We were lucky to catch up with Jesse Henkensiefken recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jesse, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

As an aspiring musician, I always loved making music with others, while finding inspiration through creativity and collaboration. Coupled with my passion for teaching, I knew that I wanted to one day run my own business and help the next generation of young musicians find their voice and passion.

After meeting my wife and moving to New York City for 5 years, we took jobs at a university in Central Kansas where we immediatley created an International Music Festival (IMF). The idea behind the festival was to bring a level of worldly musicianship and culture to the region, to integrate, inspire and mentor the music community, while creating accessible yet elite events that otherwise did not exist. We forged the IMF with the idea of creating educationally based-performances that featured the world’s most talent classical performing artists alongside our local student body, in various learning and performance opportunities. We also partnered with multiple like-minded community organizations to help expand our audience and community impact.

After the first year, we saw the value of hosting the festival as it was extraordinarily well received by our participants, audience members, benefactors, and collaborators. The festival exponentially grew over a 5 year period until we left the university and moved to the KC metropolitian area. With all we had accomplished, we decided it would be a waste for us to lose all of the professional connections that had been recently established through the IMF. Also seeing a need for establishing an organization that helped expose Midwesterners to the power of high-caliber classical music, we created the Mid-America Performing Arts Alliance – and organization that aims to bolster music education in underserved communities and breakdown the traditional elitism that is often associated with the concert hall.

Jesse, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Located in Eastern Kansas, the Mid-America Performing Arts Alliance (MAPAA), is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that presents world-class educationally-based classical music events to underserved communities throughout the Midwest.

Each of our collaborations feature acclaimed International guest musicians and local artists, who teach, mentor and concertize with today’s aspiring young Midwestern musicians.

While recognizing that communities all over our region face performing arts education access barriers, MAPAA’s mission focuses on collaborating with local schools, businesses, and community organizations, while offering cultural diversity and engaging programming, all while transcending the traditional elitism associated with classical music.

MAPAA’s mission is supported by three ‘pillars’:
Education – Advocating for the development of Midwestern talent; matching the next generation of classical musicians with distinguished performer-educators.

Community Collaboration – Working with schools, businesses, and local arts organizations to expand the cultural life of our communities and deepen an appreciation for classical music among a diverse audience, transcending traditional ‘elitism’.

Commitment to Excellence – Pairing today’s finest international and local musicians with works by underrepresented and canonized composers; embracing comprehensive programming brimming with discovery for all ages.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Our very first successful funding campaign was a crowdfunding initiative on kickstarter. We raised money for our first ever event in February of 2022 – we had four prominent cello teachers from UMKC, KU, WSU and MAPAA who each invited one student from their own studios to collaborate together and perform at the Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop that collaborated together. Through kickstarter we were able to raise the money we needed to present our inaugural concert and have been cultivating our supporters ever since.

MAPAA is a 501c3 so the majority of our funding comes from either grant writing or private donation. All donations fund our programming and youth outreach initiative which consists of our “Scholarships in Need” program, visiting artists masterclasses, instrumental pettings zoos, our competition, and our new side-by-side training orchestra.

How’d you meet your business partner?

The co-founder of MAPAA also happens to be my wife Tatiana Tessman. We met back in 2007 while attending the same conservatory in North Kansas City. Tatiana was performing the Second Piano Concerto by Sergei Rachmaninoff with the KC Philharmonia, while I was playing in the cello section. I smiled to her during a very romantic part during the performance and the rest was history. Still going strong after fifteen years of marriage and six years as business partners.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mapaa.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mapaacorp/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MAPAACORP/