The Darwin Project
Friday, October 14
8:00 pm
Helzberg Hall – Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

The Friends of Chamber Music kicks off their 36th Season presenting world-class chamber music to Kansas City, mixing traditional classics with new and innovative programming.

In the opening concert of the 2011-12 season, The Friends proudly joins the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in presenting the debut of an innovative multi-media production: The Darwin Project. Ambitiously comingling acting and live chamber music with projections of historical images and stunning nature photos, the performance explores the life of Charles Darwin culminating in the publication of Darwin’s most famous work, On the Origin of Species.

Co-written by local playwright Jeremy M. Lillig and Avila English Professor Nancy Cervetti, in consultation with scientists Robert Powell of Avila University and Bill Ashworth and Bruce Bradley of the Linda Hall Library,The Darwin Project is directed by Kyle Hatley, associate artistic director for the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and features local favorites Gary Neal Johnson as Charles Darwin, Kathleen Warfel as Emma Darwin, and Cinnamon Schultz as the Narrator. The Daedalus String Quartet and the Kansas City Collegium Vocale, directed by Ryan Board, join Alon
Goldstein, pianist in performing works by composers such as Byrd, Mendelssohn, Ravel, Chopin, Debussy, Schumann, and Schubert. Images from Darwin’s life, as well as spectacular photography by field biologists including John Hess, Robert Powell, and Jeff Ackley, serve as the backdrop for the recounting of one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time.

The production showcases Darwin’s many and varied connections to music, such as the chamber choir that he often listened to while studying at Cambridge, and his great enjoyment of his wife’s piano music. Emma Darwin was an accomplished musician who had studied with Chopin and Moscheles, and filled their home with lovely music from the Romantic Era.

Join us this season as The Friends Transcend Tradition.