The Conroe Symphony Orchestra will close its 27th season with a patriotic concert on June 27, honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary and supporting local veterans.
.png)
The Conroe Symphony Orchestra will wrap up its 27th season and the nation’s semiquincentennial with their “Celebrate America!” concert on Saturday, June 27, officials said.
The event is at 4 p.m. at First Methodist Church Conroe, 4308 W. Davis St., and tickets are available online. All revenues will support the Montgomery County Veterans Association, organizers said.
Music Director Gary Liebst will conduct the orchestra in a concert of “Americana” that includes a variety of patriotic works and a salute to U.S. service troops. Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Steven A. Hummer will serve as event emcee.
“It’s the 27th season, and it’s the end of the season, so there was a real sense of honoring those two layers of meaning,” Liebst said. He said the program is meant to echo national celebrations around America's 250th birthday.
The event will feature familiar music, including John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever” and William J. Marsh’s “Texas, Our Texas,” plus an Armed Forces Salute to veterans. The orchestra will also perform a world premiere of a new composition by composer Cooper Jeremy Franklin Goodman, prepared for the 250th anniversary.
Guest artists include the barbershop group S.L.E.D. Quartet from the Houston area performing patriotic selections and soprano Renée Rybolt lending her voice to many compositions, including “God Bless America.”
The performance will close with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” famous for its dramatic and high-energy finish.
“It’s supposed to be exciting,” Liebst said of the piece, which he described as dynamically orchestrated and having great appeal for audiences.
Organizers said the performance has received partial funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the acknowledgment points to the show’s cultural and communal worth.
“The concert has a connection to local veterans," Liebst noted in addition to the music, with proceeds going directly to services in Montgomery County.
“It’s a reminder that the freedoms we’re celebrating didn’t just happen in the past, in the context of the United States Semiquincentennial,” he said.
“[The concert] is an early start to the Independence Day celebrations and provides families an accessible introduction to live classical music,” said organizers.
.png)
.png)
