Sympathetic Vibrations | A Windstorm of Student Talent

A conductor and student wind ensemble

For Steven Davis, who serves as the chair of large ensembles at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, a student performance next week highlights the conservatory’s greatest strengths — a partnership with city’s performing arts community, collaboration with guest performers and composers, and original music from the conservatory’s acclaimed composition program. That performance will take…

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Sympathetic Vibrations | Recycled Joy

Painted pianos in a line.

On the third floor of a creaky warehouse in the West Bottoms sits an army of pianos. They are meticulously arranged in rows, with price tags that comically belie their monetary value – and more importantly, the value the instruments could bring to their potential recipients. The pianos have formed rank in this spot, thanks…

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Sympathetic Vibrations | A Brave Composition

A cast on stage

If there is a musical equivalent to rock climbing without a rope, local musician J. Ashley Miller is doing it. Miller, 34, has spent the last year developing a “brutalist pop opera” despite having no formal training in the genre and limited theater production experience. The project, “Echosis,” will debut this weekend with a two-night…

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Sympathetic Vibrations | Brass Knacks

a beautiful trumpet

A chunk of jazz history is being preserved right off 12th St. and Vine. And that should seem confusing, considering the city razed much of the historic entertainment district in the ’60s and the official museum is a full six blocks south. Nevertheless, on most days, on the second floor of a nearby warehouse, you’ll…

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Sympathetic Vibrations | The Spoils of Authenticity

6 men in a band

What catchall phrase would you use to describe a band that draws much of its influence from rock ’n’ roll, garage rock, mod, blues, and psych from the ’50s and ’60s? If you’re Rory Cameron, the lead singer of The Conquerors, it’s not the obvious one. “I don’t really like the throwback moniker very much.…

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