Designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors in the fall of 2011, after nearly five years of construction. The 285,000-square foot building is home to two distinct performance halls, which showcase work by theKansas City Ballet, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Kansas City Symphony. Helzberg Hallwas designed by acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, who engineered the space using both science and art. His design allows the musicians to surround the audience in a warm blanket of sound, focusing the music so that the audience can hear even the smallest nuance.

"What happens in a great concert hall is that everything that's produced on stage is brought into relief and put into focus. And the audience is therefore able to appreciate it the way they can in an image which is crystal clear and sharp," explains Frank Byrn, Executive Director of the Kansas City Symphony.

Like a Stradivarius violin, "this building is silent until the symphony comes in and plays,” he says.

Byrn, whose symphony is performing a “Christmas Festival” through December, describes Kansas City as a “first-class destination for cultural tourism,” with the Kauffman Center at the nexus of a “great revival of the performing arts” in the Midwest city. Also through December, the Kansas City Ballet is performing “The Nutcracker” at the Muriel Kauffman Theatre.