Symphony Of The Lakes To Perform Patriotic Concert Before Fireworks
WINONA LAKE — The Symphony of the Lakes will perform its annual program of patriotic and popular numbers prior to the fireworks display over Winona Lake. The concert “Salute to America,” will feature a wide variety of popular music by American composers. Repertoire will include nostalgic pieces of Americana like Morton Gould’s “American Salute” and Copland’s “Variations on a Shaker Melody” along with popular distinctively American sounds like music of Duke Ellington and John Williams. The program will be rounded out with plenty of patriotic marches and a tribute to military service men and women.
Appearing on stage with the orchestra will be Emma Scofield, winner of the 2019 Young Artist Competition which was held in February of 2019. Competing against a field of 17 total contestants, Scofield, a homeschooled 16-year-old cellist, won the top prize which includes a Thomas N. Stirling Memorial Scholarship. Stirling was conductor of the Symphony of the Lakes until his sudden passing in December of 2018. Scofield will play the Adagio-Moderato movement of the Edward Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor with the orchestra.
Conductor for the program will be Dr. Jason Thompson, associate professor of music at Indiana Wesleyan University where he has been on faculty since 2006. He conducts the IWU Orchestra, Early Music Ensemble and Opera Theatre, and teaches violin, viola and music history. He has served as concertmaster and assistant conductor of the Marion Philharmonic Orchestra, and guest conductor of the Bach Collegium Fort Wayne. He earlier served as interim conductor for the Symphony of the Lakes in Winona Lake and cover conductor for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. He is the founder of the Guilford Town Band in Guilford, Conn., a semi-professional wind ensemble that he directed from 2000 to 2007.
Dr. Thompson holds a Bachelor of Science in Violin Performance and Conducting from Indiana University, a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from Bowling Green State University and a Doctor of Music in Early Music Ensemble Direction from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
The orchestra’s program, free and open to all, will be held in Tabernacle Field on Park Avenue in Winona Lake at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 29. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs for the outdoor event.