"Our vision for the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra is to be on the same cultural plane as the symphony, the ballet, and the Lyric opera", said Mair when elaborating on a strategy to grow the orchestra and attract young audiences and musicians.
To that end, the orchestra incorporated youth outreach and education into their strategy, an initiative entitled JazzWorks!
They connected with audiences through their tributes to Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Woody Herman, and even Kansas City jazz great Count Basie.
[4] They had played at Unity Temple on the Kansas City Plaza for most of their concerts, but after 5 years they grew to the Folly Theater as well.
[5] The orchestra embarked on its first international tour in May 2018, performing at the Swinging Hannover festival in Germany and other concerts in Poland.