Begun in 1947 as a string orchestra for high school students at FHSU, the Western Kansas Orchestra Festival (WKOF) today boasts six string orchestras and over 600 participants each year, including middle school and high school students from Beloit, Colby, Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays, Hutchinson, and Salina. Each year the festival takes place the Friday and Saturday before Thanksgiving, and features some of the leading conductors and string teachers in the Midwest and beyond.

Students partake in a two-day festival of intensive rehearsals, master classes with FHSU string faculty, and lots of fun, which culminates in a final concert on Saturday evening that features each orchestra.

Next year marks the 60th anniversary of WKOF! Don’t miss this exciting and rewarding festival celebrating string music in Western Kansas, taking place in Hays, November 16 and 17, 2007.

WKOF 2006

Hutchinson, KS
Final Concert: 6:30 p.m.
November 18 HSAC

Featured Guest Clinicians:
Norman-Armando Gamboa - Washburn University
Clark Potter – University of Nebraska
Benjamin Morris-Cline – Fort Hays State University
David Upham – Seattle Youth Symphony
Jay Hawkins – Hutchinson Public Schools
Judy Jones – Distinguished Teacher

Past Clinicians

Works Commissioned for WKOF

Pictures

Audio Recordings

Registration Forms (director use only)

Schedule of Events

Repertoire

Policies