Celebrating the arrival of MAFB’s new timpani, composers Jennifer Jolley, Anthony R. Green, and Olivia Kieffer collaborate on a commissioned concerto for the instrument. Symphonies by Nancy Galbraith and MAFB audience favorite Julie Giroux provide even more musical opulence to end the concert season.
Season and individual tickets go on sale August 1, 2024, at www.freedomband.com. Individual Tickets are $20; season tickets are $50. Discounts are available on individual tickets for students with ID, educators, seniors, and first responders. Children under 12 are admitted free. Season ticket holders will have reserved seats for “Variations on Democracy.”
PROGRAM & COMPOSER NOTES
Get to know the stories behind tonight’s music, the composers who created it, and the voices we’re proud to amplify. Every piece performed by MAFB carries meaning and reflects our mission to champion diversity, inclusion, and joy through sound.
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Commissioned to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Women’s Center of Waukesha, Galbraith’s Wind Symphony No. 1 is a work of clarity, strength, and emotional depth.
Galbraith, one of the most respected women composers in the wind band field today, has built a career on crafting vibrant, textured music that is rooted in rhythmic clarity and emotional depth. Her work often draws on minimalist principles—repetition, layering, and rhythmic momentum—but infuses them with warmth, lyricism, and expressive nuance.
The symphony unfolds in three connected movements:
Movement I begins with a pulsing low-brass figure layered into a shimmering polyrhythmic texture. Percussion introduces a short melodic motif that evolves and swells into a bold climax. A lyrical development section follows, with flutes, horns, and saxophones trading melodic ideas. The movement ends quietly with a piano solo, moving attacca into...
Movement II, a lyrical centerpiece featuring the euphonium and solo oboe. Here, the melody grows gradually, building to a lush brass chorale that gently fades—offering a moment of introspection and vulnerability.
Movement III reintroduces energy with a vibrant fanfare, racing toward a dramatic and satisfying close.
This symphony’s mix of drive, elegance, and emotional honesty celebrates the strength of marginalized communities through dynamic, moving music. Galbraith’s dedication to meaningful themes and masterful orchestration makes Wind Symphony No. 1 a powerful addition to a season that celebrates identity, transition, and collective purpose.
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Mvmt 1: Paiting! by Jennifer Jolley
Mvmt 2: Mami Wata by Anthony R. Green
The West African legend of Mami Wata has many origin stories, many tied to European maritime trade and colonialism. Typically depicted as female-presenting, Mami Wata is also often considered genderless—a powerful sea spirit known for their dual nature: peaceful when undisturbed, yet fearsome when provoked.
This concerto offers a loose imagination of a morning in Mami Wata’s life along the beautiful West African coast. We first encounter them calmly combing their hair with a golden comb—a symbol often associated with their image. Distracted by a passing thought, Mami Wata returns to the sea, unknowingly leaving the comb behind. An onlooker, mesmerized by its beauty, approaches to steal it. But they move too slowly. Mami Wata reappears, and with a surge of power, paralyzes the onlooker—forever frozen in time as punishment for their transgression.
Mami Wata captures both the serenity and fury of this mystical being, drawing listeners into a richly imagined folklore through the dynamic voice of the timpani.
Mvmt 3: Apotheoses/Thor by Olivia Kieffer
The final movement of the timpani concerto, Thor, channels the spirit of myth and thunder. Inspired by the legendary Norse god of storms, Olivia Kieffer crafts a musical world that is both epic and fantastical—full of energy, drama, and bold colors.
Unlike traditional ensemble writing where timpani might simply provide rhythm or dramatic punctuation, here the timpani steps fully into the spotlight as a melodic voice. With powerful, driving lines and moments of electrifying flair, the timpani both anchors and propels the soundscape forward.
Kieffer’s writing unleashes the full expressive range of the instrument—flashing, rumbling, and singing through the storm—capturing the awe and intensity that a name like Thor demands.
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Inspired by the 1745 Jacobite uprising in Scotland, Julie Giroux’s Culloden is a deeply human, multi-movement symphony that blends historical narrative, folk melodies, and emotional storytelling.
Drawing from dozens of traditional Gaelic and folk tunes originally sung, droned, or played on pipes and fiddle, Giroux breathes new life into forgotten music—crafting a powerful arc of love, loss, battle, grief, and survival. The movements range from sweeping laments to bawdy jigs, and even include battle cries and parlor dances reportedly played just days before the Battle of Culloden.
Giroux’s approach is personal and immersive—she spent hundreds of hours researching, transcribing, and arranging fragments of melody into a fully modern symphonic work. While she typically avoids quoting existing music, Culloden is a rare and meaningful exception: a symphony rooted in remembrance and resilience.
As one of the few prominent women in the wind band world, Giroux’s presence in this program reflects MAFB’s commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices and creating space for stories—historic and modern—that deserve to be heard.
Culloden 1 - Heilan Lochs, Bairns & Heather
Culloden 2 - "I Hae Grat for Tho' I Kend"
Culloden 3 - "We Toomed Our Stoops for the Gaudy Sodgers"
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Composed in honor of Mid America Freedom Band’s 20th anniversary and premiered on this stage in 2023. Emerald reflects the ensemble’s heart and history—shaped in no small part by the vision and artistry of longtime Artistic Director Dr. Lee Hartman.
The fourth and final movement, “Rainbows Are a Part of Nature,” draws from the green stripe of the original LGBTQ+ Pride flag, symbolizing nature, and gently echoes a familiar anthem from The Wizard of Oz. With warmth, color, and quiet power, this movement speaks to the beauty of identity, memory, and belonging.
In many ways, this piece—especially this movement—captures the joy, heart, and community Lee has cultivated during his years with MAFB. We are honored to bring his music to life (again) tonight.
Emerald was awarded 3rd Prize in the 2024 American Prize for Composition.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS & STAFF
Mid America Freedom Band extends heartfelt thanks to our outgoing Board Officers for their dedication, service, and unwavering support of our mission. Your leadership helped guide MAFB through growth, transition, and artistic triumphs. Thank you to Steven Irving and J.J. Pearse.
We also warmly welcome our new Board of Directors—a group of passionate, community-driven individuals dedicated to advancing MAFB’s joyful and inclusive music-making mission. Together, we look forward to a future full of pride, progress, and powerful performance.
Board of Directors
Christian Montes - Chair
Rameka Jennings - ViceChair/Fundraising Chair
Ashton Duplechain - Secretary
Lisa Klockenga - Treasurer
Shelly Alexander - Board Member
Joy Hope - Board Member/Marketing Chair
Debbie Farrell - Board Member
Nick McWilliams - Board Member/Membership Committee Chair
Staff
Ian Bradt - Executive DIrector
Jessie Davis - Assistant Artistic Director
Bailee Young - Production Coordinator
Steven Irving - Color Guard Director
Jeanine Asay - Concert Band Librarian
Bea Reiter - Jazz and Pep Librarian
Erin Trampel - Brand Manager
CONDUCTOR & SOLOIST BIOGRAPHIES
Meet the artistic leaders on the podium tonight. From passionate educators to boundary-pushing performers, these musicians help bring MAFB’s vision to life—with heart, talent, and pride.
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Dr. Lee Hartman (he/him) holds degrees from the University of Missouri–Kansas City (DMA, MM) and the University of Delaware (BM), where he was awarded a Dean’s Scholar position to pursue an interdisciplinary program in music education and composition. His composition mentors include James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, and Jennifer Margaret Barker.
He served as assistant director of Musica Nova, UMKC’s new music ensemble. He taught at the University of Central Missouri, where he received the 2016–17 Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
Dr. Hartman recently concluded his tenure as Artistic Director of Mid America Freedom Band, where he led the ensemble through a period of significant artistic growth and national recognition. Under his leadership, MAFB hosted the Annual Conference of the Lesbian and Gay Band Association, was a featured ensemble at Electronic Music Midwest and the Women Band Directors International Conference, and received honors including finalist status for the American Prize in Band/Wind Ensemble Performance (2021) and winner of the Pride Bands Alliance Innovative Programming Award (2022).
He has served as Director of Programming for the Harriman-Jewell Series, performed on oboe and English horn with the NorthWinds Symphonic Band, and was Artistic Director for Gay Games X in Paris, France in 2018.
Dr. Hartman is now the Director of Advancement and Outreach for the Performing Arts · University of Southern Maine.
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Originally from Eureka Springs, Arkansas, Abbie Brown is a music educator and conductor completing her PhD in Music Education from the University of Missouri Kansas-City (May 2025). Abbie is the interim conductor of the Mid-America Freedom Band and conducts the Roeland Park New Horizons Band. While at UMKC, Abbie has conducted the Conservatory Wind Symphony, Conservatory Wind Ensemble, and Campus Band. Abbie is currently in her final year as a Wind Ensemble director for Harmony Project Kansas City, a nonprofit organization created to bring high-quality music education experiences to children in communities with limited access to formal musical training in the greater Kansas City area.
Abbie received her Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Oklahoma. While at OU, Abbie studied under Dr. Shanti Simon, Professor Brian Britt, and Dr. Michael Hancock. Whether working with the OU Wind Symphony, Symphony Band, or the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band, Abbie could be found leading inspiring rehearsals and challenging undergraduate and graduate students alike to find deeper meaning in and connection through the music they shared. While at OU, Abbie served as a producer on the album Ogygia, recorded by the University of Oklahoma Wind Symphony in February of 2022.
Before starting her MM, Abbie taught in the public schools of Arkansas and Texas for six years. She began her teaching career in Hot Springs, Arkansas, at Lakeside School Distric,t where she was the Head Band Director at Lakeside Middle School. At Lakeside, Abbie worked daily with 2nd - 12th grade students, earning her stripes as a versatile music educator at all levels. Abbie moved to Lubbock, Texas in 2017 and accepted the position of Director of Bands and O.L. Slaton Middle School, a Title I school in Lubbock ISD. Under Abbie’s leadership, the O.L. Slaton band program experienced growth at 275% over three years and had increased ratings in the University Interscholastic League at their yearly concert assessment. While at O.L. Slaton, Abbie focused on integrating the band program into the rich and culturally diverse community that the school was a part of. Abbie served as the Fine Arts Department Head at O.L. Slaton for her final two years at the school.
Abbie received her Bachelor of Music Education from Henderson State University in 2014. While at Henderson State, Abbie was the first female drum major in the history of the Showband of Arkansas and was the recipient of the Reddie Heart Scholarship and Mae Whipple Music Scholarship.
Throughout her conducting and teaching career, Abbie has earned spots as a conducting participant at the nation’s highest-acclaimed conducting workshops including the Art of Band Conducting and Teaching Workshop at the University of Texas at Austin, the Kansas City Conducting Symposium, and the Michigan State University Conducting Symposium.
Abbie is the recipient of the Kauffman Superior Graduate Assistant Award, the Conservatory Graduating Student Award, the University of Missouri-Kansas City Women’s Council Graduate Assistance Fund, the Mike Moss Conducting Grant and the Foundations for Excellence Grant. She is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the National Association for Music Educators, the Missouri Music Educators Association, and the Texas Music Educators Association.
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No stranger to a musical adventure, J.J. Pearse finds joy in the expanse across the realm of music. Covering an instrumental range from spoons to theremin, no musical stone is left unturned in his journey. From performances playing percussion to those in conducting and singing, he finds a home in the under-appreciated works across time.
J.J. is a current member of the Mid-America Freedom Band, Kansas City’s chapter of the Pride Bands Association, and has served on the boards for MAFB, the Kansas City Electronic Music & Arts Alliance, and newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble across KC. It is with a profound amount of honor that he gets to premiere this work from the brilliant minds of composers Jennifer Jolley, Anthony R. Green, and Olivia Kieffer.
Previous engagements include conducting Kate Soper’s Voices from the Killing Jar and serving as the title role in Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King, both performances part of the Omaha Under the Radar Festival. J.J. has also worked with noted composers including George Lewis, John Luther Adams, and David Lang as part of MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music’s annual New Music Festival.
No stranger to fulfilling multiple duties at once, he has also performed as conductor and chansonnier for Frankenstein!! by HK Gruber.
In his time as an undergraduate at Indiana University, J.J. was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate in addition to earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Percussion Performance, having studied under John Tafoya and Kevin Bobo. He went on to acquire his Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting at Bowling Green State University, under the baton of Dr. Emily Freeman Brown.
SAVE THE DATES!
Mark your calendars! Our next season is already in motion, and we’d love to see you again. Join us as we continue creating vibrant, affirming performances that celebrate Kansas City’s LGBTQ+ community and beyond. To lean more visit freedomband.com
May 3 - March of the Monarchs Parade
12pm, 22nd & Brooklyn | KCMO
June 7 - Kansas City Pride Parade
11am, KCMO
June 20 - Might Mo Jazz Orchestra Presents: Harmonious Horizons, Music of Maria Schneider
7:30pm, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church | KCMO
June 25 - Coins for a Cause @ Up/Down Arcade Bar
3pm - 10pm
All arcade token sales are donated to the band!
Support Our Fundraising Efforts
Your support powers everything we do—from instrument upgrades and commissions to concert production and community outreach. Learn more about our ongoing campaigns and how you can help MAFB make more music, for more people, in more places. Help us finish funding our new bari saxophone!
Every gift—big or small—helps sustain this joyful, visible, and proudly queer ensemble. Thank you for helping us keep the music playing and for standing with MAFB as we build community through every note.