Prairie Village's Joyce DiDonato Brings Power Of Music To Moscow, Sing Sing And Kauffman Center
She’s taken her craft from Barcelona to Beijing, but this weekend Joyce DiDonato will grace a stage much closer to home.
Before the Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano brings the music of Leonard Bernstein and Hector Berlioz to life at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, we sat down for a wide-ranging conversation on KCUR’s Up To Date. We talked about the kindlings of her now red-hot career, an upcoming tour to Moscow, and recent student protests that have captured the nation’s attention.
DiDONATO: You know “West Side Story” is a story about teenagers who are fed up, and saying, “this doesn’t work anymore, the system that we’re a part of.” I admire what these students have done and are doing in leading with voices of reason about their safety, and their right to go to school and be educated in a safe place. I applaud them. If I could give them a standing ovation in the spotlight, I would.
KRASKE: You’re going to be singing “West Side Story” and Bernstein this weekend, right?
DiDONATO: Absolutely. This is the centennial year of his work, and his extraordinary contribution to American music and international music.
If I had the dream to work with one person who has passed on, it would be him. I think it would have been astonishing to be conducted by him.
(“‘West Side Story”) is a piece that I grew up singing from teenage years, so to hear it come alive with the symphony this weekend — people will not be able to sit still in their seats.
Read more & listen to the audio feature via KCUR.org