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Orchestral programming will continue to be held in the Kauffman Center
Today the Kansas City Symphony officially lifted an embargo on a story that we’ve heard rumblings about for months — a planned performance facility independent of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
In a release, the Symphony offered these details and claims:
- The development does not mean the orchestra is leaving the Kauffman Center. The Kauffman will “remain the Symphony’s primary home for orchestral programming.” But the new performance hall will expand “the diversity and capabilities of the performances” the orchestra can offer to the public.
- The new facility will be a significant addition to the city’s live music scene, filling a gap of concert venues with a seating capacity of 4,000 to 6,000.
- Although the specific location for the proposed new hall was not initially revealed, the Symphony’s announcement claimed the new performance hall could “bring significant impact to the Plaza” and “draw 300,000 guests a year.”
- The Kansas City-based design firm Populous, which specializes in music and entertainment venues as well as indoor and outdoor sports arenas, is leading the design effort. In addition, the new venue will be operated in partnership with MEMI (Music & Event Management Inc.), a nonprofit subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
The Kansas City Symphony was founded in 1982 by R. Crosby Kemper Jr. and succeeded the old Kansas City Philharmonic as the region’s principal classical orchestra, which employs 80 full-time musicians. In addition to classical and pops concerts, Symphony musicians perform with the Kansas City Ballet and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
The announcement followed months of rumors that the symphony was working on plans for a new venue.
Dan Margolies, a former reporter for the Kansas City Star and KCUR-FM, recently joined forces with Melinda Henneberger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former Star journalist, to declare in their respective Substack columns that the Symphony plans were “the worst-kept secret in town.”
