Children in winter clothing walk on a paved area near a yellow school bus, clutching their student tickets. Other school buses are parked in the background.

Student Matinees

Show Options

Fostering a Love for the Arts in Kansas City Youth

a group of children and adults sit in theater seats bathed in blue lighting. Some appear excited, raising their arms towards the stage, while others sit calmly.

Every year, 40,000 students visit the Kauffman Center to experience the performing arts through more than 35 student matinees.

These events include Kansas City Symphony concerts, Kansas City Ballet performances, Lyric Opera of Kansas City performances, Kauffman Center Presents Trailblazing Talks speaker series presentations, and more! Exploring the arts is a crucial component of a well-rounded education and empowers young people to discover their creative potential.

Student Performances Presented by Resident Companies and Community Arts Organization

Kauffman Center Presents
Student Performances

Student matinees cultivate a connection to the arts in young people and the Kauffman Center is proud to host these events for Kansas City’s youth throughout the season. Tickets for Kauffman Center Presents student matinees are offered at the reduced price of $2 per ticket for school groups.

A group of six young individuals stands indoors, smiling at the camera. Four of them are in the foreground, dressed casually, while two more are in the background, engaged in conversation. at the Kauffman Center.

Trailblazing Talks
Student Matinees in 2026

The Kauffman Center’s speaker series, Trailblazing Talks, features award-winning photographers, explorers, scientists, documentarians and more. Each one-hour presentation is illustrated by stunning imagery and gripping video footage shown on a 40-foot-by-22.5-foot screen in Muriel Kauffman Theatre. Afterward, students get up close and personal with the speaker during a brief audience Q&A session.

Trailblazing Talks matinees are recommended for grades 6 – 12. Tickets are just $2 per person. Reservations will close either when sold out or two weeks before each performance date.

Reserve Now

Louise Leaky examines animal horns displayed in a wooden case inside a storage room lined with shelves and boxes.

Digging for Humanity’s Origins
Paleoanthropologist Louise Leakey
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at 10:30 a.m.

This show explores the burning question that consumes African-born Louise Leakey — as it consumed her famed parents Meave and Richard Leakey, and grandparents Louis and Mary Leakey before her — “How is it that Homo Sapiens are the only surviving member of the human family out of all of the upright ape species that have called Earth home over the past 8 million years?” Was it due to cross breeding with other human species? Was it due to the size of our brains? These are the questions Dr. Leakey seeks to answer.

Leave Only Footprints
CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent
Conor Knighton
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, at 10:30 a.m.

When Conor Knighton set off to explore America’s “best idea,” a broken engagement and a broken heart had left him longing for a change of scenery. The plan he’d cooked up might have gone a bit overboard. Over the course of a year, Conor visited every national park in the country, from Acadia to Zion. The Emmy award-winning CBS Sunday Morning correspondent invites us along on a whirlwind tour, highlighting unexpected stories, colorful characters and profound lessons he unearthed along the way.

Albert Lin stands with a prosthetic leg stands on rocky terrain, wearing outdoor clothing and a backpack, with green hills in the background.

In Search of Lost Cities
Explorer Albert Lin
Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 10:30 a.m.

Albert Lin is a professional explorer, blurring boundaries between human and machine, while uncovering the lost wisdom of our past. In 2016, Albert lost his leg below the knee as a result of a dune buggy accident in the California Dunes. His transformation through the use of innovative prosthetics drives his relentless quest into the farthest reaches of our planet — from Mongolia to the Mayan jungle — employing a technologist’s approach to unearth lost cultural stories and rituals.

A lion cub lies on the ground with its head resting on its paw, looking off into the distance.

The Planet in Our Hands
Photographer Mattias Klum
Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at 10:30 a.m.

Mattias Klum is a masterful storyteller. Through dramatic images and heart-stopping tales of facing down an Asiatic lion, embedding with a tribe of meerkats, stalking deadly vipers and nearly getting burned alive atop a hot air balloon over a dense Amazon jungle, he weaves humor, beauty and wonder into each talk, reminding us that what we have is worth saving.

Two gulls stand in a grassy field front of a body of water and snow-capped mountains

Bay of Life: From Wind to Whales
Photographer Frans Lanting and
Science Writer Christine Eckstrom
Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 10:30 a.m.

California’s Monterey Bay is America’s top biodiversity hotspot — and Frans and Christine’s backyard. 100 years ago, it was on the verge of ecological collapse with the clear cutting of Redwood forests, and its wildlife in crisis. Today, Monterey Bay is a thriving example of renewal and recovery. Frans and Christine share this story on stage, demonstrating how damaged ecosystems can be restored when people care — and act — together.

Bus Transportation Assistance

The Kauffman Center’s Bus Transportation Fund helps educators provide arts experiences to their students by eliminating or defraying bus costs.

Any school transporting students to a qualifying matinee or open rehearsal presented at the Kauffman Center can apply for bus transportation assistance. Bus Transportation Fund applications must be submitted no later than three business days after the performance.

Apply Today

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