Kauffman Center Announces 2018 National Geographic Live Series

The seventh annual season features photographers,
filmmakers, adventurers and a NASA astronaut

Subscriptions go on sale Aug. 9

Kansas City, MO – Today, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts announced the line-up for the 2018 National Geographic Live speaker series.

National Geographic Live speakers share their journeys of exploration from being on assignment around the world. Illustrated with award-winning photography and video, each evening concludes with a speaker-led audience Q&A session.

For its seventh season at the Kauffman Center, National Geographic Live features underwater photographer Brian Skerry; wildlife photographer Florian Schulz; marine biologist/photographer Cristina Mittermeier; and NASA astronaut Terry Virts. Photographer Pete McBride and writer/filmmaker Kevin Fedarko close the 2018 series with a special engagement event.

Season subscription packages will be available starting Wednesday, Aug. 9. Single tickets for all five events will go on sale Thursday, Aug. 31.

Subscriptions and single tickets will be available through the Kauffman Center Box Office at (816) 994-7222, via the Kauffman Center mobile app, or online at kauffmancenter.org.

The 2018 National Geographic Live series in Kansas City is generously supported by Teresa and Tom Walsh.

ABOUT THE 2018 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LIVE SERIES

Brian Skerry, Underwater Photographer
Ocean Wild
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018
Muriel Kauffman Theatre | Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Dive deep into the world’s oceans with one of National Geographic’s most seasoned photographers. Watch as Brian Skerry’s images illuminate the vast, hidden world beneath the waves. Skerry has spent more than 10,000 hours underwater using his camera to tell the story of some of the ocean’s most elusive inhabitants.

Florian Schulz, Wildlife Photographer
Into the Arctic Kingdom
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018
Muriel Kauffman Theatre | Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Despite the Arctic’s reputation as a barren wasteland, award-winning photographer Florian Schulz discovered a vibrant ecosystem including playful polar bears, mysterious musk ox, and a herd of thousands of caribou over the course of 34 months in the high arctic. To the German explorer, it was a quest for an uncharted wilderness that stands in contrast to an otherwise ever more populated and industrialized world.

Cristina Mittermeier, Marine Biologist & Photographer
Standing at the Water’s Edge
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Muriel Kauffman Theatre | Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Cristina Mittermeier learned the concept of responsible earth stewardship from her indigenous nanny as a child growing up in Mexico, and she explores that calling through the ways of life of four communities and their individual relationships with water—the Kayapó in the Amazon, the Inuit of Greenland, the First Nations people of British Columbia, and native Hawaiians.

Terry Virts, NASA Astronaut
View From Above
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Muriel Kauffman Theatre | Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Former International Space Station Commander Terry Virts helped to install the outpost’s 360-degree observation module, and made good use of it, taking hours of video and hundreds of thousands of still images, including some featured in the National Geographic book View From Above.

SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT: Pete McBride and Kevin Fedarko
Between River and Rim: Hiking the Grand Canyon
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Muriel Kauffman Theatre | Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

In an effort to share the Grand Canyon’s uncharted glory and shed light on the myriad threats it faces, writer Kevin Fedarko and photographer/filmmaker Pete McBride set off on an audacious and demanding adventure: to transect the length of the canyon on foot.

STUDENT MATINEES

As part of the Kauffman Center’s Open Doors program, National Geographic Live will present three student matinee performances in winter 2018. More information about student matinee events can be found at kauffmancenter.org/open-doors/school-matinees-fieldtrips

Student Matinee Schedule:
Jan. 9, 2018 / Brian Skerry: Ocean Wild / 10:30 a.m.
Feb. 6, 2018 / Florian Schultz: Into The Arctic Kingdom / 10:30 a.m.
March 6, 2018 / Cristina Mittermeier: Standing at the Water’s Edge / 10:30 a.m.