Next Gen: Opus 76 + Youth Symphony of Kansas City Series 'Postcards on Tour – Music from Around the World'
2 p.m. Sunday, April 13, 2025 | The Loretto (1111 W. 39th St. Kansas City, MO 64111)
$15 for adults; $5 for youth
Ticket sales start July 29. Advance sale only; no tickets will be sold at the door.
Individual Tickets Next Gen series packages (buy 4 shows, save 10%)
MTC, Opus 76 Quartet, and the Youth Symphony of Kansas City bring an exciting and affordable new collaboration to the community with an unparalleled series of classical music performed by emerging artists.
Travel the world with Opus 76 Quartet for a selection of international works. This wide-ranging concert features pieces from the U.S., including Copland's Hoe-Down and Dvorak’s American Quartet.
Program
- USA: Hoe-Down by Aaron Copland
- Great Britain: Chacony in G minor by Henry Purcell
- France: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 by Claude Debussy
- Spain: "Carmen Fantasy," Op. 25, by Pablo de Sarasate
- Italy: Crisantemi for String Quartet by Giacomo Puccini
- Germany: String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, Op. 18, No. 6 by Ludwig van Beethoven
- Austria: String Quartet in E-flat, Op. 33, No. 2 “The Joke” Finale by Joseph Haydn
- Hungary: Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms
- China: Tambourin Chinois, Op. 3 by Fritz Kreisler
- Mexico: Fiesta Mexicana by Samuel Quagenti
- USA: String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96 “American” 1st movement by Antonin Dvořák
The Opus 76 Quartet
The quartet’s residency, which began as digital artists-in-residence in 2021, saw the group embark on a number of critically acclaimed recording projects in partnership with MTC as part of its innovative digital concert series, “Eat, Drink, Play!”
Adding to its previous recordings of “The Complete Works for String Quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven,” (broadcast live on Kansas Public Radio KPR in 2020), Opus 76 recorded Mendelssohn’s Op. 44 No. 1, Schubert’s Quintet in C, Brahms’s F minor Piano Quintet, Mozart’s Quintet No. 3 in C Major, Bartok’s Quartet No. 1, and Mozart’s The Six Quartets Dedicated to Haydn, a project also supported by KPR.
In addition to a national touring schedule, as part of its residency, the Quartet runs The Sunrise Programme, which provides a year of free lessons and performance opportunities to selected students in the Kansas City metro area.
Youth Symphony of Kansas City
The Youth Symphony of Kansas City (YSKC) was founded as “The Youth Symphony of the Heart of America” by conductor Leo Scheer in 1958. The organization initially consisted of one orchestra of 80 musicians. Incorporated on July 31, 1958, the organization has endured a long and interesting history as the musical home to young musicians in the Kansas City metro area.
Today, YSKC is comprised of four full orchestras. More than 450 young musicians participate annually. In summer 2015, a Summer String Camp was added. In June 2016, YSKC toured Ireland — its first international tour in a decade. A new young strings program — the Overture Program — launched in the 2016-17 season. June 2018 brought the Youth Symphony’s second recent international tour, this time to Austria. Performances took place in Salzburg and Vienna.
Following 20 years of musical contributions as conductor of our junior orchestra in Kansas City, Russell E. Berlin retired in 2018. The YSKC Academy was introduced for the 2021-2022 season, providing chamber music instruction, soon followed by elective course opportunities for students, featuring teaching, conducting, music theory, performance psychology, and other classes.