in addition to ordinary donations and concert proceeds, the symphony is supported by four specialized auxiliary groups. together, these groups raise over $1,000,000 each year. fund-raising events include kansas city's main debutante ball, the jewel ball (which also benefits the nelson-atkins museum of art), the symphony ball, the designers' showhouse (a home renovation expo in kansas city's country club district which chooses one historic home to renovate each year), a friends of the symphony gift shop, and a docent program for educational concerts. in the 2018/19 season, the symphony's annual budget was nearly $19 million.the symphony released its first compact disc, "american voices", conducted by william mcglaughlin, in 1995. "the sound of kansas city" cd debuted in 2004. in july 2008 the symphony released gordon chin's "formosa seasons" on the naxos label, and two settings for shakespeare's "tempest" (by arthur sullivan and jean sibelius) with reference recordings. the symphony released "britten's orchestra", in 2009, a vaughan williams/elgar disc in 2013 and a hindemith/prokofiev/bartok disc in 2014 also with reference recordings. additionally, the symphony has performed on national public radio and has participated in two nationally broadcast pbs television specials, the latest being "homecoming: the kansas city symphony presents joyce didonato", recorded in helzberg hall at the kauffman center for the performing arts. every week during the symphony's season, kcur-fm broadcasts highlights of symphony performances.