LJWorld.com

Nature and music forged a perfect partnership during the debut performance of composer Eugene Friesen's "Grasslands: Prairie Voices."

Well, almost.

A third factor - modern technology - was accidentally introduced into the mix when the symphonic concert pervaded the open Winfield prairie in 1997.

"During the premiere we heard this lawnmower sound on one of the quietest parts," Friesen recalls. "We were looking around as it was getting louder and louder. Finally we realized it was an ultralight plane that was coming in. I can only imagine what he must have thought when he saw all of us."

Amateur pilots will soon get an opportunity to peruse a much larger-scale version of this concert experience.

On June 10, Symphony in the Flint Hills will team the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra and its 100-voice chorus with the Paul Winter Consort to perform Friesen's "Grasslands." The event takes place on the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, two miles north of Strong City (about 80 miles southwest of Lawrence).

The 13-movement composition will feature narration by orators Bill Kurtis, Cordelia Clapp and Wes Jackson.

"Part of the excitement for me is it's the first professional performance," Friesen says.

"Previously, we've done it with community groups - which is part of the original mission of pulling together a community to create a big prairie festival. But in this case, the symphony and chorus is going to be a fully professional operation. I'm really looking forward to hearing a lot of things in the score that I've never heard before."

The idea to stage a prairie concert with the symphony is an offshoot of a renowned gathering called Symphony on the Prairie. Matfield Green rancher Jane Koger organized the 1994 event as a celebration for her 40th birthday. For years, Kansans have been wondering whether it would return.

"We started looking at the feasibility of doing it. That first one was a big undertaking," says Emily Hunter, coordinator of Symphony in the Flint Hills.

But rather than retreat from the challenge, Hunter's group embraced expectations head-on.

"We thought no one would come that far, out in the middle of nowhere, just to hear something small," she says. "We should come in with this full-blown vision. Our challenge was to have the art match the landscape. Big enough. Full enough. Important enough to match that landscape."

Addressing concerns

With the scope of the event having expanded, so, too, have other concerns.

"(The 1994 concert) was such a magical and memorable experience for so many people," Hunter says. "But if I ask them what's the one thing they would improve, with no exception they say, 'I wish we could have heard the music better.'"

At the first show, the musicians performed on the ground. This time, a 65-by-60-foot stage is being imported. The entire orchestra will be mic'd, as will the chorus.

"You're asking this professional, urban-based symphony to come down there," she says. "You want people to be able to hear it."

Another worry is trying to gauge how many people can comfortably witness the performance without overcrowding becoming an issue. It didn't take more than a few weeks after the show was announced that the 5,000 available tickets sold out.

"We were totally amazed," says Hunter, who hasn't entirely ruled out the possibility of opening it up to more people.

Inspired by nature

Friesen, a native of Hillsboro, is pleased with the site in which his work will be performed.

"It's a very attractive setting," Friesen says. "It's somewhat sheltered from the wind. It's in kind of a bowl."

When penning "Grasslands: Prairie Voices," the Yale-educated cellist made solo expeditions throughout the Flint Hills to find his muse. He also took inspiration from prairies in different regions - Africa, Argentina, Mongolia - attempting to interpret the terrain on a global scale.

How exactly does location influence the composition of symphonic music?

"I don't know how it works, but I know that it does work," says Friesen, who just won his second Grammy with the Paul Winter Consort for the 2005 album "Silver Solstice."

"It's more than just a psychological suggestion. When I hear any piece of music, I tend to associate it with a place. When you hear Russian music ... you have a sense of the culture and the politics. But having been to Russia, I also know what those pine forests feel like. I can feel that in the music."