UMKC Conservatory

UMKC Conservatory The UMKC Conservatory is internationally recognized as a center for artistic excellence and innovation. Our buildings on campus are:

James C.

Olson Performing Arts Center (4949 Cherry Street)

Grant Hall (5227 Holmes Street)

The UMKC Conservatory invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Music Compositi...
08/29/2026

The UMKC Conservatory invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Music Composition with a focus on electroacoustic and technology-integrated composition, beginning in Fall 2027.

We seek a composer-technologist with deep concert-music fluency: an artist-scholar who can teach acoustic composition and orchestration while leading students into electroacoustic, computational, spatial, interactive, and emerging creative practices. The successful candidate will understand technology not simply as a production tool, but as a compositional medium that can deepen questions of sound, form, performance, space, and musical meaning. We are looking for a composer who can oversee the electronic music labs at UMKC, assign GTA duties, and manage hardware and software purchases.

Areas of practice may include electroacoustic or acousmatic composition, computer music, sound synthesis, live electronics, spatial audio, creative coding, interactive systems, algorithmic or generative composition, sound installation, AI-assisted creative practice, or closely related work grounded in compositional craft.

https://www.higheredjobs.com/faculty/details.cfm?JobCode=179517165

It’s a UMKC Conservatory trifecta on the newest episode of the award-winning podcast "Hearing the Pulitzers." Conservato...
08/28/2026

It’s a UMKC Conservatory trifecta on the newest episode of the award-winning podcast "Hearing the Pulitzers."

Conservatory professors Andrew Granade and David Thurmaier turn their ears to fellow Conservatory professor Zhou Long and his Pulitzer Prize–winning opera Madame White Snake. How does Zhou Long blend Chinese and Western musical traditions? What makes Madame White Snake such a compelling work for the stage? And why did it break a 50-year drought for staged operas winning the Pulitzer Prize in Music? Granade and Thurmaier dig into the story, sounds, and significance of this remarkable opera.

Find the podcast anywhere you listen, or follow this link: https://hearingthepulitzers.podbean.com/e/episode-69-2011-zhou-long-madame-white-snake/

We are pleased to welcome John Bell to the Conservatory! John joins us as adjunct faculty to teach our Survey of Strings...
08/26/2026

We are pleased to welcome John Bell to the Conservatory! John joins us as adjunct faculty to teach our Survey of Strings course.

John recently retired as Artist-in-Residence Director of Wind Symphony at Northwest Missouri State University. Ensembles under John’s direction have been invited through peer review to perform at state, national, and European conferences. Following a 15-year absence, the Northwest Wind Symphony was invited to perform at MMEA. Under his direction the Northwest band program was recognized by the CBDNA through peer review as one of ten exemplary small college band programs in the United States.

A recipient of the John Philip Sousa Legion of Honor, John also received recognition as the Park Hill School District Teacher of the Year, the UCM Music Department’s Distinguished Alumni Award, the Missouri chapter of Phi Beta Mu Outstanding Band Director Award, the MoASTA Outstanding Collegiate Educator Award, the Northwest Award of Excellence, the MMEA Outstanding Educator award, and in 2025 was named to the MMEA Hall of Fame.

John is the current Music Director and Conductor of the NorthWinds Symphonic Band of Kansas City, and has served as Music Director and Conductor of the Medical Arts Symphony of Kansas City. John is a retired public school music educator, having taught middle school and high school band and strings for 30 years.

Welcome to UMKC, John!

The UMKC Conservatory trumpet studio is so proud of recent grad, Emmitt Rieffer (MA-Performance '26), on his appointment...
08/21/2026

The UMKC Conservatory trumpet studio is so proud of recent grad, Emmitt Rieffer (MA-Performance '26), on his appointment as Instructor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri-St. Louis! Emmitt's hard work, creativity, and kindness have paid off and we are thrilled for him - Roo Up!

Congratulations to recent alumnus, Michael Navato; his composition, PERSONENT HODIE, was recently selected by J.W. Peppe...
08/18/2026

Congratulations to recent alumnus, Michael Navato; his composition, PERSONENT HODIE, was recently selected by J.W. Pepper as an Editors' Choice! Another outstanding achievement for one of our 'Roos.

Join us for a performance bold, dynamic contemporary dance as part of the KCMOves Festival, featuring works choreographe...
08/16/2026

Join us for a performance bold, dynamic contemporary dance as part of the KCMOves Festival, featuring works choreographed by Christian Denice, Caroline Dahm, Ashley Nunez, and Nicole Norman. Come celebrate the incredible artists who make Kansas City’s dance community so special.

And the best part? The performance is completely FREE and open to the public! Bring a friend, bring your family, and come experience KCMOves with us. We can’t wait to see you there!

September 4 | 7:30 PM
📍 UMKC Conservatory
🎟️ FREE ADMISSION
More info at kcmovesfestival.com

Photo by Kenny of dancer Mariah ♡

Join us for a performance bold, dynamic contemporary dance as part of the KCMOves Festival, featuring works choreographe...
08/16/2026

Join us for a performance bold, dynamic contemporary dance as part of the KCMOves Festival, featuring works choreographed by Christian Denice, Caroline Dahm, Ashley Nunez, and Nicole Norman. Come celebrate the incredible artists who make Kansas City’s dance community so special.

Hosted by the UMKC Conservatory

And the best part? The performance is completely FREE and open to the public! Bring a friend, bring your family, and come experience KCMOves with us. We can’t wait to see you there!

September 4 | 7:30 PM
📍 UMKC Conservatory
🎟️ FREE ADMISSION
More info at kcmovesfestival.com

Photo by of dancer

Choir auditions are next week!
08/13/2026

Choir auditions are next week!

Announcing our '26-'27 Theatrical Season! We start the fall semester off with WORKING by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso....
08/07/2026

Announcing our '26-'27 Theatrical Season!

We start the fall semester off with WORKING by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso. This musical explores and celebrates our lives at work, our "home away from home."

At the end of October, head over to The Arts Asylum for our fall play, CORNERS GROVE by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin, which explores identity, belonging, and how chosen family can provide the truest "home" some ever know.

In November, we present PASSAGE, a play by Christopher Chen that invites us to rethink how we engage with others as we all endeavor to find places we can call our own.

Our spring opera will be two Puccini one-acts presented back-to-back each evening: SUOR ANGELICA and GIANNI SCHICCHI. Witness themes of banishment and spiritual connection followed by the complications of inheritance and new in-laws.

We turn to Shakespeare in March with our next play, THE WINTER'S TALE, an ingenious blend of moving tragedy, whimsical comedy, and pastoral rebirth that creates a magical world where two kingdoms must find their way home to redemption.

And finally, we close the season with FAILURE: A LOVE STORY by Philip Dawkins; this heartfelt play challenges us to embrace the joyous moments of existence, however fleeting, and to treasure the loves we find along the way.

Check out calendar.umkc.edu/conservatory/ to see the full details and to purchase your tickets!

Our poster designs were created by the talented .is.online

Address

4949 Cherry Street
Kansas City, MO
64110

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 11pm
Tuesday 8am - 11pm
Wednesday 8am - 11pm
Thursday 8am - 11pm
Friday 8am - 11pm
Saturday 8am - 11pm
Sunday 12pm - 11pm

Telephone

+18162352900

Website

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