This is an important week for vocal music aficionados.</p><p>Emma Kirkby and Deborah Voigt, arguably two of the greatest singers of our time, will be presenting recitals Friday night.</p><p>You certainly have two distinct vocal styles to choose from &mdash; Voigt&rsquo;s large, stentorian wallop, or the bell-like, pure, crystalline voice of Kirkby, whom BBC Music Magazine has placed among the Top 10 sopranos of all time. </p><p>Kirkby, accompanied by lutenist Jacob Lindberg, will perform music by the Elizabethan composer John Dowland and Henry Purcell, whose 350th birthday anniversary is being celebrated this year. This is the kind of early music that Kirkby has made her own for almost 40 years on albums and at recitals and concerts.</p><p>Emily Fowler Behrman, who was recently appointed interim general manager of the performing arts series at Johnson County Community College, is excited about the concert. </p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a feather in our cap to bring Dame Emma to the Carlsen Center,&rdquo; Behrman said. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s a legend.&rdquo;</p><p>Behrman, who has a degree in music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory and has sang with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus, has an appreciation for the voice.</p><p>&ldquo;Kirkby&rsquo;s grasp of the entire early music repertoire is wonderful,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I really believe this is a don&rsquo;t-miss concert.&rdquo;</p><p>For tickets, call 913-469-4445 or visit <a href="http://www.jccc.edu/theseries">www.jccc.edu/theseries</a>.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Deborah Voigt</span></strong></p><p>She may not be a dame, but Deborah Voigt has her own long list of honors and awards. </p><p>In addition to winning first prizes in Moscow&rsquo;s Tchaikovsky Competition and Philadelphia &rsquo;s Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, she also has been awarded France&rsquo;s Chevalier dans l&rsquo;Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Voigt is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary singers of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Sure enough, she will perform Wagner and Strauss at her recital at 8 p.m. Friday at the Folly Theater, presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series.</p><p>To lighten things up, Voigt, also a renowned interpreter of the American songbook, will perform a suite of songs from Leonard Bernstein&rsquo;s &ldquo;West Side Story.&rdquo;</p><p>Over the past several years, Voigt has expanded her repertoire to include more Italian works, and Friday she will perform three songs by Ottorino Respighi. Also on the program are songs by American composer Amy Beach. </p><p>For tickets, call 816-415-5025 or visit <a href="http://www.hjseries.org">www.hjseries.org</a>.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">George Crumb Festival</span></strong></p><p>The conservatory at UMKC has certainly been doing some creative programming lately.</p><p>Hot on the heels of the minimalism festival a few months ago, the conservatory will present a George Crumb Festival at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at White Recital Hall on the UMKC campus. </p><p>Crumb, who turned 80 Oct. 24, is one of America&rsquo;s most important living composers. His music, which is in a class of its own, explores sound more than form.</p><p>The ensemble Musica Nova, along with UMKC faculty and alumni, will perform some of Crumb&rsquo;s most significant works, including &ldquo;Eleven Echoes of Autumn,&rdquo; &ldquo;Makrokosmos III&rdquo; and &ldquo;Vox Balaena&rdquo; (&ldquo;Voice of the Whale&rdquo;).</p><p>The unusual timbres of Crumb&rsquo;s music often sound eerie, so this might be an appropriate way to spend a high-brow Halloween. All the programs and concerts of the George Crumb Festival are free and open to the public.</p><p> For more information, visit <a href="http://conservatory.umkc.edu">http://conservatory.umkc.edu</a>.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Rebecca Ashe</span></strong>