Tallgrass Prairie will be setting for symphony series
A new Kansas arts institution is being launched to pair music and the prairie.
Symphony on the Tallgrass Prairie, Inc., a grassroots alliance for heartland renewal, is gathering support to produce a symphonic concert series performed in the natural landscape of the Tallgrass Prairie in the Flint Hills of Kansas.
Symphony on the Tallgrass Prairie, Inc., is requesting proposals from interested parties with potential concert sites who are interested in hosting the first or second of the biennial concerts.
Possible host groups are chambers of commerce, convention and visitors' bureaus, and groups of individuals, including land owners and townspeople.
The organization will arrange and take financial responsibiity for the event. The local host group will be responsible for providng the concert site and volunteers for stage setup, parking, hospitality, site cleanup, and local publicity.
Each concert will be held at a different site within the Tallgrass Prairie to share economic benefits and responsibilities among multiple rural communities. The audience will include not only Kansans but also people from the Midwest and beyond.
Help sessions for groups or individuals interested in submitting proposals to be a host site have been scheduled at 7 p.m. Aug. 26 and 10 a.m. Aug. 27 in Admire.
Individuals and Kansas art organizations already have joined together and raised significant seed money. A founding partner, the Trusler Foundation of Emporia has given an initial $25,000 grant.
The vision of the group is to provide the experience of symphonic music in the context of the beauty of the Flint Hills.
The group also seeks to heighten appreciation and knowledge of the Flint Hills, the last major grassland biome on the North American continent; to combine human, environmental, and financial resources of rural communities to accomplish what none can do alone; to provide an economic boost to Kansas grassland communities; and to uplift spirits and celebrate Kansan's "home on the range."
The first concert of the series will be held in June 2006. For the inaugural concert, the organization is seeking a site that epitomizes the Tallgrass Prairie.
The new series will echo the June 1994, "Symphony on the Prairie," which drew several thousand people. Since then, numerous people have asked if there will ever be another.
For more information, contact Emily Hunter, event coordinator, at 620-753-3405 or 620-273-6321 or e-mail symphonyprairie@aol.com.
