Backroads Journal
Symphony in the Flint Hills 2024
In early June of this year, we loaded our bag chairs, water bottles, sunscreen and bug repellant in the car and headed up through the small town of Cassoday, Kansas to the site of the Symphony in the Flint Hills 2024. It had been several years since we had attended, but it continues to be one of my favorite events. It is a true spectacle of wonderful music, iconic images of the ranching lifestyle and educational opportunities set in a pristine, beautiful tallgrass prairie pasture with only views of rolling grassland and sky as the backdrop. My history with this amazing event goes back almost 20 years.
In October of 2005, I took a call from Emily Hunter, the newly appointed event coordinator for an exciting new event which was being promoted as the Symphony in the Flint Hills. She had been looking around the renovation of the Santa Fe Railroad crew bunkhouse, just north of Matfield Green. Bill and Julia Fabris McBride, and their partners, were in the middle of a project to restore the old, dilapidated housing into living quarters and to eventually be what is now known as the Airbnb called Matfield Station. Emily ran across a book on a dusty table that was the culmination of my senior project in Landscape Architecture at K-State in 1972.
The project was a character study of the landscape and architecture of the Kansas Flint Hills and published by the Kansas Department of Economic Development, as promotional material for the region. My pen and ink sketches in the book resonated with Emily, as what the style could be for the Field Guide of the planned Symphony in the Flint Hills.
One conversation led to another, and I was honored to work with Emily to produce much of the graphic work and sketches for the 2006 Field Guide, as well as many of the sketches found on the Patron Party invitations and other promotional materials over the early years. I have continued to be involved in the event, attending many of the concerts, submitting prints for the Prairie Art Exhibit and Auction and artwork for the Commemorative t-shirt both in 2023 and 2024.
Time moved on, the staff of the organization has changed, and Emily is no longer involved. I began attending several regional art fairs scheduled around the same time as the Symphony, had some health issues and had not been able to attend the event for several years.
This year, Nancy and I decided to make the effort to attend, and at our age, it is a definite effort. The site this year was located on the Evans Family Red Ranch in Greenwood County, nine miles east of Cassoday. Each year a new location is selected from several that are offered, with consideration given to site views, quality of pasture and access.
Approaching the site from the west, the graceful, white peaks of the hilltop tents are seen for miles. As you park in the prairie pasture and begin the trek to the top of the horizon, the multitude of sights and sounds are only beginning. The afternoon sun, the buzz from the grassland insects, the wind in the grass and the chatter of families heading out for the day all blend with the sounds of golf carts and people carriers running back and forth giving rides to some of the less ambitious of us.
Upon arriving at the top of the hill, the site is abuzz with activity. We pass covered wagons heading out taking people on rides across the prairie pasture, steer roping games and several tents devoted to educational topics on prairie preservation. Spotting the art auction tent, we head over to check it out before visiting the large food tent for dinner. Two of my recent small prints were accepted into the auction this year and seem to have been well accepted based on the bidding activity. I enjoy staying involved and having my work help support the organization.
After a light dinner of barbeque brisket sandwiches, it’s time for the real reason 5,000 people have trekked over two miles across the tallgrass pasture under the prairie sun. Soon the sounds of the great Kansas City Symphony and the lyrical voice of guest artist, Katharine McPhee beautifully drown out the sound of the wind in the grass and add a new dimension to the views across the hills. With most of our views of the rolling Flint Hills happening at driving speed, the chance to relax under the immense blue sky, listening to beautiful music rolling across the green hills fading out to the far horizons, brings peace and contentment to your heart.
Just into the second set, a buzz in the crowd begins to grow and we knew it was time for the popular cattle drive. Beginning as a dark mass on the eastern hilltop, the volunteer outriders urge the yearling heifer herd down the hill to pass behind the stage as the symphony plays one of the great iconic western movie themes.
It’s fun and a romantic image of life on the prairie. The western theme song is a perfect addition to the scene that is a crowd favorite each year. The outriders take their bow with the setting sun on the horizon, and it is soon time for the stirring sing-along to “Home on the Range”.
With 5,000 voices singing our beloved State Song, accompanied by a full symphony orchestra in the middle of the beautiful land that inspired the lyrics, it is hard to find a dry eye in the crowd. It is truly a memorable moment.
As the sun sets and we make our way back down the hill to our car, we have a feeling of accomplishment and comradery with the land and the people like us that love the Flint Hills. It may be a romantic glimpse of life on the prairie, but what better excuse to spend a day walking in the tallgrass prairie and watching the sun set over the far horizon while being serenaded by a symphony orchestra.
“Spend some time in the Tallgrass Prairie; feel the sun on your face and the wind in your hair. Listen to the sounds of the grassland and watch the clouds roll across the immense blue bowl of the sky. This is Kansas. This is the land that I love!”
Stephen M Perry