Kansas City Symphony: Matthias Pintscher - Schubert's Ninth Symphony

Kansas City Symphony: Matthias Pintscher - Schubert's Ninth Symphony at Helzberg Hall - Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Sometimes a single evening offers two completely different musical landscapes. On May 14, 2027, Matthias Pintscher takes the podium at Helzberg Hall to guide the Kansas City Symphony through a program that pairs Leonard Bernstein's eclectic brilliance with Franz Schubert's grand melodic imagination.

Bernstein's Songfest draws poetry from a sprawling American family of voices—Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Gertrude Stein, Edgar Allan Poe—and sets them to music that swings between jazz, swing, patriotic song, and opera. Each verse brings a new mood, a different rhythm, a fresh color. It's a kaleidoscope of American expression, and hearing how Bernstein translates words into sound gives the poetry new life.

Then comes Schubert's Ninth, nicknamed The Great for good reason. This symphony stretches out across a massive canvas, but instead of feeling long, it feels generous. Singing melodies unfold and develop, carrying you through waves of warmth, drama, and light. The combination of symphonic scale and lyrical beauty creates an emotional lift that stays with you long after the final note.

With Pintscher conducting, these distinct musical worlds meet in one program. Watching him shape these two works in real time adds another dimension to the experience. The orchestra, the hall, the sweep of the music—it's an evening built for live performance.

Book tickets for the Kansas City Symphony's Schubert Ninth and Bernstein's settings of American voices.