Conservatory

Conservatory

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Dynamic performance environments offer students multiple creative outlets and a rich terrain for innovative artistic development.
Audition materials for all Bands, Orchestra, Jazz Ensembles and Choirs.

Ensembles at the Conservatory

With opportunities spanning from jazz to ballet to choral conducting, explore the Conservatory's ensembles to find where you belong.

The Conservatory’s operas include two main stage operas each academic year, in fall and spring, on White Recital Hall stage. We also produce black box opera scenes in the spring. Recent operas include Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), The Turn of the Screw, Street Scene, The Merry Widow, Hänsel und Gretel, Dialogues des Carmélites, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutti, La bohème, Rodelinda, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, The Marriage of Figaro, Brook’s La tragédie de Carmen (after Bizet) and many others.

Conservatory Chamber Orchestra
Composers' Guild
Musica Nova
Conservatory Percussion Ensemble
Conservatory Trombone Ensemble
UMKC Conservatory Graduate Fellowship Woodwind Quintet
UMKC Conservatory Graduate Fellowship String Quartet
UMKC Conservatory Graduate Fellowship Brass Quintet

Video submissions will replace live auditions this year and will be submitted via an online registration form. 

Chamber music auditions CONS 305a/5305a for:

  • PIANISTS
  • STRING PLAYERS 
  • WOODWINDS (except sax)
  • FRENCH HORN PLAYERS (mixed group)

Other instruments: contact your studio teacher for chamber music information. (eg: all-brass ensembles, saxophone ensembles, etc.)

All students interested in Chamber Music, new and returning, must complete a registration form to be placed in a group. Additional information and registration forms may be found at: https://info.umkc.edu/cmad-ensemble-auditions/chamber-music/ 

Audition Repertoire

Short piece or movement(s) of your choice, demonstrating your lyrical and technical playing or singing abilities. Accompanists are not required and will not be provided.


Questions? Contact Karen Savage, ksavage@umkc.edu or 816-235-6091

  • Conservatory Chamber Orchestra
  • Conservatory Percussion Ensemble
  • Conservatory Trombone Ensemble
  • Composers' Guild
  • Musica Nova
  • UMKC Conservatory Graduate Fellowship Woodwind Quintet
  • UMKC Conservatory Graduate Fellowship String Quartet
  • UMKC Conservatory Graduate Fellowship Brass Quintet

Steeped in the rich jazz history of Kansas City, the UMKC Jazz Camp brings world-renowned performers and jazz educators to Kansas City to work with talented young instrumentalists ages 12 and up. Jazz Camp co-directors Bobby Watson and Mitch Butler and distinguished clinicians provide insight and inspiration to student combos in a welcoming environment. Participants form lasting friendships as they delve deep into jazz in intensive combo rehearsals and coaching sessions. Daily master classes with Jazz Camp faculty, theory and improvisation classes and frequent faculty performances provide a well-rounded experience that touches on all aspects of jazz performance and history. Jazz Camp participants improve technical and improvisational skills and aural acuity while studying the standards of the past and new, innovative literature. All instruments are welcome. The UMKC Jazz Camp concludes with a public performance by the student combos.

Questions? Contact us!
music-ce@umkc.edu
(816) 235-2741

Mailing Address:
UMKC Jazz Camp
UMKC Conservatory
5227 Holmes St.
Kansas City, MO 64110

  • Jazz Combos
  • UMKC Jazz Ensemble
  • UMKC Jazz Orchestra

Learn more about UMKC Choirs.

Conducted by Dr. Charles Robinson

Charles Robinson, Ph.D., is Professor of Choral Music Education and Choral Music at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance.

About Conservatory Concert Choir

This is a large mixed ensemble of freshmen and sophomores which specializes in the performance of a wide variety of choral music, including classical masterworks as well as spirituals and multicultural choral music. Open to all students by audition.

Rehearsals: 

MWF 1–1:50 pm, Grant Hall 122

Conducted by Leah Wyman
Leah Wyman, MM, is in her second year of study toward a DMA in Choral Conducting.
About Chamber Singers
Chamber Singers is a small, select mixed chamber ensemble (12-24 singers). Open to all students by audition. Preference is given to freshmen and sophomores.
Rehearsals:

TTh 1–1:50 pm, Grant Hall 122

Conducted by Conservatory Choral Faculty and Graduate Students

The Choral Union is a mixed ensemble comprised of singers from all fields of academic study as well as members of the Kansas City choral community. They share an ability and love for making music at a high level. The Choral Union prepares and performs challenging and diverse choral repertoire from multiple historical eras and cultures.

All UMKC students, staff and faculty, UMKC Alumni, area high school seniors and Kansas City community members with choral experience are encouraged to arrange a placement hearing/audition. Available for zero credit, or for one academic credit per semester.

Rehearsals:

Tuesday evenings from 7–9 p.m.
(UMKC Campus, Grant Hall, Room 122).

Conducted by Conservatory Choral Faculty

This is a select chamber ensemble (24-34 singers) for juniors, seniors and graduate students, and is dedicated to performing music of varied genres from the 16–21st centuries at the highest level of artistry. Open to all students by audition.

MWF, 12–12:50, Grant Hall 122

The Conservatory Orchestra performs several concerts each year in the Conservatory’s White Recital Hall and at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Helzberg Hall.

Click here for photos from the 2019 Finale concert at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

 

The Conservatory Wind Symphony is comprised of the very finest wind and percussion students at the Conservatory and is guided by a philosophy that seeks to expose its students and its audiences to the highest quality of music written for wind instruments. Through the rehearsal and performance of this diverse repertoire, students are exposed to a wide variety of compositional techniques, rehearsal processes and expressive possibilities that challenge students to develop their individual musicianship. This wide range of experiences affords the members of the ensemble an opportunity to receive a comprehensive musical education through a demanding and rigorous process of both rehearsals and performances. The Conservatory Wind Symphony has a rich history of creative programming and collaboration – a hallmark of its existence. Numerous compositions have been written for this esteemed ensemble by some of the world’s leading composers. In addition, the ensemble regularly collaborates with select student composers found within the Conservatory’s 80 composition majors. The Conservatory Wind Symphony is under the direction of Steven D. Davis.

Conservatory Wind Ensemble
Joseph Parisi, conductor

The Conservatory Dance Intensive gives high school students (grades 9-12) and middle school students (grades 6-8) the opportunity to study with renowned performers and instructors. This five-day intensive consist of classes in ballet technique, pointe, modern technique, composition and supplemental classes customized for participants like partnering, yoga, nutrition and choreography.  Especially valuable as a “boot camp” in preparation for other summer intensive studies, this week is full of insights and rewards that will serve dancers throughout their educational and professional careers.

Questions? Contact us!
UMKC Conservatory
music-ce@umkc.edu
(816) 235-2741

Mailing address:
Conservatory Dance Intensive
5227 Holmes St.
Kansas City, MO  64110

Opportunities with the Conservatory Dance Ensemble and the Kansas City Ballet.