Botanica, Wichita Symphony partnering for an outdoor concert, fireworks show in May
Back in 2012, when Don Reinhold first came to Wichita to take over as director of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Botanica director Marty Miller took him to lunch, and afterward, he drove him past an overgrown field on the backside of the gardens.
That, Miller told him, is where he wanted the symphony to perform someday.
Now, nearly a decade later, it’s happening. The two entities are partnering together for a concert experience called Symphony in the Gardens that will allow Miller to debut Botanica’s new amphitheater to the public and allow Reinhold to get the symphony musicians, mostly dormant since fall, back out in public.
The concert, which will include a fireworks finale, will happen on the evening of Friday, May 14. Tickets go on sale starting on Thursday.
Miller said the event will offer a safe, socially distanced way for Wichitans to get outside after a long, hard year dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been sheltered long enough,” he said. “We’re humans. We want to be outside. We like to socialize with other people. For the sacrifices that people have made over the past year to beat this pandemic, it’s time to reward ourselves for making those sacrifices.”
The evening will start with six small chamber ensembles set up in different spots throughout the gardens. Attendees will be able to stroll the grounds and hear the various groups, which might include a string quartet or a wind trio.
Then, they’ll gather on Botanica’s new grand lawn, which was completed last year in an area west of the Downing Children’s Garden. Called the Koch Carousel Gardens, the area features 30,000 square-feet of sloped artificial turf facing a stage big enough to hold the entire Wichita Symphony Orchestra.
For this show, though, only about 15 of the symphony’s brass and percussion musicians will perform, Reinhold said. They’ll be led by longtime WSO conductor Daniel Hege, who will travel to Wichita for the show.
“We decided to go with the brass first because they can fill the space better with their sound,” Reinhold said. “Wind players would have to really work hard.”
The concert will conclude with a fireworks display, Miller said.
The two leaders say they hope that this concert will be a sneak preview of a partnership that will result in more collaborations. Reinhold said he’s always envisioned Wichita doing its own version of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s Concerts in the Garden series. The 30-year-old event fills the Fort Worth Botanic gardens with a series of concerts every summer.
“There is more to come with this stage,” Reinhold said. “This is kind of a preliminary test.”
Organizers will offer tickets in three tiers: Tickets priced at $35 will allow patrons access to a cash bar and dessert truck that will be at the event, but those ticket holders will need to bring their own chairs and blankets for general seating on the Grand Lawn. Patrons with $75 tickets will get a boxed picnic dinner, two drink tickets and access to chairs for the concert.
The top tier ticket costs $150 and comes with early garden and open bar access, a pre-concert patio hour with wine by Jenny Dawn Cellars and cheese by Elderslie Farm, and a dinner served onsite by Georges French Bistro. Those ticket holders will be seated at tables and chairs.
Tickets will be available starting Thursday at Botanica.org and WichitaSymphony.org.
Reinhold said the symphony musicians are ready to get back out and play. They were able to put on a couple of concerts in the fall before the pandemic worsened and crowd capacity was limited to 25 people. But COVID-19 has forced symphony leaders to look at alternatives other than sit-down concerts in Century II, and that’s a good thing, he said.
The symphony also will put on an outdoor woodwinds concert at Naftzger Park in June and is looking into other alternative venue shows. Reinhold said he thinks the symphony will be able to get back into the Century II Concert Hall in July for some socially-distanced shows featuring the string musicians.
By fall, he said, he’s hopeful he can start mixing in some winds and brass.
“They’re the ones who have the aerosol issues,” he said. “It’s not easy for them to play with masks.”
The May show at Botanica will offer around 1,000 tickets and will be socially distanced, Miller said. People will still be asked to wear masks when in the buildings at Botanica or in cases where they can’t stay socially distanced.
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 9:38 AM.
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