Summerfest- KC's Summer Chamber Music Festival

08/02/2026

Join us this afternoon for the final performance of our 2026 series!

Summerfest Kansas City concluded its 2026 season with a musical potpourri of captivating works. This season’s concerts were dubbed “Animated by Jazz,” a fitting tribute to American music on the nat…

07/31/2026

Summerfest concludes its 2026 series with Nocturnes, Promenades, and Roses

How much can music say without words? George Gershwin’s Lullaby offers one answer, an intimate, understated one, already hinting at a distinctly American voice. Sergei Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes, op. 34 builds outward, weaving folk melodies into something theatrical and vibrant. Ethel Smyth’s first published work draws us in more quietly, her String Quintet revealing its depth over time. Andrey Rubtsov adds a modern perspective, his Roses of Heliogabalus blending folk and klezmer influences into a sound that feels both old and new. And then Gershwin returns with Walking the Dog, a brief, charming, and just a little playful piece. It’s a fitting reminder that music doesn’t need to speak to be understood. It just needs to be heard.

Purchase tickets for our final weekend at
https://donorbox.org/events/940309/steps/choose_tickets

07/29/2026

Joining us for the final week of Summerfest is violist Jesse Yukimura.

Jesse Keone Yukimura is from Washington State and discovered at an early age the joys of ensemble music, from chamber music to orchestra. Jesse received a Bachelor of Music degree in Viola Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Peter Slowik, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Oberlin College. He then studied with Ralph Fielding at the Lynn Conservatory of Music, where he earned a Master of Music degree and a Professional Performance Certificate. Before moving to Kansas City, Jesse was a viola fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, an orchestral academy founded by artistic director Michael Tilson Thomas. Jesse joined the Kansas City Symphony in 2018 and has played with Summerfest Concerts regularly since 2019. Outside of music, Jesse maintains a variety of interests, from birdwatching to boardgames.

07/29/2026

Thanks to Andrew Schwartz for capturing the action at our July 26, 2026 concert!

https://youtu.be/4e50qzjp-60?si=r1jrLA63Q1mJ1bRy

Don't miss the final week of our 2026 series - reserve tickets online at www.summerfestkc.org

Scenes from the Sunday, July 26, 2026 Summerfest Concerts program a...

07/28/2026

Joining us for the final week of Summerfest this season is violinist Tony DeMarco.

Tony DeMarco has been a member of the Kansas City Symphony for 14 seasons. His previous professional experience includes Assistant Concertmaster of both the Virginia and North Carolina Symphonies, substitute for the Pittsburgh Symphony, and a member of the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestra. He was raised in the South Hills of Pittsburgh then enrolled at Carnegie- Mellon University at age 16, then transferred to Oberlin Conservatory where he earned an artist’s diploma. Having chosen his career path at age 9,

Tony credits the violin, his mother Bonnie, and his teacher Albert Hirtz of the Pittsburgh Symphony for the opportunity to travel to Asia, Europe, and all around the United States, making lasting friends and playing great music. Best among those friends is his wonderful wife, Jeannine Elashewich. Together with sons Albert and Roman, they now reside in a “Little House in Prairie Village.”

Reserve tickets at https://www.summerfestkc.org/tickets.html

07/27/2026

Joining us for our final week of Summerfest is pianist Karen Savage.

Karen Hsiao Savage (Juilliard: DMA, MM Collab Piano, MM Piano; UVic: BMus) is Professor of Collaborative Piano and Coordinator of Chamber Music at UMKC Conservatory, where she created the new master’s degree program in collaborative piano. Karen received the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring and the Friends of the Conservatory Faculty Excellence Award. She leads the Healing and Harmony Concert Series, sending Conservatory students to perform at hospitals, hospice, and senior homes. Karen has performed in Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Shanghai Grand Theatre, and the Perlman Music Program, with broadcasts on internationally syndicated NPR programs and on Vietnamese and Chinese national television.

Recent projects include recitals with members of the Kansas City Symphony, New York Philharmonic, LA Phil, and Chiara Quartet, an album of works by women’s composers with Celeste Johnson, and a multi-media production on mass incarceration with choreographer Gary Abbott and composer Paul Rudy. 88SQUARED, her piano duo with husband Jeff, gave critically praised international premieres of Liebermann’s Sonata for Two Pianos, won the Ellis Duo Competition, the Abild Prize in American Music, and second prize and special mention at Concours Grieg International Competition (Norway), and recorded albums on Albany Records and Navonna/PARMA.

Reserve tickets at https://www.summerfestkc.org/tickets.html

07/25/2026

Thanks to Artistic Advisor Evan Halloin for this sneak peek of this weekend's concert. Join us for "Creation of the World" this weekend!

Tickets: https://www.summerfestkc.org/tickets.html