Westmoreland Symphony plans annual 'Summer Sparklers' free concert

Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s annual “Summer Sparklers” concert is “an opportunity to celebrate a great season and to look forward to the next season,” said Artistic Director Daniel Meyer.

It’s also an opportunity to celebrate the Fourth of July, the warm days of summer and a wide range of musical tastes.

Meyer will conduct the free performance beginning at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Robertshaw Amphitheater at St. Clair Park, off Maple Avenue in downtown Greensburg.

“The concert is designed for people of all ages,” he said. “You can come with a picnic blanket or a lounge chair and have a really relaxed atmosphere in which to enjoy the music.”

Some bench seating also is available at the amphitheater.

As usual, the program will include “The Star-Spangled Banner” and a salute to the armed forces. A symphony patron will be tabbed as guest conductor for John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” said WSO Executive Director Natalie Ann Kasievich.

The audience will get “a little tease of next season,” Meyer said, by hearing a movement from Brahms’ Symphony No. 3, which is on the symphony’s Feb. 11 program.

“It’s a really beautiful movement that features the cello section,” he said. “The (Ferdinand) Herold overture to ‘Zampa’ features our brass section very prominently, and it gives them some nice calls and fanfares to play.”

There also will be music that celebrates the joys of the season.

“We’ll be performing ‘The Moldeau,’ (Bedrich) Smetana’s famous tone poem about the river that flows through Prague,” Meyer said. “There are bird calls and country dances, and it’s just a real celebration of nature and being outdoors.”

The regular musical theater portion of the concert will include selections from “The Music Man.”

“The chance to hear the Westmoreland Symphony outdoors just blocks away from our home (at The Palace Theatre) has a real appeal,” Meyer said. “It gives us an opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to everyone in our community who has supported the symphony as we’re coming out of these difficult years of the pandemic.”

It will be the first “Summer Sparklers” experience for Kasievich, who assumed her post on May 2.

“I’m excited for my first time being involved and being able to meet the community and symphony patrons at this popular event,” she said.

“With our new leadership, we’re going to have some new energy and new creativity and we’re looking forward to all of those things,” Meyer said. “(The concert) is a bit of a celebration of the past and a bit of a celebration of the future and looking forward to more good days with the symphony.”

While admission is free, donations will be accepted.

For more information, call 724-837-1850 or visit westmorelandsymphony.org.