Kansas City Symphony, a year after its baseball debut, stays on a roll

Not quite a year ago, the Kansas City Symphony got a spotlight moment by prepping the hometown Royals, 40,000 fans and a global TV audience for the sixth game of baseball’s World Series. It delivered a stirring, orchestral performance of the national anthem.

Led by music director Michael Stern, 60-plus musicians assembled near home plate and earned overdue recognition that the Symphony is a creative force to be reckoned with in these parts.

Last weekend, the orchestra began its fifth season in the Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall, kicking off its action-packed year with another “Star-Spangled Banner” and vigorous helpings of European concert music, including Maurice Ravel’s mesmerizing Bolero.

The Symphony has been filling the hall with regularity. Its main classical series, pops concerts, family shows and series of happy-hour events aimed at attracting new listeners have contributed to unprecedented levels of ticket sales and revenue. A recent disc release — its sixth CD project for the audiophile Reference Recordings label — featured the music of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. Significantly, the record also showed off the talents of Jan Kraybill, caretaker of the Kauffman Center’s huge Casavant organ, and two Symphony principals, violinist Noah Geller and cellist Mark Gibbs.

Geller and Gibbs also played major roles in last weekend’s season opener. The program’s focus on featured soloists from the Symphony’s top ranks represented an important reminder that this band is rich in individual talent even as it swoons and swells like a unified force under Stern’s direction.

No matter what happens in local baseball’s postseason this year, rest assured that the Kansas City Symphony is playing like champions.

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Kansas City Symphony, a year after its baseball debut, stays on a roll."