Mid America Freedom Band Announces 2023–24 Season
Welcome to the jungle! With an overarching theme of “Party Animals!” the Mid America Freedom Band celebrates its 21st concert band season from all corners of the animal kingdom with music from your favorite films, music halls, and new discoveries from historically queer composers and today’s most talented voices. Join us this season to hear Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, John Williams’ Jaws, Danielle Fisher’s reimagining of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Viet Cuong’s Howls and Hymns from trombone and band, a new commissioned work by Sonya Leonore Stahl, and so much more.
We are also thrilled to announce the triumphant return of the Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra for our exhilarating third season! This year's season is shaping up to be one of our most diverse and electric yet, hosted in the resonant spaces of the historic St. Andrew's Episcopal Church with a one unforgettable night into the "Lavender Flamingo," a throwback speakeasy jazz club that will transport you back in time, and, later in the season, a Beatlesmania show like no other!
Mid America Freedom Band Season 21
Lion, Tigers, and Bears!
Sunday, October 22, 2023
2:00 p.m.
Gem Theater, American Jazz Museum
1615 E. 18th St., Kansas City, MO, 64108
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.
A Merry Menagerie
Saturday, December 16, 2023
5:00 p.m.
Lyric Opera of Kansas City
1725 Holmes St, Kansas City, MO 64108
What do reindeer, sheep, swans, partridges, elves, and a hippopotamus wrapped with a bow have in common? Well, they’re the topics of 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, Jean Sibelius’ Swan of Tuonela, and more.
MAFB @ KC ZOO
Anticipated April 2024
Kansas City Zoo
6800 Zoo Drive, Kansas City, MO 64132
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.
Birds and the Bees
Friday, May 10, 2024
7:30 pm
The Folly Theater
300 W. 12th St., Kansas City, MO 64105
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!
Season and individual tickets go on sale August 1, 2023, 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. Admission to the MAFB @ KC ZOO performance at the Kansas City Zoo concert comes with your purchase of zoo admission or membership and is not included in your season ticket package.
Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra Season 3
A Night at the Lavender Flamingo
Saturday, October 7, 2023
7:30 p.m.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Undercroft
6401 Wornall Terr., Kansas City, MO 64113
We are thrilled to announce the triumphant return of the Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra for our exhilarating third season! This year's season is shaping up to be one of our most diverse and electric yet, hosted in the resonant spaces of the historic St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. The undercroft will be transformed for one unforgettable night into the "Lavender Flamingo," a throwback speakeasy jazz club that transports you back in time. Don your finest flapper attire or simply come as you are and lose yourself in a seamless blend of beloved classics and contemporary jazz numbers from across the genre spectrum.
Beatlesmania!
Friday, April 19, 2024
7:30 p.m.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Sanctuary
6401 Wornall Terr., Kansas City, MO 64113
The Sanctuary of St. Andrew's will ring out with an homage to one of the most influential bands in history. Get ready for a Beatlesmania show like no other! The Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra will turn the night into a celebration of the Fab Four with powerful renditions of your favorite Beatles covers. It's a celebration of one of the most iconic bands in music history, reimagined through the vibrant lens of jazz. Prepare for an unforgettable night of music, nostalgia, and camaraderie that only the Beatles and jazz can conjure. Join us in these two remarkable concerts and let the spirit of jazz uplift you.
Admission to the Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra performances is free. Tables to A Night At the Lavender Flamingo will be able to be reserved with a donation.
MAFB Concert Band Season 21
All programs subject to change.
Lions, Tigers, and Bears!
Béla Bartók: Bear Dance
John Walter Bratton: Teddy Bears’ Picnic
Viet Cuong: Howls and Hymns
Julie Giroux: Our Cast Aways
Joe Hisaishi: Howl’s Moving Castle
Elton John: The Lion King
Gabriela Ortiz: Kauyumari
Camille Saint-Saëns: Selections from Carnival of the Animals
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate: Seminole Snake Dance
Darrington E. White: Tiger Galop
John Williams: Theme from Jaws
A Merry Menagerie
Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg, and Wandra Merrell: Dominick the Donkey
Samuel Coleridge Taylor: Christmas Overture
Naohiro Iwai: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Julie Giroux: The Twelve Days of Christmas
James Kazik: Eviler Elves
Gayla Peevey: I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
Steve Reisteter: The Eighth Candle
Jean Sibelius: Swan of Tuonela
Philip Sparke: Carol of the Shepherds
Sonya Leonore Stahl: Symphonikkah (commission)
James Syler: Fantasia on “Silent Night”
Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
Birds and the Bees
Charles Griffes: White Peacock
Shuying Li: Last Hive Mind II
Henry Mancini: Baby Elephant Walk
Erik Morales: The Hive
John Powell: Chicken Run
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee
Igor Stravinsky: Firebird
Erika Svanoe: Tutued Toucan Can-Can
John Williams: Jurassic Park
Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra Season 3
All programs subject to change
A Night at the Lavender Flamingo
Sonny Rollins: St. Thomas
Arr. Taylor: Pick Up the Pieces
Tyler Mire: Whats Ya Got
Tom Kubis: I'll Pick the Door Marked Jazz
Henry Mancini: The Days of Wine and Roses
Henry Mancini: Baby Elephant Walk
Doug Beach: Big Cat Groove
Duke Ellington: Cotton Tail
Joe Garland: Leap Frog
Arr. Gil Fuller: Manteca
Mike Pendowski: Salsa on the Side
Mary Lou Williams: Camel Hop
Arr. Mike Tomaro: Sun Goddess
Arr. Dave Rose: East of the Sun
Beatlesmania!
Arr. Mike Tomaro: Blackbird
Arr. Mark Taylor: Fool on the Hill
Arr. John Berry: Ob La Di Ob La Da
Arr. Eric Richards: Eleanor Rigby
Arr. Richard Tuttobene: She's Leaving Home
Arr. Mike Tomaro: Here Comes the Sun
Arr. Rick Stitzel: Yesterday
Arr. John Wasson: Day Tripper
Arr. Rick Stitzel: All My Loving
Arr. Mike Tomaro: Come Together
Arr. Rick Stitzel: Can't Buy Me Love
Arr. John Wasson: Something
Arr. Mark Taylor: Here, There, and Everywhere
The Mid America Freedom Band and Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra are community ensembles of LGBTQ+ and allied instrumental musicians with 80+ playing members. The organization provides a safe space for instrumental performance opportunities, outreach, and social advocacy for music enthusiasts within the LGBTQ+ and ally spectrum of the Kansas City area to create an inclusive community that fosters and celebrates diversity. For more information, visit http://www.freedomband.com.
