When you combine tall grass prairie and classical music with 5,000 people who love both the prairie and classical music, the end product is a glorious Symphony in the Flint Hills.

Before you go any further, if you take a look at this panoramic picture of Dave Leiker’s from last year’s event, I think it will tell you more than I could with a thousand words. Once you click on “large” or “normal” size, use the arrow at the bottom to scan 360 degrees of people and prairie.

This summer the second annual event will be held on Steve Schwarting’s ranch in the Kansas Flint Hills near Eskridge in Wabaunsee County. (Scroll down for map)

The Inspiration for the Symphony in the Flint Hills came from Matfield Green rancher, Jane Koger, who in 1994 decided to celebrate her 40th birthday day by organizing an all-woman symphony to play on the open prairie of her property in Chase County. The concert was a huge success and attracted more than 3,000 people.

“The Second Annual Concert, Symphony in the Flint Hills 2007, will be held on Saturday, June 16th. The Kansas City Symphony Orchestra concert will reflect the spirit of the American prairie and include well known works evoking images of the landscape and heritage we celebrate. Musical selections will range from Aaron Copland’s lofty and beautiful An Outdoor Overture to Antonin Dvorak’s picturesque 9th Symphony in E Minor “From the New World” and suites from award-winning motion picture scores inspired by the prairie vistas.

Explore this complete website for everything you ever wanted to know about this event. Tickets are on sale and I have two.

View Snapshots from the Symphony in the Flint Hills June 2006, by David Leiker.

“Once a vast prairie covered one-third of our continent–an endless grassland teeming with bison, deer, antelope, fowl and wildflowers of every color. Today, an untouched piece of that prairie still exists in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

“Each spring there is a gathering, a coming together of art, nature and the kindred souls who appreciate them both. For one evening, the meadowlark’s song is joined by a Symphony in the Flint Hills.

“Before the plow tilled the surrounding lands, before train track split the endless sea of green, native grasses stood as high as a man’s chest on the tallgrass prairie. Here, where vast limestone and flint deposits made tilling impractical, the largest portion of virgin tallgrass prairie remains intact in the Kansas Flint Hills. This is where we gather.

“The Flint Hills have many faces. Each year moving the symphony to different sites-traveling from county to county, we honor our beloved tallgrass prairie and our plains heritage with music as big as the western sky. You are invited to join us in Wabaunsee County on Saturday, June 16 to enjoy the Kansas City Symphony performing for Second Annual Symphony in the Flint Hills 2007.”

Joyce Thierer of Ride Into History