Two free concerts planned Sunday, Dec. 4, and Tuesday, Dec. 13, by KCKCC music department

Two upcoming concerts will celebrate the end of the semester at KCKCC.

The KCKCC Chamber Choir will perform the Winter Choral Concert, “Don’t Give Up,” at 7 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building, Community Christian Church, 4601 Main St. in Kansas City, Missouri. The church is on the Country Club Plaza.

The concert is a vocal showcase of a variety of music expressing the palette of the human condition, joy, sorrow, hope, laughter and beauty.

The concert will feature two guest artists, who both serve on the voice faculty at KCKCC, Lauren Auge, soprano, and Julia Scozzafava, mezzo-soprano. The choir will perform works by Whitacre, Pedersen, Esenvalds, Parker-Shaw, Mealor and a new commission by Michael Engelhardt and Robert T. Gibson.

The second concert is the KCKCC Jazz Showcase at The Blue Room, which is in the American Jazz Museum, 1616 E. 18th St. in Kansas City, Missouri. It is from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Dec. 13. The concert will feature the four student ensembles attending and performing at the National Conference of the Jazz Education Network in Orlando, Florida, Jan. 4-7.

The showcase will feature the Blue Devil Funk Band, Advanced Jazz Combo and two student vocal jazz ensembles – Fusion and The Standard. The event is sponsored by the KCKCC Student Chapter of the Jazz Education Network.

Both concerts are free and open to the public, but donations will be taken for the department’s upcoming travel this spring.

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Rep. Davids elected vice chair of New Democrat Coalition

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist. (File photo)

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., has been elected vice chair of the New Democrat Coalition.

The New Democrat Coalition, one of the largest Democratic caucuses in the House, represents 96 members of Congress who have set a goal of bridging the gap between parties, passing pro-economic growth, pro-innovation and fiscally responsible policies.

“A commitment to finding common ground and addressing everyday issues is how we got so much done this session, from the bipartisan infrastructure law to lowering health care costs to boosting domestic manufacturing. New Dems have been at the table and leading the charge on all of those efforts,” Rep. Davids said in a news release. “I’m honored to have the support of this pragmatic group of lawmakers, and I look forward to continuing that progress in the next session.”

It is her second term in the NDC, where she was vice chair of member services last year.

She worked with the NDC to pass the bipartisan infrastructure law and the major, bipartisan manufacturing law. The caucus has also addressed inflation, releasing an action plan that was praised as the “best plan yet” to lower costs for American families.

BPU plans budget review meeting Monday, Dec. 5

The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities will review the 2023 proposed budget during an all-day workshop to be held Monday, Dec. 5.

The workshop will begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the BPU administration building, 540 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.

The workshop will include budget reviews for all departments and divisions, including the election production; accounting and finance, general management, customer service, information technology, water, electric operations and electric supply divisions.

The final budget will be presented to the BPU board for approval during the Dec. 14 BPU board meeting, according to a BPU spokesman.

The public may access the meeting through the telephone to listen, and if they have access to the internet, they can click on a Zoom meeting to observe the meeting.

To join the Zoom meeting, persons may click on https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84523139724.

To join by telephone, call toll-free 1-888-475-4499.

The meeting ID number is 845 2313 9724.

For BPU meeting information, visit https://www.bpu.com/About/MediaNewsReleases/BPUBoardtoReview2023ProposedBudget.aspx.