KANSAS CITY, Mo. (July 24, 2026) — The Kansas City Symphony today announced a generous $1 million gift from the The Stanley J. Bushman Charitable Supporting Foundation. This meaningful investment reflects Bushman’s enduring love of classical music and his extraordinary legacy of philanthropy in Kansas City.

The gift will provide three years of sponsorship support for the Symphony’s Masterworks Classical Series, the organization’s most prominent performance series. Presented in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the Masterworks Classical Series features 14 concert weekends each season and brings world-class orchestral music to audiences across the Kansas City region.

“We are deeply grateful to the The Stanley J. Bushman Charitable Supporting Foundation for this remarkable gift and for the opportunity to honor Stanley’s lifelong passion for music, learning and community,” said Danny Beckley, President & CEO of the Kansas City Symphony. “This support strengthens the Symphony’s ability to present exceptional classical performances while recognizing a beloved Kansas Citian whose generosity touched countless people and organizations.”

“Stan always appreciated the beauty of the marvelous masterworks he enjoyed at the Kansas City Symphony. He also believed in the beauty of paying it forward,” said Merilyn Berenbom, Chairman of the Stanley Bushman Foundation. “Investing in our outstanding Symphony brings invaluable dividends to so many. And, for that, we are forever grateful to Stanley Bushman.”

Bushman, who passed away in 2025, was widely respected for his business acumen, thoughtful counsel and continued generosity for arts, education, health care and Jewish community organizations throughout the region.

Additional details about the Kansas City Symphony’s 2026/27 Classical Masterworks Series are available at https://www.kcsymphony.org/classical-series-2026-27/.

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About Stanley J. Bushman
Stanley J. Bushman was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1928. He grew up in Kansas City, graduated from Westport High School, and later earned a degree from the University of Missouri. He worked in a partnership, lasting over 60 years, with close friend Charles Helzberg, to invest in various types of real estate and other businesses. Stanley earned great respect in the Kansas City community for his business acumen. His real estate knowledge and position in the real estate community was recognized by Mayor Ilus Davis, who appointed him to The Kansas City Housing Authority, where he continued to serve under Mayor Charles Wheeler. Stanley was a visionary in the philanthropic community, serving as President of the Jewish Community Foundation, leader and major supporter of Village Shalom Continuing Care Retirement Community, creator and original funder of the Bushman Community Endowment Program, which creates education for non-profits in the Jewish community to raise millions of dollars for their endowment programs. With Charles Helzberg, Ann Canfield, and Sandy Baer, Stanley was an original funder of the Teen Arts Council at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. He was on the Board of Councilors of the non-profit Menorah Hospital, and, as a young man, a Sunday school teacher at Congregation Beth Shalom. He served on several corporate boards, including Prom Motor Hotels. He devoted much time counseling leaders of profit and not-for-profit organizations, plus many people from varied backgrounds for whom Stanley, always, made time to hear their challenges and offer his advice. He often gave financial help to people, in his private and confidential style, with love and compassion, for which he consciously avoided recognition. Stanley was a lifetime student of varied interests — including art, ballet, travel, architectural design and barbeque — and, perhaps, most of all, he was an exceptional and compassionate listener who loved life and enjoyed giving back to his community, a man of keen mind and strength of character. His was a life of work, generosity, and passion. He passed away in 2025.

About The Kansas City Symphony
In only its 44th season, the Kansas City Symphony has become one of America’s most vibrant major orchestras and has gained international recognition. At its orchestral home of Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the Symphony serves the Kansas City metropolitan region of more than 2.2 million people.

The Symphony’s 80 full-time musicians present a diverse and dynamic range of orchestral and chamber music performances each season under the artistic leadership of music director Matthias Pintscher, an internationally acclaimed conductor and composer who regularly conducts the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies.

In addition to concerts in Helzberg Hall, Symphony musicians perform throughout the region on an innovative 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.

For more information, visit www.kcsymphony.org.