-class string quartet based in Kansas City. On Sept. 25 the group will give a recital of music by Philip Glass, Beethoven and Mendelssohn. The contrast between Glass’ minimalism and the classicism of Beethoven and Mendelssohn should be bracing.

7 p.m. Sept. 25. Polsky Theatre, Midwest Trust Center, Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd. $25-$35. jccc.edu/midwest-trust-center

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Kansas City Jazz Orchestra

The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra will warm up a chilly autumn evening with “The Voice Featuring Deborah Brown” Nov. 10 at Helzberg Hall. Born in Kansas City, Brown has performed with all the greats, like Art Blakey and Sun Ra, and has taken her music around the world, from Japan to Siberia. It will be thrilling to hear her perform with our own jazz stalwarts.

7 p.m. Nov. 10. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $33.50-$68.50. kcjo.org

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Choral music

One of the things that makes Kansas City’s classical music scene so special is its outstanding choral ensembles. This fall, they’ll be singing their hearts out in a variety of unusual programs.

▪ The Grammy-winning Kansas City Chorale led by Charles Bruffy ed musically retraces Marco Polo’s epic journey from Italy to China and back again with The Travels of Marco Polo. Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $23.50-$38.50. kcchorale.org.

▪ Musica Sacra — Schubert, “Mass in G, D. 167” & Buxtehude, “Alles was ihr tut, BuxWV4”: Timothy McDonald’s outstanding choral ensemble will perform rarely heard music by Schubert and Bach’s idol, Dietrich Buxtehude. Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Arrupe Hall, Rockhurst University, 100 Rockhurst Road. Free. tinyurl.com/3pbwsddd.

▪ Spire Chamber Ensemble — “Our Hands: Together We Rise”: The ensemble led by Ben Spalding will address the anger, sadness and hope facing many people today with two works, “To the Hands” by Caroline Shaw and “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” by Joel Thompson. Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. Grace Episcopal Cathedral, 701 S.W. Eighth Ave., Topeka. $5 to $20. And Oct. 30 at 3 p.m. at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 1307 Holmes St. $10-$25. spirechamberensemble.org.

▪ William Baker Festival Singers: The group will feature music by composer-in residence Sean Sweeden in the program “Anchored in the Lord.” The concert will also include works by Ed Frazier Davis and Mendelssohn. 3 p.m. Nov. 6., St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 1307 Holmes St. $20-$25. williambakerfestivalsingers.org

▪ Cardinals is a professional choral ensemble founded by William Jewell College professor Anthony Maglione. They’re offering a fascinating multimedia presentation, “Our True Colors,” at City Stage Theatre in Union Station. The program of folk songs, pop songs and original choral music will be accompanied by local trapeze artists Kansas City Aerial Arts. 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23. City Stage Theatre, Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Road. $25. ourtruecolors.eventbrite.com

You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.