SEASON FINALE: BEETHOVEN’S NINTH
June 16-19, 2016
Helzberg Hall | Kauffman Center

Michael Stern, conductor
Kansas City Symphony Chorus
Charles Bruffy, chorus dierctor
Celena Shafer, soprano
Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano
Robert Watson, tenor
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone

BEETHOVEN Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 2
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

The grand finale of the season features three majestic works for chorus and orchestra. Beethoven maintained a lifelong admiration for the great German poet, Goethe. Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage is a setting of two Goethe poems that journey from hushed mystery to triumph. Shostakovich wrote his youthful Symphony No. 2, “To October,” to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Beethoven’s epic final Symphony, culminating in the composer’s revolutionary and inspirational setting of Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” caps the season in glorious, heavenly sounds.