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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: KC SYMPHONY NEWS

• Symphony’s Mobile Music Box stage to bring free outdoor concerts to metro neighborhoods this spring
• More concerts to stream on MySymphonySeat.org, plus a new app to make Smart TV viewing easy
• Bank of America Celebration at the Station event update

KANSAS CITY, Mo. | April 21, 2021 — The Kansas City Symphony has many new and exciting things planned for this spring, including a return to area neighborhoods with the Mobile Music Box stage and additional online concerts streamed on MySymphonySeat.org, with a new app to make Smart TV viewing easy.

Mobile Music Box Concerts

The Symphony’s Mobile Music Box stage debuted last fall, traveling to nearly every zip code in the Kansas City metro area and entertaining nearly 15,000 people with familiar classical compositions plus a wide variety of diverse modern works. Our Symphony musicians are excited to return this spring and summer with even more free chamber music concerts in our cities and suburbs. For a listing of upcoming public performances featuring the Mobile Music Box, visit the Symphony online at kcsymphony.org and sign up to receive email alerts. You can also stay up to date by following the Symphony on Facebook and Instagram. More concerts are announced weekly, always weather permitting! Upcoming concerts include:

Monday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m. > Theis Park, 47th & Oak Street, Kansas City, MO
Wednesday, April 28 at 5:30 p.m. > Indian Mound Park, Gladstone Blvd & Belmont Blvd, Kansas City, MO
Thursday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m. > Old Mission United Methodist Church parking lot, 5519 State Park Road, Fairway, KS
Friday, April 30 at 6:00 p.m. > Heritage Park, 16050 S. Pflumm Road, Olathe, KS
Saturday, May 1 at 6:00 p.m. > Smith’s Fork Park, 1601 DD Highway, Smithville, MO
Sunday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m. > Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead > 13800 Switzer Road, Overland Park, KS

MySymphonySeat.org Concerts + New Symphony App for Smart TV Viewing

The Symphony’s new concert streaming platform, MySymphonySeat.org, is where season subscribers can watch our concerts from the comfort and safety of home. Thousands have enjoyed crisp, clear digital video and audio, featuring 12 cameras for a broad array of interesting perspectives, and the ability to watch on your Smart TV. Concerts are available to stream on-demand for at least 30 days after they premiere, can be watched multiple times, and can be viewed anywhere at any time on any device; smartphones, laptops, desktops, tablets and now Smart TVs. The KC Symphony app to enable Smart TV concert viewing is available for download through AppleTV, AndroidTV, Roku and Amazon Fire Stick. You also may download to your phone or tablet from your app store of choice.

MySymphonySeat.org streamed programs are made possible by generous support from the Kansas City Symphony’s Annette Bloch NextGen Venture Fund.

Bank of America Celebration at the Station Update

Unfortunately, we will not be presenting Bank of America Celebration at the Station this year on Memorial Day Weekend.

“Bank of America Celebration at the Station is an event we all love, a heartfelt celebration of our veterans and active duty military,” commented Kansas City Symphony Executive Director Danny Beckley. “The consensus of health professionals is clear that keeping people properly distanced is vitally important to containing the spread of COVID-19. Even with more and more people being vaccinated, it’s just not the time to hold an event that attracts 50,000 people. We believe next year will be a much safer time for large, public events.”

“It’s important for all of us to do our part in following health and safety guidelines,” said Matt Linski, President of Bank of America Kansas City. “We look forward to the time it will be possible to gather safely with our valued partners and community members to continue the longstanding tradition of honoring our nation’s military at Bank of America Celebration at the Station.”

Matthew Naylor, President and CEO of the National WWI Museum and Memorial remarked, “Each year, Bank of America Celebration at the Station represents the unofficial start of summer and a chance to gather to recognize those who sacrificed their lives while serving their country. It is an iconic Kansas City event, made memorable each year by fireworks over the Memorial, but we understand and support the decision to postpone for another year. We look forward to welcoming people back to Kansas City’s front porch to enjoy Bank of America Celebration at the Station in 2022.”

George Guastello, Union Station’s President and CEO adds, “Bank of America Celebration at the Station is iconic and one of the most anticipated summer kick-off gatherings in Kansas City. In this unprecedented time of social distancing, it’s prudent to postpone the Celebration in favor of guest safety. That said, we can’t wait for the return of this annual event, with Union Station as the backdrop and the Kansas City Symphony filling our grand outdoor spaces with patriotic music and performances. In the meantime, we’ll continue in multiple ways the tradition of saluting our nation’s military and veterans and honoring their service and sacrifice. And, of course, we’ll be proud to have Union Station, Kansas City’s Visual Voice, keep alive the spirit of what Celebration at the Station embodies. It’s our shared history, and we will return to it in person soon enough. What a grand community reunion that will be.”

 

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About the Kansas City Symphony
Founded in 1982, the Kansas City Symphony has established itself as a major force in the cultural life of the community. Praised for performances of uncompromising standard, the orchestra is the largest in the region and enjoys a national reputation under the artistic leadership of Music Director Michael Stern. The Symphony performs more than 130 concerts each year, welcomes guests of international acclaim as part of its Classical and Pops series, and serves as the orchestra for the Kansas City Ballet and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

Complementing its full schedule of concerts, the Symphony enriches the lives of Kansas City residents by providing music education opportunities for children and adults, such as KinderKonzerts, Young People’s Concerts, an instrument petting zoo and concert comments. Highlights each season include a range of free master classes, events and concerts reaching more than 250,000 community members.

The Symphony has released eight highly praised CDs to date with Reference Recordings. The latest release features Jonathan Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 3 and his piano concerto performed by Joyce Yang. The Symphony and Michael Stern also have recorded for the Naxos label. Kansas City’s new classical music radio station, 91.9 ClassicalKC, broadcasts Kansas City Symphony performances each week. For more information on the Symphony, please visit kcsymphony.org.