Capitol Federal® To Sponsor 2011 Symphony in the Flint Hills

February 25, 2010
Capitol Federal's 118th Year of True Blue® Service

NEWS RELEASE

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Kansas' statehood, Symphony in the Flint Hills is partnering with Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area and Capitol Federal for this year’s sixth annual event on June 11.  The outdoor festival will take place on the privately owned Fix Pasture in Wabaunsee County.

"This year's location for the Symphony in the Flint Hills is an inspiring landscape of prairie covered hills that have witnessed the enduring struggle to define and give meaning to the ideal of freedom from earliest history to today," said Emily Hunter, executive director of Symphony in the Flint Hills. "We are thrilled to celebrate the state’s 150th anniversary along with our sixth anniversary and use this partnership with Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area to serve as one of the most magnificent natural landscapes for melding history, music and nature into one magical event. Bringing Capitol Federal in as the major presenting sponsor allows us to celebrate with a company that has been here for almost 118 years of our state's 150-year history."

Capitol Federal Chairman John B. Dicus said, "What a great way to celebrate the heritage of Kansas and the Flint Hills! We at Capitol Federal are excited to serve as the major presenting sponsor of Symphony in the Flint Hills during our state's Sesquicentennial. Join us for this unique Kansas event."

Fix Pasture is located in Volland, Kansas, and is adjacent to Mill Creek Scenic Drive between Alma and Alta Vista. This is the first time the private ranchland has been open to the public.

For the sixth year in a row, the Governor of Kansas will serve as the event’s honorary chair and the Kansas City Symphony will return to perform the sunset concert. "Freedom's Frontier in the Flint Hills" is the theme of this year's event.

"Fittingly, this year's event marks the 150th anniversary of both Kansas' admission to the Union as a free state and the beginning of the Civil War, two related events of 1861," said Bruce Waugh, board chair for Symphony in the Flint Hills. "Five years earlier, free-state advocates flocked to Kansas to stop the spread of slavery. Notable among those who settled in Wabaunsee County were Captain William Mitchell of the Connecticut Kansas Colony, Henry Harvey, who ran the Underground Railroad at Harveyville and Edmund G. Ross of Mission Creek, who later became famous for his role as Senator in the impeachment of Andrew Johnson."

The Symphony in the Flint Hills educational programs for 2011 will tell many of these place-based stories, including: the Pottawatomie journey to the Flint Hills, the western most route of the Underground Railroad, the Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony of Wabaunsee, early military trails and forts and Exodusters settling in the Flint Hills. In addition. there will be programs on ranching, the flora and fauna and the art and poetry of the region. A highlight of the music program will be The Lincoln Portrait by Aaron Copland.

Tickets to the 2011 Symphony in the Flint Hills go on sale Saturday, March 5. Adult tickets are $75 and tickets for children 12 and under are $43. Prices include all taxes and fees.

Phone and online orders:

816-471-0400

kcsymphony.org

info@kcsymphony.org

Walk-in Locations:

Kansas City Symphony Box Office
1703 Wyandotte, Suite 200
Kansas City, MO  64108
Special Saturday hours on March 5: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Wichita (ONE DAY ONLY)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Dillard’s at Towne East Shopping Mall
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For patron ticket packages and sponsorship opportunities, please contact the Symphony in the Flint Hills at (620) 273-8955.

About the Symphony in the Flint Hills

The Symphony in the Flint Hills is an annual outdoor concert series that debuted in June 2006 and has sold out every year since. The symphony moves each year to a different site in the Flint Hills, providing an opportunity for the public to visit private ranchland. The event is organized by Symphony in the Flint Hills Inc., a grassroots non-profit organization with a mission to heighten appreciation and knowledge of the Tallgrass prairie by providing opportunities to experience symphonic music and place-based education in the Kansas Flint Hills. To learn more, visit www.symphonyintheflinthills.org, "like" us at Symphony in the Flint Hills on Facebook, and follow us @SITFHs on Twitter.

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Media Contact:
Capitol Federal -- Mary W. Lenz 785-231-6255

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