Kansas City Chorale Even before its CD of Grechaninov was nominated for five Grammy Awards in December, the Kansas City Chorale opened its season in October with the best singing I ve ever heard it do. Arvo P rt s Beatitudes, with its roiling dissonances and explosive organ coda, was a stunner.

The End of the Affair The Lyric Opera of Kansas City keeps topping its artistic peaks, and in April this Jake Heggie opera based on Graham Greene s novel received a performance so accomplished that it was recorded live for major-label release. The cast, with Emily Pulley and Robert Orth, was top-drawer, and R. Keith Brumley s lavish sets were possibly the best we ve seen on the Lyric stage.

Stefan Jackiw, violin (October) or Martin Storey, cello, and Tatiana Tessman, cello (December) The best recital of the year is a draw, with Jackiw s astonishingly mature musicianship (on a Harriman-Jewell Series concert) nearly rivaling that of Storey, one of the best cellists in America. Park University faculty member Storey was nearly matched by Tessman, especially in Brahms joyous F-major Sonata. Mahler: Symphony No.

5 One of Michael Stern s finest hours so far in Kansas City was this richly detailed and lovingly crafted rendering of one of Mahler s messiest, most uproarious masterpieces. The Kansas City Symphony performed so well that I realized it was moving into a whole new realm of achievement. Met in HD The Metropolitan Opera s series of high-definition live broadcasts in multiplexes was such a hit in Kansas City (it sold out all over the metro) that our city drew national press coverage.