With barely a bare spot available for a lawn chair or blanket, the St. Mary’s College River Concert Series launched the 4th of July weekend on Friday evening with a rousing patriotic show followed by fireworks over St. Mary’s River.
Concert Series Music Director Jeffrey Silberschlag and the Chesapeake Orchestra entertained with Opus #57 by Malcolm Arnold and a Holiday Overture by Eliot Carter. The overture featured a light-hearted assist on vacuum by College President Joseph Urgo.
That was followed up by Thomas Jefferson “In His Own Words: with music by Judith Shatin and spoken word by St. Mary’s College Assistant Professor of Music History Dr. Sterling Lambert.
The concert featured a salute to the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation with excerpts for the Air Power Suite by Nathan Dello Jolo and Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines by Ron Goodwin. The concert concluded with several John Phillip Souza marches and a rousing rendition of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, which served as a prelude to the fireworks.
As usual with every River Concert there were a number of vendors on hand with food, drinks and community information.
The holiday concert was the third in a series of seven free concerts every Friday evening through July 29.
