Since the debut performance in 1982, the Kansas City Chorale has provided audiences with a high caliber of choral artistry, performing a diverse repertoire of new and traditional music. Under Charles Bruffy’s leadership the choir has garnered international recognition for artistic merit, having been praised for its refined sound, phrasing and flawless intonation.
As a cornerstone of the Kansas City performing arts community, the Chorale creates concert programs and recordings that educate, engage, provoke, and inspire listeners. The Chorale’s ongoing outreach efforts facilitate the development of local talent, while providing students and their instructors with the opportunity to learn from world-class vocalists.
Beyond the traditional season of local concerts, Bruffy has brought the choir’s talent to the global stage. In 2009, Bruffy led the Kansas City and Phoenix Chorales in a moving performance at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Highlights from the a cappella concert included “Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae” by Jaakko Mantyjarvi and “Drei Geistliche Gesänge” by 19th-century composer Josef Rheinberger. The New York Times review noted that Bruffy “…seemed to be sculpturing in air: carefully molding each finely hued note he coaxed from his choristers,” and “the choirs performed with a buoyant pulse and energetic finesse.”
In the same year, the Kansas City Chorale was invited as one of four choral groups—and the only one from the United States—to perform at the prestigious Incheon Choral Festival in South Korea. The group more recently performed at Canada’s Podium 2014, in Halifax, Nova Scotia—once again as the only American ensemble.