This ‘cornerstone of the community’ will celebrate 20 years of serving Lee’s Summit

The Lee’s Summit Symphony is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. Not content to only reflect back, the organization is now focused on its future.

Executive Director Gary Good says the Lee’s Summit Symphony “is at an an exciting point in its history.”

After almost two decades under the direction of founder and conductor Russell Berlin, the orchestra is now led by Kirt Mosier, who is a conductor, a composer and an educator.

“Mosier brings a new dimension of orchestral programming, and the orchestra is increasingly feted for exploring new directions in repertoire, concert formats, and for reaching out to identify new audiences,” Good said.

The symphony’s anniversary concert at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will include the finale of the Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3, featuring organist Jan Kraybill as well the world premiere of “Press On!”, a new work written for the concert by principal oboist Karl Hayes.

Good points to the prominent place the symphony holds in the community.

“The symphony serves as a cornerstone of the community as Lee’s Summit builds its own identity,” Good said.

The group made a major transition in 2018, moving its performances from Lee’s Summit High School to the The Pavilion at John Knox Village.

“After an opening season there, performances and attendance were significantly impacted by the pandemic,” Good said.

The symphony remained active with virtual performances and other innovative projects to stay connected with its audience. Good said the loyalty was repaid with record-setting attendance in the 2021-’22 and 2022-’23 seasons, the first full seasons after the pandemic.

The symphony’s musicians have a variety of careers.

More than 30 members are music teachers in public schools and local universities.

“It provides them with a creative outlet to augment their teaching experiences,” Good said.

In addition, the orchestra roster includes 36 musicians who are graduates of the Lee’s Summit School District, and 21 charter members who have performed with the orchestra since its beginning in 2003.

“Most have had formal music training at some time in their past, but few are engaged full time in music as a career,” Good said. “For most, performing with nearly 100 similar musicians provides them with a social and creative experience, which has the added advantage of bringing live music to friends and residents of Lee’s Summit and Eastern Jackson County.”

Mike Roark, president of the symphony’s board, said the anniversary is a great achievement and the organization continues to work toward its future, and works to perfect its craft.

“We will always provide a home for musicians to share their hard work and gifts with our audiences. We are always looking for ways to expand and share music with a wider audience. It’s about the audience experience and the memories, feelings and emotions music can bring.”

The concert will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Broadway Blvd., Kansas City. For tickets, call the Kauffman Center ticket office at 816-994-7222 or go here.