The Mid America Freedom Band (MAFB) is a performing organization for LGBTQ+ and allied musicians from the Kansas City metropolitan area. We are a non- auditioned, volunteer community ensemble with over 70 active participants across three component groups: Concert Band, Pep and Marching Band, and the Mighty Mo Combo jazz ensemble. MAFB's mission is to provide opportunities for instrumental music lovers to share their passion of performance with the diverse community of Kansas City. We strive for excellence while promoting equality, fostering education and celebrating the joy shared through music. Our programming seeks to celebrate the wide range of music -- old and new, familiar and not-so-familiar -- that is available for bands. The themes and compositions selected for each season reflect the mission of the band to by assuring that selections are made with an eye to include composers that are under-represented including LGBTQ+ composers, women composers, composers of color, and local composers.
Here are some of the ways Your organization can get involved in MAFB:
Take out an ad in our concert program to show your support and showcase your business. Ad sales can be completed online via our website.
Consider co-sponsoring an event or a special project or making an in-kind contribution of goods or services.
Contribute to our Large Instrument and Equipment Fund. While our musicians typically provide their own instruments, our music selections often call for large, unusual, or expensive instruments or equipment that a community member would not typically own. In the past, we have used contributions to purchase tympani and a vibraphone, and to buy professional-quality music stands. We are currently seeking funding for a baritone saxophone (our instrument is rapidly approaching “lamp” status), as well as for a new podium, sturdy road cases for equipment, and stage extensions.
Support our Artistic Fund. These contributions are used to underwrite acquisition of a specific piece of music for performance, allow us to commission a new composition specifically for MAFB, and work with the highest caliber composers, conductors, and performers available.
Provide general operating support for MAFB as we enter our 17th Season - which is all about celebrating regal history with a high-art-meets-high camp twist. Titled “Kyngs And Qweens,” this season’s four programs will honor and satirize pomp and circumstance, war and peace, sacred and profane, those in power and those without. MAFB's Artistic Director, Lee Hartman, has chosen a challenging assortment of themes and compositions that illustrate the musical range of the concert band across widely varying styles. The 17th season will feature two commissioned works -- one from an open call and the second a work from a Kansas City area composer that features two accomplished Missouri musicians. The season will also provide opportunities for local guest conductors, composers, arrangers, and soloists. Although many of the composers and compositions in our repertoire will be familiar to musically savvy audience members, MAFB's commitment to featuring new music from emerging musical talent is an important criterion for decision-making. All concerts will feature multiple women composers and arrangers, LGBTQ+ composers, and composers of color to more accurately reflect the diverse community MAFB serves. This inclusionary programming model does away with tokenism and brings new compositional voices to audiences.