Aretha Franklin to Headline Kauffman Center’s 1YEAR2GO Countdown Celebration
Date: July 21, 2010
Author: Kauffman Center
Aretha Franklin to Headline Kauffman Center’s 1YEAR2GO Countdown Celebration
For immediate release July 21, 2010
KANSAS CITY, MO – Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul,” will kick off the 1YEAR2GO Countdown Celebration on Sept. 26, 2010, in the KC Live stage of the Kansas City Power and Light Entertainment District, it was announced today by Jane Chu, president and chief executive officer of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets to the Kansas City event will be available from the Kauffman Center website -www.kauffmancenter.org beginning July 22nd at a variety of price ranges, starting at $35 for concert only tickets.
“We think it’s only fitting that the Kauffman Center’s first event for Kansas City be heralded by one of the greatest and most beloved singers of our era,” said Ms. Chu. “We are honored to welcome Ms. Franklin to help us bring our community to the arts and the arts to our community.”
Aretha Franklin, acclaimed 18-time Grammy Award-winning artist, will perform in an evening celebration that tops off a multi-venue dinner and entertainment extravaganza downtown. The event launches the final 12-month countdown for the completion and inauguration of the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
As a prelude to Ms. Franklin’s headline performance, venues throughout the Power and Light District will come alive with appearances by a wide variety of Kansas City’s own talented performers. “Kansas City’s performing artists cannot wait for the Kauffman Center to open, and they will prove it during the 1YEAR2GO Countdown Celebration,” said Ms. Chu.
The Kauffman Center features the latest and finest in technology, design and craftsmanship to ensure a second-to-none experience for every ticket holder. It will serve as the performance home for the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Ballet but it will also offer a year-round, star studded array of performances from the world of arts and entertainment. Performances will include dance, theatre, touring Broadway productions, specialty acts of all kinds, and music of every type imaginable from pop to classical, rock to jazz, traditional to cutting edge country to gospel, bluegrass and folk.
The $413 million project has received support from more than 1,000 donors. The iconic project, designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie, is dramatically transforming the Kansas City skyline. The Center is on budget and on schedule to open in September 2011.
The 1YEAR2GO Countdown Celebration is organized by the Kauffman Center Ambassadors volunteer corps. The Ambassadors have been promoting the Kauffman Center throughout the community for the past several years. 1YEAR2GO Countdown Celebration is the Ambassadors first fundraiser with all proceeds from the event supporting the Kauffman Center’s innovative youth outreach and educational programs.
Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett and his wife Leslie Brett are the honorary chairs of the 1YEAR2GO Countdown Celebration and will lead festivities in this unique event, which offers dinner and entertainment packages plus priority seating at Ms. Franklin’s KC Live concert starting at $200.
“This is going to be the biggest party Kansas City has ever seen, bar none,” said Brett. “This will bring the entire community together to celebrate the countdown to the launch of one of the world’s best venues to see some of the world’s best artists. – right here in Kansas City.”
For more information on the event, including consideration for potential interviews with Ms. Franklin, please contact jkeatley@kauffmancenter.org or call Jo Keatley at 816-994-7230. For background information on the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and a complete listing of participating sponsors and restaurants, visit www.kauffmancenter.org.
