Mid America Freedom Band Announces 2024–25 Season
“Mosaics” is the theme of the Mid America Freedom Band’s 22nd season. In that artform, like community music-making, every tile, every piece, every note, every instrument, every voice, every person has a place.
MAFB tackles six symphonies over three concerts from composers Julia Perry, Randall Standridge, Patric Standford, William Henry Fry, Nancy Galbraith, and Julie Giroux and new commissioned works by Nick Omiccioli, Abdo Timejardine-Zomeño, Jennifer Jolley, Anthony R. Green, and Olivia Kieffer. Additionally, MAFB will present a free educational chamber concert about democracy at the Kansas City Public Library.
We are also thrilled to announce the triumphant return of the Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra for their eclectic fourth 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 an unforgettable night in the "Lavender Flamingo," a throwback speakeasy jazz club that will transport you back in time, showcase current trends, and highlight the works of Maria Schneider!
Mid America Freedom Band Season 22 “Mosaics”
Variations on Democracy
Saturday, September 21, 2024
11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Truman Forum, Kansas City Public Library Plaza Branch
4801 Main St., Kansas City, MO, 64112
Examining musical interpretations of democracy and the democratic process, “Variations on Democracy” is a free chamber concert of ideas for MAFB’s smaller groups with works by Louis Andriessen, Jennifer Jolley, Jorge Sosa Ortega, Carol Erion, Ethel Smyth, and more plus a world premiere by MAFB artistic director Lee Hartman. Grammy-winning soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson joins as vocal soloist. A preconcert panel discussion of political scientists and artists takes place an hour before each performance.
Ghost Stories
Sunday, October 20, 2024
2:00 p.m.
Gem Theater, American Jazz Museum
1615 E. 18th St., Kansas City, MO, 64108
Just in time for Halloween, the dramatic cinematic scope of Randall Standridge’s A Ghost Story complements the exquisite craft of Julia Perry’s Symphony No. 6 as we celebrate the centennial of this pioneering Black woman composer. Nick Omiccioli plays double duty as both composer and soloist in his new work for electric guitar and band that is inspired by 70s funk and disco!
Vintage Holidays
Saturday, December 14, 2024
5:00 p.m.
and
Sunday, December 15, 2024
2:00 p.m.
Lyric Opera of Kansas City
1725 Holmes St, Kansas City, MO 64108
In collaboration with the Hallmark Archives, vintage holiday cards from throughout Hallmark’s extensive collection will be projected during William Henry Fry’s delightfully charming Santa Claus: Christmas Symphony and Patric Standford’s clever reimagining of countless Christmas carols in symphonic form. Rounding out the program are Josh Trentadue’s drunken Wild Christmas Nightcap and a new fandango-inspired sleigh ride from Abdo Timejardine-Zomeño.
Yellow Roses and Green Hills
Friday, May 2, 2025
7:30 pm
C. Stephen Metzler Hall at the Folly Theater
300 W. 12th St., Kansas City, MO 64105
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.”
Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra Season 4
Echoes of the Greats
Friday, October 11, 2024
7:30 p.m.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Undercroft
6401 Wornall Terr., Kansas City, MO 64113
From timeless classics given a jazz flair, to famous charts that had audiences jiving and wailing in the solemn echoes of World War I and II, we highlight the historical origins of jazz and what it shows us about its future. “Echoes of the Greats” blends the music from legends of both the classical and jazz eras, showing how every note and rhythm contributes to the larger picture of community music-making.
Modern Threads
Friday, February 21, 2025
7:30 p.m.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Undercroft
6401 Wornall Terr., Kansas City, MO 64113
Jazz is today! Interweaving styles like hip-hop and fusion while diving into contemporary jazz found in our pop culture landscapes, this concert showcases Kansas City’s unique position as a UNESCO heritage City, cradling musical innovation and tradition of this American art form.
Harmonious Horizons: Music of Maria Schneider
Friday, June 20, 2025
7:30 p.m.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Undercroft
6401 Wornall Terr., Kansas City, MO 64113
Featuring Pulitzer Prize-nominated Maria Schneider’s jazz works, "Harmonious Horizons" is a concert
dedicated to showing how the spirit of jazz is one of borrowing, learning, changing, growing, and inspiring.
Admission to Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra performances is free.
MAFB Concert Band Season 22 (all programs subject to change)
Variations on Democracy
Louis Andriessen: Workers Union
Spencer Arias: Freedom as the Waves
Carol Erion: Humming and Whooping
Lee Hartman: Variations on Democracy (commission and premiere)
Jennifer Jolley: MARCH!
Jorge Sosa Ortega: I Dissent, Movement III
John Dante Prevedini: In the Balance
Ethel Smyth: March of the Women
Ghost Stories
Julia Perry: Symphony No. 6
Nicholas Omiccioli: New Work for electric guitar and concert band (commission and premiere)
Randall Standridge: Symphony No. 1 “A Ghost Story”
Vintage Holidays
Joshua Trentadue: Wild Christmas Nightcap
Patric Standford: A Christmas Carol Symphony
Abdo Timejardine Zomeño: New Sleigh Ride (commission and premiere)
William Henry Fry (trans. Lee Hartman): Santa Claus: Christmas Symphony
Yellow Roses and Green Hills
Nancy Galbraith: Symphony for Winds
Jennifer Jolley, Anthony R. Green, Olivia Kieffer: New Timpani Concerto (commission and premiere)
Julie Giroux: Symphony No. 1 “Culloden”
Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra Season 3 (all programs subject to change)
Echoes for the Greats
Mozart, arr. Mark Taylor: A Little Night Music
Strauss, arr. Allen Gray: Funkythustra
Debussy, arr. Bob Turner: Clair de Lune
Cole Porter, trans. Jeff Hest: Begin the Beguine
Billy Strayhorn, arr. Vince Gassi: Take the A Train
Jerry Gray, arr. Johnny Warrington: A String of Pearls
Billy Strayhorn, arr. Buselli: Chelsea Bridge
Count Basie, trans. Myles Collins: Beaver Junction
Charlie Parker, arr. Paul Murtha: Now's the Time
Dizzy Gillespie, arr. Mark Taylor: Salt Peanuts
Fred Rogers, arr. Mike Tomaro: Won't You Be My Neighbor
Herzog and Holliday, arr. Sammy Nestico: God Bless the Child
Modern Threads
traditional, arr. Jamey Simmons: Amazing Grace
Pat Metheny, arr. Bob Curnow: Beat 70
Grover Washington Jr., arr. Roger Holmes: Mr. Magic
Yoko Kanno, arr. Paul Murtha: “Tank!” from Cowboy Bebop
Steely Dan, arr. Mike Tomaro: Bla ck Cow
Gordon Goodwin: Crunch Frog
Mike Dana: Beware the Moose in Love
Tom Kubis: Catwalk
Eliot Daniel, arr. Paul Baker: I Love Lucy
Chick Corea, arr. Mike Tomaro: Crystal Silence
Lin-Manuel Miranda, arr. John Wasson: You're Welcome
McKenna Reeve: Another Food Blues
arr. Russell Scarbrough: Abandoned in Place
arr. Rick Hirsch: Dark Forest
Harmonious Horizons: Music of Maria Schneider
Dance You Monster to My Soft Song
Wrgly
Prairie Dance
Salina
Hang Gliding
BayTrail Shuffle
Mountain Aire
My Lament
The Mid America Freedom Band and Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra are community ensembles of LGBTQ+ and allied instrumental musicians with 90+ 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.