Beyond the Concert Hall
Free Parks Concerts with Wichita Park & Recreation
Seeking ways to bring the orchestra outside of the concert hall, Wichita Park and Recreation stepped in. Two different iterations of accessible, community-centered performances have been presented: Playing at the Park at Naftzger Park downtown and Playing Across the Parks at several different parks all over Wichita. This partnership allows the Symphony to bring music into public spaces, making live orchestral performances more accessible to the broader community, including those who might not attend traditional concert hall events.
These free family-friendly concerts last 30 minutes to an hour and are filled with familiar tunes, including Disney favorites for the kids. Wichita Symphony parks concerts are held twice a year in mid-September and late May or early June, when Wichita weather cooperates best.
The WSO and Park and Recreation Department partnership fosters a stronger sense of community and enhances the cultural life of Wichita. By integrating the arts into public spaces, this collaboration helps to build a more vibrant, connected, and culturally rich city.
Click here to check for available community concerts
Symphony Storytime
Symphony Storytime launched in June 2024 with an addition to Wichita Public Libraries (WPL) storytime hour.
In 2024, Symphony Storytime presented “Welcome to the Wichita Symphony” at six WPL locations. This program was designed to engage young people ages 4-8 and promote music education and engagement, which leads to more success in school and in life.
A narrator read excerpts from the picture book Welcome to the Symphony by Carolyn Sloan as members of the Wichita Symphony demonstrated each of the instrument families: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. These interactive performances were presented to 381 children in summer 2024, each of which received an egg shaker and a free copy of Welcome to the Symphony by Carolyn Sloan courtesy of Thrive Restaurant Group!
In 2025, Symphony Storytime expanded to include Maize, Andover, El Dorado, Augusta and more library and community center locations in addition to Wichita Public Libraries. Following the same structure as the previous summer, this year a narrator read The Remarkable Farkle McBride by John Lithgow.
Partnering with local artist Lindsey Kernodle, each student who attended a Storytime performance received a FREE Wichita Symphony coloring book thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, Philip & Laura Knight. These performances were presented to over 1,000 children in summer & fall 2025.
Arts groups rally to rebuild creative oasis in Wichita, Kansas
Jeffrey Brown with PBS NewsHour visited Wichita in November 2022 and spoke with then-CEO Don Reinhold and Concertmaster Holly Mulcahy, along with representatives from Music Theatre Wichita and Harvester Arts, to learn how the arts in Wichita had adapted and applied lessons from the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020.
Watch the complete segment below!
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