Monthly Archives: December 2013

FIFA World Cup groups announced

Kansas City – The newswires began buzzing around the planet today at about 10.00 CST, as the group draws for the 2014 FIFA World Cup took place in Brazil. To start, there are 8 groups of 4 teams competing. Each team will play 3 matches, one against the other teams in their group. The groups are as follows:

Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon.Image

Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia.

Group C: Columbia, Greece, Côte d’Ivoire, Japan.

Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy.

Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras.

Group F: Argentina, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Iran, Nigeria.

Group G: Germany, Portugal, USA, Ghana.

Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea.

Now, as you may have noticed, if you’re reading from the United States, is that the Waldos have been put into a group that is so bad it could not have been devised by all the fiends of Hell. However, no matter what the outcome may be it will certainly be a good challenge for the USMNT, and if they are able to pull it off and make it out of the group, it will be the moment when the United States can say it has joined the top tier in the world of football. It’ll also be a fantastic thing for MLS, as the league is the source for many players for the national team during the recent victories in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, during which the USMNT went undefeated.

The USMNT will play the following matches in group stage. All times are Central Time (Chicago, Kansas City). The following comes from the BBC.

16 June 2014

Ghana v USA, Arena das Dunas, Natal, 17.00

22 June 2014

USA v Portugal, Arena Amazonia, Manaus, 15:00

26 June 2014

USA v Germany, Arena Pernambuco, Recife, 11:00

Meanwhile, our friends south of the border are in just as tough of a group. I feel sorry for Mexico more and more now a days, as their national team has gone from sorrow to sorrow, from a humiliating defeat in the Gold Cup, to being forced to play in a playoff against the All Whites of New Zealand just to punch their ticket for Brazil. If they do make it through the group stage, just as if the USMNT is able to overwhelm our 2010 nemesis Ghana and the two European powerhouses Germany and Portugal, I hope Jürgen decides to start Graham Zusi, after all México owes him a favour.

ImageWhile I’m on the topic of football (soccer), let me just finish with these words:

I Believe That We Will Win!!!!

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Photo courtesy of Yahoo News.

 Correction: the USA v Portugal match has been pushed back by a few hours.

Remembering Mandela

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“Let there be peace for all. Let there be justice for all. The Sun shall never set on such a glorious human achievement.” – Nelson Mandela.

Kansas City – Yesterday evening, South African President Jacob Zuma made a mournful announcement to his fellow South Africans, and the World, “My Fellow South Africans, our beloved Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the founding President of our democratic nation, has departed.” Mandela was 95 years old.

For me, Mandela was always who I thought of when South Africa, and Africa in general, came to mind. He was a figure who entered the zenith of the world stage in 1994, just a few years after I was born. Mandela’s life was one of struggle and determination, fortitude and intense humanity. What allowed him to stand out and above the rest was that he was able to see the humanity even in those who imprisoned him for so very long. His uniting of South Africa behind Springbok, their national rugby union team, is just one of those genius moments of his presidency. Known to many by his Xhosa clan name Madiba, Mandela has been someone seen as a model in grace and perseverance for the rest of us to look up to in admiration. As British Prime Minister David Cameron said last night, “He was not just a hero for our time, but a hero for all time.”

Requiescat in Pace, Nelson Mandela. It is a well deserved rest after such a long and eventful life.

The Priests bless Kansas City with their presence

Kansas City – When I typically think of three Irish priests going up on stage to sing, the image of the-prieststhe “Father Ted” episode “A Song for Europe” comes to mind, with Frs Ted, Jack, and Dougal singing “My Lovely Horse” to an unreceptive audience.

The Priests are not that sort of trio, though they do have their own fair share of comedy to boot with their magnificent voices. Fr David Delargy joined brothers Frs Martin and Eugene O’Hagan, two childhood friends and classmates of his, in forming this unique trio. Unlike the equally famous Irish Tenors, this trio appeared to be quite genuine and charming in their performance. They were joined tonight by soprano Sylvia Stoner, who sang 4 songs, 2 in each half of the concert, that added a local touch to the concert. Along with the vocalists were a set of fine instrumentalists, as christened by the trio the Midland Ensemble, so named for tonight’s venue, the Midland Theatre on Main Street in Downtown. The director of music was Gregg Mangaifico, who also was the pianist. The rest of the ensemble consisted of viola Kent Brauninger, violins Susid Goldenbrrg and Will Haapaniemi, keyboardist Kelly Ker Hackleman, with cellist Susie Yang.

The Priests began with a series of Latin hymns, “Laudamus Te”, Schubert’s lovely “Ave Maria”, an arrangement of the “Benedictus”, and César Franck’s “Panis Angelicus”. Following Stoner’s first set, the Piestw returned to perform a series of hymns and thought provoking songs from such trying times as the Spanish Civil War, to an awesome storm witnessed by a Swedish composer, which led to his penning of “How Great Thou Art”, the first part’s closing number.

I especially enjoyed how these pieces were able to introduce the trio and set the stage for the rest of the performance, which from there on out became, especially by the second half somewhat less in the strain of Christian mysticism and more in the line of good Christmas cheer.

The second half was filled with carols, great and small alike. For me the highlight of this part was their singing of that divine Austrian carol “Silent Night”. This is one carol that would certainly remain even if someday, Heaven forbid, Christianity were to disappear.

The concert concluded with an encore of the happy, originating in Ireland, seasonal favourite “12 Days of Christmas”, which included some fun and amusing audience participation. The concert was a benefit for the Kansas City Irish Centre in partnership with KCPT.

If you have an opportunity to see the Priests in concert, I would take that chance. They finish their North American Tour at the Holland Centre in Omaha on Saturday 7th December at 8.00 CST.

The Canadian Brass comes to Kansas City

Kansas City – I will admit that I am one of those who had heard the Canadian Brass before, mostly on NPR and the BBC, but I had never actually Imageproperly heard of this fantastic quintet until tonight. The Canadian Brass are a world renowned brass quintet founded and based in, you guessed it, Canada. They have performed all across the planet both live in person and through the transmissional wonders of television and radio. Their membership includes five of the finest brass players in the world, with Americans Christopher Coletti, Caleb Hudson (Trumpets), Eric Reed (French Horn), Greek Achilles Liarmakopoulos (Trombone) and American-Canadian Chuck Dallenbach (Tuba) who was a co-founder of the original group in 1970.

In this concert presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series at the beautiful Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts’ Helzberg Hall, the Canadian Brass played with humour and demonstrated with flourish their fantastic musical abilities.
The quintet began with four pieces which depict the history and evolution of brass orchestration within Western classical music. These were English Renaissance composers Anthony Holborne’s (c. 1545-1602) Muy Linda, and John Dowland’s (1563-1626) Come Sweet Love, followed by early German Baroque composer Samuel Scheidt’s (1587-1654) Galliard Battaglia. These were played with charm and period enthusiasm, which as someone who has performed solely Early Music for the past few years, I throughly enjoyed.
This was followed by a set of selections from the Canadian Brass’ album Carnaval, which were taken from musical sketches for piano by Robert Schumann and arranged by the quintet’s own Coletti. These were a whirlwind characteristic of the carnival celebrations of Venice, with all the fun and excitement of that last day before the 40 days of purple-clad sorrow leading up to the Passion.
Courtesy of CanadianBrass.com
Following this jolly jaunt in the visions of Schumann, the quintet was joined by horn player Eric Reed’s father, the magnificent Douglas Reed, on the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ, which going along with the national theme of the night was built proudly in Québec City. Douglas Reed’s performance on the organ was stunning, and reminiscent of Midnight Mass when the church organ sings out for joy at Christ’s Birth. He joined the quintet for four pieces, Farué’s Cantique, and the traditional carols Jolly Old St. Nick, Good King Wenceslas, and Jingle Bells. My only complaint of the entire concert came at this point, as I found it a challenge to hear the quintet over the bellowing awesomeness of the organ. Here Herbert Spencer’s declaration of “survival of the fittest” rang loud and true with the organic domination over the brass below.
Following intermission, the Canadian Brass took the floor once again with a Killer Tango introduced to the ensemble by their Greek trombonist Liarmakopoulos. It was filled with the spices and flavour of an Argentine summer’s evening, the sweet scent of that magnificent South American flavouring oozing like sumptuous wine from the performance. This tango was followed by a performance of Coletti’s piece Bach’s Bells, an arrangement of a Bach cantata and Carol of the Bells, which I simply found confusing.
For the next three pieces, the Canadian Brass was joined by the William Jewell College Concert Choir, led by Dr. Anthony J. Maglione in performing three songs Angel and the Trumpeter, Sweet Songs of Christmas, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. I enjoyed hearing the choir and the brass work together, as the dynamics of the voice and brass instrument seem to share some qualities, especially the ability for projection.
Following the departure of the William Jewell Concert Choir, the quintet honoured that other great holiday of December (and November this year), Hanukkah, by performing a jazzy set of Dreydel Variations. The Klezmer clarinet impersonation and strong high C’s of Coletti stole this part of the concert with drama worth of an operatic divo.
Finally, the highlight of the evening came with the quintet’s performance of a Suite from Georges Bizet’s “Carmen”. Not only did they play the music from that greatest of Bizet masterpieces, but they did it with such showmanship and flair that it left the audience standing on their feet in uproarious approval. I especially loved the change of the male lead from the Spanish soldier Don José to the Canadian soldier Don Jos eh.
Needless to say, tonight’s concert by the Canadian Brass was one to remember for its musicality, its showmanship, and its humour. I was expecting a small chamber orchestra of very serious, circle sitting brass players. What I heard was far from that, it was a group of five friends who were playing fantastically beautiful music, and having a good time whilst doing it.