Kirke Mechem Composer Kirke Mechem On Realizing What Opera Could Be By Laura Spencer • Jan 26, 2013 Laura Spencer / KCUR Composer Kirke Mechem grew up in Topeka, Kansas, but he's lived in San Francisco since 1963. He says he still considers himself a Midwesterner: "You can take the boy out of Kansas, but you can never take Kansas out of the boy."
