Based upon a 1918 poem by Carl Sandburg, Eugene Friesen's Carl Sandburg's Prairie celebrates the American prairie and was given its premiere in a twenty-minute version on June 2, 2000, as part of the Continental Harmony project. It is being expanded as a full-length symphony for premiere on June 2, 2001. Both versions feature performances by the Grammy Award-winning Paul Winter Consort, the Winfield Regional Symphony and PrairieFest Chorus, and the Prairie Wind Dancers of Lawrence, Kansas.