KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 30, 2026) — The Kansas City Symphony today announced it is developing plans for a new live music venue in Kansas City’s South Plaza district, strengthening the Symphony’s long-term future while expanding the city’s ability to host national touring artists and new live music experiences.  

The indoor venue, designed for audiences of up to 4,600 guests and targeted to open in 2028, will host touring artists across genres and support a limited number of Symphony performances that benefit from amplified or enhanced production formats. The new venue will also be designed from the ground up to support the live performance of films with orchestra, which regularly rank among the Symphony’s most in-demand offerings.   

The venue will be located at 4901 Main Street in South Plaza. The Symphony will work with two locally based firms, Populous and McCownGordon, as the project’s design and construction build leads, respectively. With more than 300,000 expected annual visitors, the new venue will bring a major anchor destination to an area rich in restaurants, shops and nightlife. It also offers walkability to the Country Club Plaza, supporting the broader revitalization already underway in one of Kansas City’s most iconic districts. 

While Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center will remain the definitive orchestral home of the Kansas City Symphony, the new venue will dramatically expand the Symphony’s reach. Managed by Music and Event Management, Inc. (MEMI), the new venue will host over 100 annual events, the broad majority being popular artist acts plus a few dozen Symphony performances. This expansion allows the Symphony to maintain its robust yearly schedule of 100+ performances at the Kauffman Center while simultaneously pioneering new musical experiences tailored for Helzberg Hall. 

The Symphony will wholly own the new venue and will contract with MEMI to operate it. MEMI, a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, was founded in 2001 and promotes more than 300 events annually, drawing more than 100 million guests since its inception across six highly successful live entertainment venues, including The Andrew J. Brady Music Center, the Riverbend Music Center and Taft Theatre. MEMI’s rich venue portfolio demonstrates how this innovative model generates significant economic benefits for the cities in which they operate, while supporting the orchestra behind them.  

The Symphony’s new venue builds on that proven model of success and adapts it for the needs and ambitions of Kansas City. 

“This venue allows us to welcome more artists to Kansas City and ensures that the Symphony will continue serving this community for generations to come,” said Danny Beckley, President and CEO of the Kansas City Symphony. “Major performing arts organizations with high fixed costs must innovate, and building on the incredible success of MEMI, we’re doing exactly that.” 

“At MEMI, our mission is to support orchestras by developing vibrant, successful live music venues that expand audiences and strengthen the institutions they’re designed to support,” said Ed Morrell, Chief Business Officer of MEMI. “We’ve seen incredible success with this model in Cincinnati, and Kansas City has the audience, the energy and the opportunity to make it even stronger.

Designed to support modern touring productions, the new facility will offer the scale, flexibility and intimacy artists increasingly seek and fans demand in a performance venue. Nationwide, MEMI has measured a growing demand from artists and audiences for 4,000-6,000 seat venues that hit a “sweet spot” between intimate experience and major scale. The Symphony’s new venue will fill this gap with a modern, purpose-built venue to help attract performers who have not consistently included Kansas City on their schedules, bringing new music and new audiences to the region.   

“Kansas City has always made music history, from Charlie Parker and Count Basie to a world-class symphony that keeps raising the bar. Now we’re raising it again,” said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas. “Kansas City Symphony’s new music venue will put Kansas City exactly where we belong: on every tour, every time, cementing our place as one of America’s great music cities.” 

For the Symphony, the project represents a bold, innovative step to strengthen its long-term future as one of the country’s leading symphony orchestras.  

“This is a transformational moment for the future of music in Kansas City and for the Symphony,” said Linda Gill Taylor, Chair of the Symphony’s Board of Directors. “The new venue grows what the Symphony brings to Kansas City and at the same time enables the Symphony to strengthen its core orchestral foundation at the Kauffman Center. Having multiple venues creates exciting possibilities for different music experiences that will thrill audiences. The positive impact this project will have on the Symphony and our city is significant.” 

Populous, the Kansas City-based global design firm behind many of the world’s leading entertainment venues (including the Sphere in Las Vegas), has incorporated into their design innovative configuration and audiovisual technology to create a dynamic experience for audiences and artists.  

“This venue will create a home for live entertainment that reflects the vibrancy of our city,” said Brian Mirakian, Senior Principal at Populous. “Populous is proud to help deliver a place that supports the future of the Kansas City Symphony and the next generation of artists.” 

Located near multiple Kansas City transit and streetcar stops, the venue will function as a cultural anchor in South Plaza, driving tourism and activity for local restaurants, hotels and businesses year-round. 

“The South Plaza neighborhood is an historic and walkable community, and a vital cornerstone of the Plaza District,” said Kate Marshall, President and CEO of the Plaza District Council. “What’s proposed here brings new energy and opportunity to one of Kansas City’s most beloved neighborhoods.”

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Kansas City Symphony Announces New Live Music Venue in South Plaza – Kansas City Symphony