Press Releases

Educational, entertaining and memory-making experiences bring families together at Kansas City’s destination for live music entertainment

Daniel Wiley and Luke Poeppel to conduct a variety of concerts, including holiday, family, education and special presentations

KANSAS CITY, Mo. | September 25, 2024 — The Kansas City Symphony has selected two assistant conductors for the 2024/2025 concert season. Following extensive auditions and interviews, Daniel Wiley and Luke Poeppel have been named David T. Beals III Assistant Conductors.

Wiley, who joined the Symphony on its first European tour this past August, will conduct Young People’s Concerts, Support School Music concerts, and the September 28 special presentation with Dionne Warwick. He will also lead a holiday concert with The Texas Tenors, Family Series productions, and two concert evenings with Ben Folds.

Wiley has made guest appearances with orchestras and ballets across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and previously served Assistant Conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra & Pops. He has conducted new music ensembles for the Musicbed Music and Film Corporation in Fort Worth, Texas, and has also participated in the Composing in the Wilderness program, part of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Alaska. He has conducted numerous world premieres in Denali National Park as part of the Composing in the Wilderness program. A former public-school music teacher, Wiley is passionate about music education and frequently volunteers as a guest clinician.

Poeppel, an American-German conductor based in Rochester, New York, will lead Handel’s Messiah, children’s concerts, school programs such as KinderKonzerts and LinkUp, and a special concert featuring Cody Fry. Poeppel is a master’s student at the Eastman School of Music and was selected for Ensemble Modern’s 2023-2024 ICCS young professionals’ program.

Kansas City Symphony Music Director Matthias Pintscher expressed excitement about the new appointments. “I couldn’t be happier to welcome Daniel and Luke to the Kansas City Symphony. Their inspiring musicianship will be fully on display throughout the season as they lead programs of the great masters, contemporary artists, and concerts for young audiences filled with wonder and delight.”

Both conductors will share cover conducting duties for the Symphony’s classical series.

New Musicians Joining the Symphony

Aaron You-Xin Li, violin
A native of Tainan, Taiwan, Aaron You-Xin Li was most recently a violin fellow in the New World Symphony where he performed as concertmaster under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas and principal second violin under Stéphane Denève. He earned his master’s degree from Indiana University as a student of Grigory Kalinovsky and his bachelor’s degree from Taipei National University of Arts. Li has participated in numerous music festivals, serving as concertmaster and associate concertmaster at the Spoleto Music Festival and performing at the Sarasota Music Festival, Dragonfly International Music Festival, Casalmaggiore Music Festival, Walnut Hill Music Festival and National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra youth summer music festival. During his time at Music Academy of the West, he was chosen for the String Quartet Seminar and won a spot in the Keston Music Academy Exchange Program to play with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Alejandro Lombo, flute and piccolo
Alejandro Lombo was previously the principal flute of Symphony in C and has performed regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2019. Most recently, he went on the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2023 European tour, performing in Luxembourg, Paris, Hamburg and Baden-Baden under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In the summer of 2023, Alejandro performed with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center under the direction of Louis Langrée and attended the Music Academy of the West, where he won the Keston Music Academy Exchange competition and subsequently performed with the London Symphony Orchestra. He also has performed with the Detroit Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony and Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center (formerly Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra) among others. Lombo studied with Jeffrey Khaner at the Juilliard School, where he earned his master’s degree, and at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he earned his bachelor’s degree.

Ayrton Pisco, violin
A native of Brasília, Brazil, Ayrton Pisco holds degrees from Yale University, the University of Southern California and San Diego State University. He has also been a fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and New World Symphony. He has participated in several music festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen, Sarasota, Bayreuth (Germany) and Sapporo (Japan). His principal teachers include Ani Kavafian, Margaret Batjer, Pei-Chun Tsai and his father, Ayrton Macedo Pisco. A seasoned orchestra musician, Pisco has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, San Diego Symphony and New Haven Symphony. Concert engagements have taken him across North and South America, Europe and Asia. In addition to classical music, Pisco also enjoys performing in genres such as jazz, tango, bossa nova, choro, mariachi and others.

Hyojoon Park, trumpet
Originally from Toronto, Canada, trumpeter Hyojoon Park joins the Kansas City Symphony for the 2024/2025 season. He also performs regularly as a substitute musician with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra and has performed with the New World Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Orchestra Iowa and Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. Additionally, he is a member of Michigan’s world-renowned Brass Band of Battle Creek. Park holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the UMKC Conservatory, a master’s degree from Michigan State University and a bachelor’s degree from McGill University. He has studied with Keith Benjamin, Justin Emerich, Christopher Smith and Andrew Dunn.

Sally Kim, cello
Sally Kim was born in South Korea and moved to New Zealand at age 6. She earned a doctorate from the University of Miami, where she studied under Ross Harbaugh. While there, Sally served as a teaching assistant and was honored as a Henry Mancini Fellow. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Auckland and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. Her cello teachers include James Tennant, Edith Salzmann and Paul Katz. She previously performed with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and made her solo debut with the St. Matthews Orchestra at age 14. As a dedicated music ambassador, Kim has toured Asia performing in China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. Concert engagements and festivals have also taken her to the United Kingdom and several European countries.

About Matthias Pintscher, music director
Matthias Pintscher, Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony, brings a wealth of experience and artistry to his new role, with a particular dedication to expanding the Symphony’s reach within the Kansas City community. After a decade-long tenure as the Music Director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, Pintscher has demonstrated his commitment to contemporary music. His dual role as conductor and composer has garnered global recognition, with his works performed by major symphony orchestras worldwide. Now, he is eager to channel his passion and expertise into bringing classical programming to broader and more diverse audiences, enriching the cultural landscape of Kansas City.

About the Kansas City Symphony 
In only its 42nd season, the Kansas City Symphony has already become one of America’s most vibrant major orchestras and has gained national and international recognition. With the 2024/2025 season, the Symphony welcomes conductor and composer Matthias Pintscher as its new music director. Pintscher regularly conducts many of the world’s best orchestras and opera companies and ranks as one of the world’s foremost composers of orchestral music.

Continually creating live music experiences in Helzberg Hall, located in the prestigious Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the Symphony serves Kansas City’s metro population of more than 2.2 million people as well as welcoming visitors from around the globe. The Symphony’s 80 full-time musicians from around the world bring a diverse and dynamic range of musical experiences to our audiences in both orchestral and chamber music formats each season. In addition to concerts in Helzberg Hall, Symphony musicians perform throughout the region on our portable stage, the Mobile Music Box. The Symphony also serves as the orchestra for the Kansas City Ballet and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, adding to the rich cultural experiences that these organizations offer to the community.

Top international soloists perform with the Kansas City Symphony every season, including brilliant classical musicians, popular singer/songwriters, rock bands and other creative performers. The Symphony performs live soundtracks for a variety of fan-favorite films, with the movie projected on a giant screen above the stage.

For more information, visit kcsymphony.org.

KC audiences will enjoy selections from the Symphony’s programs being performed in Berlin, Hamburg and Amsterdam in late August

KANSAS CITY, Mo. | July 24, 2024 — In coordination with the Kansas City Symphony’s first-ever European concert tour in late August 2024, the orchestra will present selections from the tour in Kansas City on Wednesday, August 21 at 7 p.m. This European Tour Send-Off Concert will take place in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Broadway in Downtown Kansas City, Mo. Tickets are now available at kcsymphony.org, or by calling (816) 471-0400. The Kansas City concert program is as follows:

CHARLES IVES   “Decoration Day” and “Fourth of July” from New England Holidays
GEORGE GERSHWIN   Rhapsody in Blue
AARON COPLAND   Symphony No. 3

The tour marks a significant milestone in the orchestra’s 42-year history. Led by the Symphony’s incoming Music Director, Matthias Pintscher, the Symphony is being presented by Amsterdam’s storied Concertgebouw, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and one of the most prominent music festivals in Europe – Musikfest Berlin at the Berlin Philharmonie, August 26-29.

Before performing in three of the top halls in Europe, the orchestra will showcase a uniquely American program for its Kansas City audiences. “We will showcase delightful and important music that has shaped our identity as musicians and put our artistic versatility in the spotlight,” commented Matthias Pintscher. “We are eager to preview our inaugural European tour for our fans in Kansas City before travelling across the Atlantic.”

Detailed preparations are under way for the tour. Accommodations and transportation for nearly 100 orchestra and staff members are booked, and plans to ship all necessary instruments and gear have been made. KC Symphony President and CEO Danny Beckley adds, “We aim to bring concerts to Europe radiating from the heart of America. Kansas City, a significant cultural destination, takes pride in having built an orchestra representing our thriving metropolitan city on the world stage. We want to celebrate this opportunity by presenting a preview of the concerts for our supporters and audiences in Kansas City, who have helped make this European opportunity possible.”

About Matthias Pintscher, Music Director
Matthias Pintscher, Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony, brings a wealth of experience and artistry to his role. Having concluded a decade-long tenure as the Music Director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pintscher has demonstrated his commitment to contemporary music. His dual role as conductor and composer has earned him recognition globally, with his works featured in major symphony orchestras worldwide. The 2023-24 season marks his fourth year as Creative Partner at the Cincinnati Symphony, further solidifying his impact on the world of classical music.

About Danny Beckley, President & CEO
Danny Beckley has led the Kansas City Symphony for six years. Fueled by a lifelong motivation to bring the power of live orchestral music to more audiences, Beckley has guided the organization through key milestones and growth. Under Beckley’s leadership, the organization launched and completed a major transition in artistic leadership invented the popular community-centered Mobile Music Box, and vastly expanded their concert offerings. A lifelong musician, tech entrepreneur, and educator, Beckley brings a unique passion, pace and energy to support and drive the orchestra’s musical impact on the community.

About the Kansas City Symphony
In only its 42nd season, the Kansas City Symphony has already become one of the America’s most vibrant major orchestras, continually creating and advancing live music experiences at Helzberg Hall, located in the prestigious Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City. The Symphony’s 80 full-time musicians from around the world live, work, teach and play in our community.

The new season includes an unprecedented 45% expansion in concert offerings. This summer, the orchestra represents Kansas City in their first-ever European tour, accepting invitations to perform at Concertgebouw, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, and as one of two American orchestras featured at the 2024 Musikfest Berlin.

Pintscher and Beckley are leading the organization in a creative renaissance, to bring orchestral music to the people of Kansas City and beyond. In addition to performances of great symphonies, concerti, and other orchestral forms, the orchestra is launching a series Symphonic Piazza, a new social concert experience built around performances of seminal works in the symphonic repertoire. The orchestra is also creating intimate chamber performances, in the series On Stage, and will be announcing theatrical and immersive performance offerings as well.

In addition to classical repertoire, the orchestra presents and creates music across genres, including collaborations ranging from Broadway to Hip Hop. The orchestra frequently presents blockbuster and classic movies, replacing the recorded musical soundtrack with a live orchestra. In addition to these and many other performances in the concert hall, KCS musicians perform throughout the community on the ever-popular Mobile Music Box, which reaches tens of thousands of people in performances in parks and neighborhoods each year.

The Kansas City Symphony is committed to bringing music into people’s lives, as a cultural gem belonging to all in Kansas City. Discover more at kcsymphony.org.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. | July 2, 2024 — The Kansas City Symphony is pleased to announce the addition of two fundraising leaders to guide the Symphony’s Philanthropy department. Lydia Allen assumes the Vice President of Philanthropy role on August 5. Allen, coming to the Symphony from KU Endowment, secured major, principal, and planned gifts for the University of Kansas School of Medicine and The University of Kansas Health System. She also led community engagement and philanthropy activities for the KU Advancement Board, composed of civic, business, and community leaders from across the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Allen has extensive experience not only in philanthropy leadership, but also in supporting nonprofit arts organizations and artists through her prior work with ArtsKC, as well as direct experience with symphony orchestra fundraising at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. She also is an amateur French horn player.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Kansas City Symphony team,” said Allen. “This is the orchestra I grew up being inspired by as a middle and high school musician, and have continued enjoying with my family as a returning Kansas Citian. I look forward to leading the talented team of philanthropy professionals who partner each day with passionate donors to lift up our Kansas City community, celebrate the human experience, and transform lives through music.”

Also joining the KC Symphony staff is new Director of Philanthropy, Megan Hanna.  Hanna’s former position at KU Endowment saw her focused on raising major gifts by developing and implementing strategies that encouraged gifts of both income and planned giving. At the Kansas City Symphony, Hanna will be instrumental in advancing the continued growth of the Symphony’s fundraising abilities. Megan is not only a talented fundraiser, but also a musician, educator, and entrepreneur.

Megan Hanna is enthusiastic and eager to have a pivotal role at the Symphony. “I’ve had a life-long connection with our Kansas City Symphony, and now it brings me joy to support this impactful mission for our community. Through meaningful conversations and connections, my aim is to strengthen our bonds with fellow Kansas Citians.”

“I am delighted to welcome both Lydia and Megan to the KC Symphony family,” said the Kansas City Symphony’s President and CEO, Danny Beckley. “We have searched extensively for exceptional leaders who possess skills, experience, and energy. We are excited for the community to meet both of them.”

About the Kansas City Symphony
Founded in 1982 by R. Crosby Kemper, Jr., the Kansas City Symphony has risen to rank among the top 25 orchestras in the United States. In our 42-week season, we present a diverse repertoire of orchestral and chamber music at Helzberg Hall, located in the prestigious Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Under the direction of Michael Stern for 19 years, the Symphony achieved artistic excellence, critical acclaim, and national recognition. We eagerly anticipate the arrival of conductor and composer Matthias Pintscher as our new music director, known for leading world-class orchestras and opera companies. Comprising 80 full-time musicians from around the world, our Symphony Chorus, led by Charles Bruffy, frequently joins them on stage. Season after season, we feature soloists from various genres, bringing a diverse range of musical experiences to our audience.

Beyond traditional performances, we extend our reach across the Kansas City metro region with our portable stage, the Mobile Music Box. As the proud orchestra for the Kansas City Ballet and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, we continue to enrich the community through music. Whether captivating audiences at the Kauffman Center, on the Mobile Music Box, or at community events like Bank of America Celebration at the Station, the Symphony remains dedicated to enriching the lives of all Kansas City residents and visitors through the transformative power of music. For more information, visit kcsymphony.org.

Sunday, June 23 at 2pm CDT
medici.tv is the world’s leading classical music channel

KANSAS CITY, Mo. | June 18, 2024 — The Kansas City Symphony has partnered with medici.tv to stream Michael Stern’s final concert as Music Director of the orchestra, concluding his 19-year tenure. The Symphony’s first-ever Medici live stream will take place on Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 2 p.m. CDT, bringing this renowned American orchestra to a worldwide audience. The program, “Stern’s Farewell with Sibelius and Barber” is comprised of three masterworks that are part of the fabric of Stern’s long connection with the Kansas City Symphony musicians: Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Barber’s First Symphony; and Sibelius’ Second Symphony. The concert has no soloist by design; the focus is on the remarkable partnership of the Orchestra and its longtime conductor.

Mendelssohn’s Overture was the first work that Stern ever rehearsed with the orchestra when he was invited to the Music Director search process with the Kansas City Symphony, so this piece brings his nearly two-decade tenure full circle. Stern has long championed American composers and has made commissioning new music, especially by American composers, a priority. Stern told the Kansas City Star, “The Barber is very forward looking, but it’s also rooted in the past. Barber owed a tremendous debt to the Sibelius Seventh Symphony when he wrote that piece.” Among the many critically acclaimed recordings that Stern and the KCS released on Reference Recordings, the disc that included the Barber First Symphony, along with the Sibelius Seventh and the Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy, was a standout release. Anchoring the program is Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, composed in 1901, following his anthem to his homeland, “Finlandia.” “It is such a powerful statement of how music can have an effect in the world,” Stern told the Star. “Sibelius basically changed the hearts and minds of an entire nation. This second symphony was like a rallying cry for the Finnish people at a moment when they were resisting Russian aggression, which is pertinent for our times. It’s one of the most extraordinarily powerful and beautiful pieces ever and a piece close to my heart.”

About the live stream, Stern said, “The global platform and wide reach of medici.tv is without equal, and it is a very special opportunity for the Kansas City Symphony to share so widely our very last performance together in my time as Music Director. The artistic evolution of the Symphony has been nothing short of transformational. I love the fact that a sizable international audience will have the chance to hear for themselves what our committed music lovers in Kansas City know first-hand: that the dedication, cohesive spirit, and artistic excellence of the KCS musicians has been the key to our many successes over the course of these past two decades. And it explains the profound cultural impact that the KCS has had for music and the arts across our city and beyond.”

The concert stream will be freely accessible on the medici.tv platform for 90 days. After that, it will remain available to medici.tv subscribers for three years. The live broadcast will appear on the homepage of medici.tv on Sunday, June 23 at 2 p.m. Central Daylight Time (12 pm PDT; 3 pm EDT; 9pm CET). Once live, viewers also may find the broadcast by searching “Kansas City Symphony” on the medici.tv platform.

About medici.tv
medici.tv is the global leader in classical music video streaming and brings live classical music to passionate fans worldwide. As the largest online platform for classical music, it offers over 150 live performances throughout the year and the world’s largest VOD catalog of more than 4,000 videos of concerts, ballets, operas, jazz programs, documentaries, master classes, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, streamed in High Definition. medici.tv is available on all your screens- TV (via Airplay, Chromecast or Roku), computer, tablet, and smartphone.

About Michael Stern
Conductor Michael Stern has long been devoted to building and leading highly acclaimed orchestras known not only for their impeccable musicianship and creative programming, but also for collaborative, sustainable cultures that often include a vision of music as service to the community. Stern currently holds three Music Director positions: with the Kansas City Symphony, where he concludes his 19-year tenure on June 23, 2024; with the National Repertory Orchestra, a summer music festival in Breckenridge, CO; and with Orchestra Lumos (formerly the Stamford Symphony). Stern also serves as Artistic Advisor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. And he served for 22 years as founding Artistic Director of Iris Orchestra in Germantown, Tennessee, which continues now as the Iris Collective.

As part of his ongoing activities to engage and mentor young musicians, he was asked by Yo-Yo Ma to be the Music Director of YMCG, Youth Music Culture Guangdong; he was also invited to the National Orchestral Institute, Music Academy of the West, and has been a regular guest at the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Stern’s illustrious American conducting engagements have included the Boston, Chicago and Atlanta Symphonies; the New York Philharmonic; and the Minnesota Orchestra. Stern has also served as guest conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Internationally, he has led major orchestras in London, Stockholm, Paris, Helsinki, Budapest, Israel, Moscow, Taiwan, and Tokyo. He was Chief Conductor of Germany’s Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Orchestre National de Lille, both in France.

Stern earned a degree in American History from Harvard University before attending the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where his primary teacher was the noted conductor and scholar Max Rudolf.

About the Kansas City Symphony
Founded in 1982 by R. Crosby Kemper, Jr., the Kansas City Symphony has risen to rank among the top 25 orchestras in the United States. The orchestra is comprised of 80 full-time musicians from around the world; over a 42-week season, it presents a diverse repertoire of orchestral and chamber music at Helzberg Hall, located in the prestigious Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Season after season, the Kansas City Symphony features soloists from various genres, bringing a diverse range of musical experiences to its audience; the Symphony Chorus, led by Charles Bruffy, frequently joins them in performance.

Under the direction of Michael Stern for 19 years, the Symphony has achieved artistic excellence, critical acclaim, and national recognition. In July 2024, Stern will assume the title of Music Director Laureate, and the orchestra will begin a new chapter with the arrival of internationally known conductor and composer Matthias Pintscher as its new Music Director.

Beyond traditional performances, the Symphony extends its reach across the Kansas City metro region with its portable stage, the Mobile Music Box. As the proud orchestra for the Kansas City Ballet and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Symphony continues to enrich the community through music. Whether captivating audiences at the Kauffman Center, on the Mobile Music Box, or at community events like Celebration at the Station, the Symphony remains dedicated to enriching the lives of all Kansas City residents and visitors through the transformative power of music. For more information, visit kcsymphony.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jeff Barker
(816) 218-2626 or jbarker@kcsymphony.org

Happening Wednesday, June 5 at 6:30PM at Parade Park, near 18^th & Vine

 KANSAS CITY, Mo. | June 5, 2024 — The Kansas City Symphony is excited to announced cellist Yo-Yo Ma will join Symphony string musicians and young musicians participating in the Harmony Project for a special free Mobile Music Box concert in Kansas City’s Parade Park on Wednesday, June 5 starting at 6:30PM. Parade Park is located at 1600 E. 17^th Terrace (Truman Road and Woodland Avenue, in the 18^th and Vine neighborhood). The Symphony thanks Hallmark for helping to make this event possible

The Symphony also welcomes youth musicians from the Harmony Project, a mission of the Northeast Community Center. The Harmony Project utilizes the universal language of music to develop young musicians and minds, partnering with families, while building community in Kansas City. HPKC students will perform two short pieces by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Kansas City Symphony string players are set to perform works by Mendelssohn and Dvorak. Yo-Yo Ma will then join the combined groups for Bernstein’s “Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide and a nod to KC with “Kansas City, Here I Come.” KC Symphony musicians participating:

Jun Iwasaki and Tamamo Gibbs, violin
MingYu Hsu, viola
Mark Gibbs, cello

Persons wishing to attend this free and casual concert experience may bring blankets and folding chairs for seating. For parking details and a concert area map, please click HERE.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jeff Barker
(816) 218-2626 or jbarker@kcsymphony.org

So many things to see, hear, do and eat!

KANSAS CITY, Mo. | May 15, 2024 — Start the day early at Bank of America Celebration at the Station. The KC Symphony’s free concert event takes place on Sunday, May 26, 2024 on the South Plaza of Union Station Kansas City and the North Lawn of the National WWI Museum and Memorial – both near Pershing Road and Main Street, just south of Downtown Kansas City, Mo.

The grounds open at 3 p.m., with more than 20 food trucks beginning service at 4 p.m. and live entertainment on the Main Stage starting at 5 p.m.

4PM: FOOD TRUCKS

• 2Hot2Handle BBQ KC
• Krazy Crepes
• Coco Loco Grill
• Hawaii Ice
• Irvzilla’s Hawaiian Grill
• Jerusalem Cafe
• K&C Concessions
• KC Fooditude
• KC Whip and Company
• KC Poppers II
• Kona Ice
• La Hamburguesa Loca
• Mama Doe’s Ice Cream
• Nutty Bavarian & Fresh Fruit Smashers
• Scimeca’s and Sugar Daddy’s Lemonade
• Taste of Brazil
• The Food Spot
• The Hungry Hatch
• Twisted Taters
• Weenies & Paninis

4PM: VENDORS AND BOOTHS INCLUDING THE VETERANS PLACE
SPONSORED BY KANSAS CITY NATIONAL SECURITY CAMPUS – MANAGED BY HONEYWELL FM&T.

• Volkswagen
• 314 Novelties (Light-up toys, bubbles, etc)
• Charlie 22 Outdoors
• Kansas City VA Medical Center
• St. Michael’s Veterans Center
• Renewal by Andersen
• Warriors’ Ascent
• Veterans Community Project Kansas City
• The Battle Within
• Spencer C. Duncan Make It Count Foundation

5PM: MAIN STAGE PRE-CONCERT ENTERTAINMENT

• A La Mode begins at 5 p.m.
• Roots in Blue Air Force Band begins at 6 p.m.

7PM: PRE-SHOW ANNOUNCEMENTS AND WELCOMES

8PM: THE PATRIOTIC CONCERT PROGRAM BEGINS

Music Director Michael Stern leads the Kansas City Symphony performing iconic patriotic works by John Williams, Aaron Copland and John Phillip Sousa, plus crowd favorites Armed Forces Salute and the 1812 Overture with live cannons. Jim Birdsall is once again your host. The grand finale features a stunning fireworks display accompanied by your Kansas City Symphony. This year’s concert marks the final under the direction of Music Director Michael Stern. Don’t miss this special event as we mark the end of an era.

Can’t make it to the event? Watch live on Kansas City PBS, Channel 19.1.

The Kansas City Symphony is privileged to again partner with Union Station and the National WWI Museum and Memorial, who each will have their own Memorial Day Weekend activities and special exhibitions within their venues. We also thank the City of Kansas City, Missouri and its Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund, the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and many other community supporters.

Paid parking for the event is available in multiple surface lots and garages around the event site, including Union Station’s West Yards garage. Attendees may also park anywhere along Downtown KC’s streetcar route and ride the streetcar directly to Union Station.

Your safety is always our priority.

As always, the Kansas City Symphony and our partners are making detailed safety plans for the event site, which involve local law enforcement and multiple federal agencies.

For the latest event information, be sure to visit CelebrationAtTheStation.org.

About the Kansas City Symphony
Founded in 1982 by R. Crosby Kemper Jr. and a group of passionate music lovers, the Kansas City Symphony has rocketed to become one of the top 25 orchestras in the United States. During our 42-week season, we perform a huge range of orchestral and chamber music in our performance home, Helzberg Hall, at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The musicians of the Symphony also perform throughout the Kansas City metro region on our portable stage, the Mobile Music Box, and we serve as the orchestra for the Kansas City Ballet and Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Michael Stern, the Symphony’s music director, is finishing a 19-year tenure marked by artistic ascent, critical acclaim, and national recognition for the orchestra. Starting in July 2024, we will welcome conductor and composer Matthias Pintscher as his successor. Matthias regularly conducts many of the world’s best orchestras and opera companies and ranks as one of the world’s foremost composers of orchestral music.

Your Symphony includes 80 full-time musicians from around the world who call Kansas City home. Frequently joining them onstage is the 160-voice Symphony Chorus led by Charles Bruffy. Every season, dozens of soloists perform with us — instrumentalists, singer/songwriters, tribute rock bands, even aerial artists. We also accompany your favorite films, playing the soundtrack live as the movie is projected on Helzberg Hall’s giant screen. Between our concerts at the Kauffman Center, performances on the Mobile Music Box, and community events like Bank of America Celebration at the Station, the Symphony aspires to serve all of Kansas City through music. We belong to you, and to your neighbors, and all the people you see throughout the community.

Music connects us: it has the unique ability to draw us closer to our inner selves and also closer to one another, transcending our differences. Every Symphony concert will take you on an emotional journey — a journey that’s deeply personal but also a journey that we all experience together as one. We are your Kansas City Symphony. Visit kcsymphony.org for more information.

We Remember our Fallen, We Celebrate our Freedom

KANSAS CITY, Mo. | April 17, 2024 — It’s Kansas City’s favorite Memorial Day tradition and the perfect way to kick-off summer! Join the Kansas City Symphony and Kansas City PBS for the twentieth Bank of America Celebration at the Station. The Symphony’s free concert event takes place on Sunday, May 26, 2024 on the South Plaza of Union Station Kansas City and the North Lawn of the National WWI Museum and Memorial – both near Pershing Road and Main Street, just south of Downtown Kansas City, Mo.

The festivities begin at 5 p.m. and include more than 20 food trucks, live pre-concert entertainment on the main stage, plus various vendors and booths in the Veterans Place, sponsored by Kansas City National Security Campus – managed by Honeywell FM&T.

Then, starting at 8 p.m., Music Director Michael Stern leads the Kansas City Symphony performing iconic patriotic works by John Williams, Aaron Copland and John Phillip Sousa, plus crowd favorites Armed Forces Salute and the 1812 Overture with live cannons. The grand finale features a stunning fireworks display accompanied by your Kansas City Symphony. This year’s concert marks the final under the direction of Music Director Michael Stern. Don’t miss this special event as we mark the end of an era.

Can’t make it to the event? Watch live on Kansas City PBS, Channel 19.1.

The Kansas City Symphony is privileged to again partner with Union Station and the National WWI Museum and Memorial, who each will have their own Memorial Day Weekend activities and special exhibitions within their venues. We also thank the City of Kansas City, Missouri and its Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund, the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and many other community supporters.

Paid parking for the event is available in multiple surface lots and garages around the event site, including Union Station’s West Yards garage. Attendees may also park anywhere along Downtown KC’s streetcar route and ride the streetcar directly to Union Station.

Your safety is always our priority

As always, the Kansas City Symphony and our partners are making detailed safety plans for the event site, which involve local law enforcement and multiple federal agencies.

For the latest event information, be sure to visit CelebrationAtTheStation.org.

About the Kansas City Symphony
Founded in 1982 by R. Crosby Kemper Jr. and a group of passionate music lovers, the Kansas City Symphony has rocketed to become one of the top 25 orchestras in the United States. During our 42-week season, we perform a huge range of orchestral and chamber music in our performance home, Helzberg Hall, at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The musicians of the Symphony also perform throughout the Kansas City metro region on our portable stage, the Mobile Music Box, and we serve as the orchestra for the Kansas City Ballet and Lyric Opera of
Kansas City. Michael Stern, the Symphony’s music director, is finishing a 19-year tenure marked by artistic ascent, critical acclaim, and national recognition for the orchestra. Starting in July 2024, we will welcome conductor and composer Matthias Pintscher as his successor. Matthias regularly conducts many of the world’s best orchestras and opera companies and ranks as one of the world’s foremost composers of orchestral music.

Your Symphony includes 80 full-time musicians from around the world who call Kansas City home. Frequently joining them onstage is the 160-voice Symphony Chorus led by Charles Bruffy. Every season, dozens of soloists perform with us — instrumentalists, singer/songwriters, tribute rock bands, even aerial artists. We also accompany your favorite films, playing the soundtrack live as the movie is projected on Helzberg Hall’s giant screen. Between our concerts at the Kauffman Center, performances on the Mobile Music Box, and community events like Bank of America Celebration at the Station, the Symphony aspires to serve all of Kansas City through music. We belong to you, and to your neighbors, and all the people you see throughout the community.

Music connects us: it has the unique ability to draw us closer to our inner selves and also closer to one another, transcending our differences. Every Symphony concert will take you on an emotional journey — a journey that’s deeply personal but also a journey that we all experience together as one. We are your Kansas City Symphony. Visit kcsymphony.org for more information.

Concerts include the Musikfest Berlin at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw, and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie

KANSAS CITY, Mo. | February 27, 2024 — The Kansas City Symphony proudly announces its first-ever European concert tour in August 2024, marking a significant milestone in the orchestra’s 42-year history. Led by the Symphony’s incoming Music Director, Matthias Pintscher, the orchestra will be presented by Amsterdam’s storied Concertgebouw, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and one of the most prominent music festivals in Europe – Musikfest Berlin at the Berlin Philharmonie.

MEDIA ALERT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – January 30, 2024 — The Kansas City Symphony regrettably announced today that violinist Pamela Frank, scheduled to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the orchestra this weekend, cannot travel to Kansas City as she has tested positive for an acute COVID-19 infection.

The Kansas City Symphony is changing the program slightly and will replace Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Beethoven’s beloved Symphony No. 5. The concerts will continue to feature Kansas City composer Shelley Washington’s sonic piece Both, co-commissioned by the Symphony.

We wish Ms. Frank a speedy recovery and look forward to making music with her in the future.

To purchase tickets for this Friday, Saturday and Sundays’ concerts, February 2, 3 and 4,  please visit us online at kcsymphony.org or call (816) 471-0400, weekdays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

kcsymphony.org

Media Contact:
Jeff Barker
(816) 218-2626
jbarker@kcsymphony.org