It’s that time of year again! Every summer the editors and writers of KCMetropolis.org pick their favorite shows from the recent season. This past year I saw some incredible stuff, from famous big-name acts to local hidden gems. Here’s what made my top ten:

• Bassist Esperanza Spalding on her Radio Music Society tour at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in October 2012.

• Jasper String Quartet performing Ligeti on the Music Alliance series in October 2012, co-presented by the Friends of Chamber Music and the UMKC Conservatory.

• The James Carter Organ Trio on the Folly Jazz Series, January 2013.

• The Harlem Quartet performing selections from Wynton Marsalis’s At the Octaroon Balls at Yardley Hall on the Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College, February 2013.

• The cast of Life Could Be a Dream, one of American Heartland Theatre‘s last productions, April 2013.

• Bobby McFerrin, inimitable vocal master, performing in Helzberg Hall on the Harriman-Jewell Series, May 2013.

• Violinist Gil Shaham performing Berg’s Violin Concerto with the Kansas City Symphony, June 2013.

• Egads! Theatre Company‘s presentation of cult classic The Rocky Horror Show at Off Center Theatre, June 2013.

• Opera Ooh-La-La! on the Kansas City Fringe Festival, July 2013.

• Local alternative strings duo The Wires on the Kansas City Museum‘s Summer Concert Series, August 2013.

Read my full list and thoughts at KCMetropolis.org: Editor’s Picks 2012–13 season: Kristin