Symphony in the Flint Hills taps into restorative power of the Kansas prairie – Kansas Reflector

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion items from writers who share our aim of widening the dialog about how public insurance policies have an effect on the day-to-day lives of individuals all through our state. Dave Kendall served as producer and host of the “Sunflower Journeys” sequence on public tv for its first 27 seasons and continues to provide documentary movies by his personal firm, Prairie Hole Productions.

That is typically thought-about one of the best time of yr to move to the hills. The hills I take into consideration are the Flint Hills of Kansas — these broad, open vistas with tallgrass prairie stretching north and south in a slender band throughout the japanese third of the state.

This remaining stand of native prairie, which as soon as lined the guts of North America, evokes a way of awe and reverence. After ranchers have accomplished prescribed burning and spring rains have come, the pastures at the moment are lush and inexperienced and the wildflowers are popping up throughout.

As Jim Hoy, the resident skilled on cowboy tradition, is usually quoted as saying: “The Flint Hills don’t take your breath away (just like the Rocky Mountains or the Grand Canyon do); they provide you an opportunity to catch your breath.”

Over time, an increasing number of individuals have come to the Flint Hills to catch their breath. They motor by the guts of the area on the Flint Hills Nationwide Scenic Byway, bike alongside the Flint Hills Nature Path or head out for hikes on the Tallgrass Prairie Nationwide Protect, the place they could encounter bison grazing the hills as they did way back.

It was on this protect in the summertime of 2006 when the primary in a sequence of annual gatherings known as “Symphony within the Flint Hills” occurred, merging the pure great thing about the hills with the suave expression of symphonic music.

Saxophonist Paul Winter, recognized for his distinctive “earth music,” introduced his musical group to carry out alongside the Kansas Metropolis Symphony. The night’s efficiency featured “Grasslands,” an authentic composition by Kansas-born cellist Eugene Friesen, a longtime member of the Paul Winter Consort.

5 thousand individuals got here to the protect that day, becoming a member of a pair thousand extra volunteers who assisted with the logistics of transferring everybody safely on and off the prairie. A few of the volunteers led wildflower walks or birding excursions, whereas others assisted with things like parking automobiles and transporting people to the live performance website.

I used to be there to observe Emily Hunter, the occasion organizer, documenting the inaugural occasion on video, recording it from her perspective. The footage was later edited right into a Plains Folks section for “Sunflower Journeys.”

Once I requested her to explain who is perhaps interested in this occasion, she indicated it could be finest suited for individuals who perceive the unpredictable nature of such an outside gathering.

“It’s probably not an occasion for everybody,” she mentioned. “That is, at its coronary heart, an journey.”

The journey had been impressed by an outside live performance held 12 years earlier on a ranch close to Matfield Inexperienced owned by Jane Koger. That occasion had change into legendary. It prompted discussions amongst a variety of totally different people and organizations, finally ensuing within the creation of Symphony within the Flint Hills.

The principle goal of the nonprofit behind “the Symphony” was to offer an expertise giving those that attended a extra private connection to the prairie. The thought was that they might then be extra apt to assist defend and protect this panorama — the final 4% of tallgrass prairie on the planet.

The day’s actions on the tallgrass protect went off with out a vital hitch. A day of instructional shows and guided excursions was adopted by a night of world-class symphonic music. Thunderstorms that popped up on the horizon skirted the protect because the night efficiency concluded with everybody becoming a member of in to sing “Residence on the Vary.”

Hunter characterised the occasion as a co-creation.

“The entire thing was fully co-created by each single individual, animal, blade of grass, breath of air, notice of music, horse’s tail — every thing … the entire thing was all of a chunk,” she mentioned.

Three years later, as planning was below means for the fourth annual gathering, I used to be shocked to obtain a name inviting me to function grasp of ceremonies. I accepted, although I used to be leery about how snug I’d be in that place. However I’ve been drawn again yr after yr and am now approaching my tenth yr as emcee, lacking just one installment since I started.

Annie Wilson, the “Flint Hills Balladeer,” additionally has change into a daily participant on the Symphony, strolling round to carry out numbers with members of her Tallgrass Specific String Band all through the afternoon. Her encouraging phrases helped me adapt to the emcee position, typifying the kindness and consideration that pervade the occasion.

Cattle drives have change into a daily function as effectively. Because the orchestra performs the theme from “The Magnificent Seven” or one other rousing tune, a herd of cattle seems from over the hill, with cowboys on horseback guiding them near the stage.

It’s not all the time as managed as some might imagine.

“In one of many later years, the cowboys and cattle coming across the live performance website started operating actually quick,” Wilson recollects. “The company round me at this level knew the cattle drives had been ‘staged,’ however thought the riders had been positive doing a top-notch job of making an thrilling ‘stampede’ for the general public leisure!”

It seems the cattle had actually been spooked and the cowboys had been doing one of the best they may to comprise them!

Tales about real-life incidents associated to cowboy tradition within the Flint Hills and different regional subjects have been printed within the Discipline Journal, which highlights a specific theme spotlighted by the Symphony annually. These softcover books are filled with illustrations, together with paintings impressed by the Flint Hills.

For individuals who want to take greater than a journal with reproductions of the artwork dwelling with them, there’s additionally an annual public sale that includes a juried collection of authentic paintings. Proceeds are shared with the artists and used to assist the group cowl the prices related to fulfilling its mission.

The organizers of Symphony within the Flint Hills have chosen to maneuver the signature occasion to a brand new setting annually, offering publicity to totally different locales throughout the area whereas giving entry to scenes that will not in any other case be accessible to the general public. 

The following one, for which tickets are nonetheless accessible, is scheduled to happen on Saturday, June 11, in a privately owned pasture west of Bazaar in Chase County. The theme of this yr’s signature occasion will probably be “Climate within the Flint Hills.”

In fact, the query all the time is: Will the climate cooperate?

The final time the Symphony was scheduled to be held on this specific pasture, in 2019, excessive climate compelled a cancellation for the primary time in its historical past. The evening earlier than, a violent thunderstorm spawned a microburst of wind that left a number of of the tents in shreds. With extra storms within the forecast, there was no alternative however to cancel.

The chance to bounce again the next yr was smacked down by the COVID-19 pandemic, which compelled the occasion to be sidelined for the second yr in a row. Some might have questioned: Would the group survive if one thing triggered one other cancellation?

Happily, the pandemic eased lengthy sufficient in the summertime of 2021 so the Kansas Metropolis Symphony might return to the Flint Hills. Folks might come out to benefit from the music and different actions supplied throughout the afternoon and night.

“Finally yr’s occasion,” panorama artist Lisa Grossman famous, “you would simply really feel the enjoyment rising out of the entire expertise on the sunny prairie, rising after the yr of the pandemic.”

Certainly, everybody appeared to revel within the freedom of congregating once more out on the prairie, with the Symphony set in a pasture close to Council Grove. They listened to tales in regards to the Santa Fe Path, rode the lined wagons, and reunited with household and buddies.

Earlier than the night live performance started, they heard the governor extoll the virtues of the tallgrass prairie, which has change into one other mainstay of the occasion. They watched cowboys drive the cattle previous because the efficiency approached its climax. And so they had been capable of stand collectively on the finish and take part singing the state track.

After the live performance, as in earlier years, many stayed to take heed to tales instructed round a campfire, gaze on the evening sky by high-powered telescopes and kick up their heels to some energetic dance tunes. These post-concert actions are supplied annually to boost the expertise in addition to to attenuate congestion as automobiles depart the parking space.

Within the years because it started, this peripatetic occasion has attracted individuals from all around the world and generated quite a few tales in a wide range of publications. It has elevated consciousness of the distinctive nature of the tallgrass prairie and raised the profile of the Flint Hills, leaving a deep, lasting impression on a lot of those that have skilled the journey.

I recall once I confronted a choice about the place to find as a younger grownup. For a number of years, I had been following a semi-annual migration backwards and forwards between our Kansas farm and the Bay Space of northern California. The serene, spacious vistas of the Flint Hills performed a serious position in calling me again to my roots, and I proceed to really feel most at dwelling on the vary right here.

At a time when we’ve got all been traumatized by the mindless slaughter of innocents at dwelling and overseas, exhausted by a protracted pandemic and aggravated by ongoing political polarization, we might all use a dose of the restorative vitality that comes with spending time in nature.

Whether or not you intend to attend the Symphony within the Flint Hills this week, you may wish to get out into the hills and take time to catch your breath. Cease and soak within the views, discover the locations you may discover, and tune in to your senses.

The hills actually are alive with the sound of music, with or with out an orchestra. Go there, be nonetheless and hear.

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