If Jacob Bruskin Gershowitz of Brooklyn, New York hadn’t died—young, tragically, at the peak of his fame—at age 38 on July 11, 1937, his life, if not just his illuminating legacy, might have extended through many more decades. But the light that was the composer and pianist that most of us know and love as George Gershwin was extinguished far too early. This year, only 30 days after the 120th anniversary of his birth, the Kansas City Symphony will share the stage with pop superstar Patti Austin (Every Home Should Have One, Baby Come To Me) in Helzberg Hall in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts; Jason Seber, the David T. Beals III associate conductor of the Kansas City Symphony, will oversee the “Glorious Gershwin” concert, also featuring Kenny Broberg (a Park University graduate student and the 2017 Van Cliburn silver medalist) on piano, playing the breathtaking Rhapsody in Blue. Performances are scheduled for Thursday, October 25 at 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, October 26-27 at 8 p.m. The highlights of the program include the Grammy-winning Miss Austin singing standards The Man I Love, Someone to Watch Over Me, and Summertime as well as the beloved It Ain’t Necessarily So from Gershwin’s masterpiece, Porgy and Bess. It will be a celebration to remember.
