Brown Bag Concert Program Director:  Helping Musicians Create the Programs of their Dreams

Lyra Pherigo manages the Westport Center for the Arts’ Brown Bag Concert Series. Before and since she took over management of the program, Pherigo has performed regularly with her husband Robert, seen in the photo below. She loves giving other musicians the opportunity to perform in a great venue and to design a program that is personal to them.

Pherigo knows how important it can be for musicians to get to perform in their own voices. She herself began her association with WCA’s noontime concerts as a performer. And now that she’s the director of that program, she appreciates the opportunity to offer other musicians something she knows is rare – the chance to create the program of their dreams.
 
All kinds of musicians show up on the stage of the Westport Presbyterian Church for the Brown Bag Concerts. They may be members of a symphony orchestra who have put together a trio or quartet. They may be a jazz band who wants to test out new material. They may be new singer-songwriters who want to get in front of an audience.

They’re all professional musicians. They also create their own program – often showcasing favorite works they don’t get a chance to perform elsewhere. They all find a welcome audience at the concerts.
 
The concerts, held the third Friday of the month, are free and the doors of the church are open to everyone. 
 
Pherigo moved to Kansas City in the early 1990s. She and her husband, Robert, a pianist, singer and composer, had met as undergraduates at Arizona State University. “He became my boyfriend and my pianist. We’ve performed together for 44 years,” she says.
 
Lyra is a flutist, soprano, and choral director. She’s played the flute with newEar, KC Symphony, KC Chamber Orchestra, KC Ballet, and KC Civic Opera, and also played with Starlight Theater and Theater League productions. She collaborated in the recording of  a documentary titled “We the People” created for IMAX Theater, and learned to play Asian flutes, called Dizi flutes, for a production of Miss Saigon. She lends her soprano voice to Schola Cantorum, a professional ensemble that provides music at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and conducts the Chancel choir at Bonner Springs United Methodist Church. 
 
“My favorite musical collaboration, though, is with my husband,” Pherigo says. 
 
It was a collaboration with her husband that first introduced her to the Westport Center for the Arts’ Brown Bag Concerts. Marian Thomas, the organist of the church, had begun a free noontime musical series and invited Lyra and Robert to perform. When Thomas decided to retire from heading up the program, she invited Pherigo to take her place. 
 
“When I sought a new director to take my place, I went down the list of everyone who had performed in the past 20 years, and Lyra stood out as the most enthusiastic for the concept of community concerts at noon, making high quality music available and accessible for all,” Thomas says.  “I knew the program would be in good hands when she agreed to direct the Brown Bag Concerts.”
 
The program has grown since it began. While the majority of concerts are classical, jazz and folk musicians sometimes take the stage as well. In general, “it’s a very creative way of supporting the arts,” Pherigo says of the Brown Bag Concerts and all of the work of WCA. 
 
As Rev. Scott Myers, the late president of WCA, would say, ‘When the community creates art, the arts create community,’ she adds.
 
One change came about after a devastating fire at the Westport Presbyterian Church in 2011. The noontime performances were halted while the church was rebuilt. When it did reopen, the church sanctuary had been transformed into a perfect performance arena.
 
“The space is incredible since the fire,” Pherigo says.  “People who have never been there are amazed.” The acoustics were also improved, making the church sanctuary a delightful venue  for performers.
 
The pandemic, of course, hampered live performances. The concerts for a while were live-streamed, presenting a problem for some artists because they are required to have a license to perform copyrighted works. Pherigo learned to get around that obstacle by finding musicians who could perform early 19^th century works, which do not fall under the restrictions. Folk artists performing original works were also a good option during streaming.
 
In fact, Pherigo’s son Lucas, a talented singer songwriter, took the Brown Bag Concert stage during the pandemic just like his parents.
 
Now that the pandemic has ended, audiences again fill the seats on the third Friday of every month, knowing they will get another chance to hear musicians putting their heart and soul into the noontime concert.