MAFB’s spring concert is all about feathered friends, our favorite pollinators, and, of course, babies and rebirth! Charles Griffes’ impressionist The White Peacock, Igor Stravinsky’s dynamic Firebird, John Williams’ Jurassic Park, and Shuying Li’s Last Hive Mind II take center stage but keep an ear out for a little baby elephant walking by as well!

Woohoo, we’re at the zoo! A concert season about animals wouldn’t be complete with a trip to our local zoological park. Join MAFB for this outdoor concert at the Kansas City Zoo. Weather-permitting and admission to this concert comes with your purchase of a zoo pass or membership.

What do reindeer, sheep, swans, partridges, elves, and a hippopotamus wrapped with a bow have in common? Well, they’re our musical gifts to you this holiday season as MAFB plays the ever-popular Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Philip Sparke’s Carol of the Shepherds, The Twelve Days of Christmas, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, Swan Lake, John Kazik’s Eviler Elves, and more.

From savannahs, forests, plains, and even the ocean depths, MAFB’s fall concert pairs three familiar film scores Elton John’s immortal Lion King, John Williams’ terrifying Jaws, and Joe Hisaishi’s lush Howl’s Moving Castle with pieces off the beaten track like Viet Cuong’s Howls and Hymns for trombone and band, Julie Giroux’s Our Cast Aways — a work honoring rescue animals, and Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari, the Sacred Blue Deer of Mexico’s Wixarika people.  

The Gem Theater
1615 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108

The Gem Theater
1615 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108

MAFB members pick their past seasons' highlights coupled with new music composed during the pandemic including Anthony O'Toole's Frenetico which MAFB co-commissioned.

MAFB explores pieces specifically written to be performed by any instrumentation and those with improvisatory elements

Past performances are mixed in with new performances of works by Kevin Day, Julie Giroux, Derek Jenkins, and Randall Standridge

J.R.R. Tolkien’s service in World War I greatly inspired the creation of Middle Earth, and this free educational concert focuses on those connections while paired with musical works inspired by Tolkien.

Join us for a night of fun, drinks and drag! Come on out and support MAFB, whether you're in the show, or cheering it on!

Oh no! The court jester got his hands on this holiday program and messed everything up!

Egyptian queens, warrior khans, long-reigning monarchs, and animated princesses all get their due with MAFB’s fall concert.