Boston Landmarks Orchestra (BLO) under the direction of Music Director Christopher Wilkins, and Executive Director Jo Frances Meyer, announces its 2019 season of free concerts at the DCR’s Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade. The free, public concerts will be held every Wednesday evening at 7pm from July 17 to August 21, 2019.
The performances this summer celebrate the 90th anniversary of free concerts on the Esplanade, a tradition begun by legendary conductor Arthur Fiedler. From collaborations with the Museum of Science’s Charles Hayden Planetarium and the New England Aquarium, to performances with Boston youth and local musicians, this summer’s programming embraces a range of music and dance by local musicians, ensembles, and performing artists.
According to Wilkins, “A spirit of joy and openness lies at the heart of all Boston Landmarks Orchestra programs. Families, children, newcomers, and first-time concertgoers all have a welcome place at our concerts. The 2019 season celebrates great orchestral literature, innovation and creativity in our city, and the diverse talents of our many collaborators.â€
Jo Frances Meyer adds, “This summer Music Director Christopher Wilkins will take us to the moon, and back to Earth with music and dance that celebrate rich global traditions. Our concerts also will take you back in time to the era when Maestro Arthur Fiedler was wielding his conductor’s baton, as we weave many of his favorites into our weekly programs and celebrate the 90th anniversary of the great legacy of free concerts that he left for us. We can’t wait to welcome everyone to the Esplanade!”
In addition to the free concerts at the Hatch Shell, a full schedule of neighborhood and community concerts will be announced on the Landmarks Orchestra website.
July 17, 2019 at 7pm
SYMPHONIC SPACE ODYSSEY: 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing
Boston Landmarks Orchestra | Christopher Wilkins, conductor
In partnership with the Museum of Science’s Charles Hayden Planetarium
Michael Andrew, vocalist
Sirgourney Cook, soprano
Chuck Wilcox, Lead Animator and Artistic Director
Jason Fletcher, Associate Producer
Prelude performance: Young Artists from Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) perform wind and brass chamber music.
John Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Leroy Anderson Summer Skies
Richard Strauss Thus Spake Zarathustra
JoaquÃn Rodrigo In Search of the Beyond
Dvorák ‘Song to the Moon’ from Rusalka
John Williams Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Philip Glass Icarus at the Edge of Time (excerpt)
A celebration in music and live video of the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing with the Museum of Science and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. For one night only, this family-friendly evening honors the historic event by pairing custom visuals produced by the Charles Hayden Planetarium with symphonic music inspired by the moon and outer space.
John Adams’ sonic ball-of-fire launches a program that features two intensely vibrant film scores alongside Leroy Anderson’s summer reverie composed for Arthur Fiedler. Thus Spake Zarathustra—which traces the spiritual evolution of mankind—opens with one of the most recognizable moments in all of music. It was the soundtrack for the opening minutes of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Rain Date: Thursday, July 18. If it rains on July 18 as well, the concert will be held at First Church in Cambridge 11 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138.
July 24, 2019 at 7pm
Longwood Symphony Orchestra
Ronald Feldman, Music Director
Longwood Symphony Orchestra is Boston’s orchestra of doctors and health-care professionals that helps raise money and awareness for healthcare nonprofits. Longwood Symphony has established the Healing Art of Musicâ„¢ program, an award-winning business model that collaborates with some of Boston’s most reputable non-profit organizations to help raise funds for the community’s medically underserved. Under Music Director Ronald Feldman, the Longwood Symphony presents a program of orchestral works.
John Williams The Cowboys Overture
Gioachino Rossini William Tell Overture
Charles Gounod Funeral March of a Marionette
AntonÃn Dvorák Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88, B. 163
If it rains, this concert will be cancelled.
July 31, 2019 at 7pm
Deep River
Panel discussion at WBUR CitySpace on July 23, 2019. More information below.
Boston Landmarks Orchestra | Christopher Wilkins, conductor
Coro Allegro, David Hodgkins, Artistic Director
David F. Coleman, Choirmaster, One City Choir
One City Choir
Members of New England Spiritual Ensemble
Vocal Soloists to include:
Sirgourney Cook, soprano
Jennifer Ellis, soprano
Myran Parker-Brass, mezzo-soprano
Tai Oney, countertenor
Jonas Budris, tenor
Matthew DiBattista, tenor
Davron S. Monroe, tenor
Alvy Powell, bass-baritone
Milton Wright, bass
William Grant Still Festive Overture
George Walker Lyric for Strings
Traditional Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel
Traditional, arr. Bonds Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
Traditional, arr. Bonds I Got a Home in that Rock
Traditional, arr. Bonds He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand
Fred Onovwerosuoke “We Need to Talk†from A Triptych of American Voices: A Cantata of the People
Jerome Kern Show Boat in Concert
African American spirituals—revered today as essential anthems of the American experience—sing of oppression while glorifying freedom. Boston Landmarks Orchestra performs a selection of songs and spirituals by African American composers. We Need to Talk by Fred Onovwerosuoke shines light on race relations through the prism of music and poetry. The songs will be followed by a concert suite of excerpts and narration from Jerome Kern’s 1927 musical Show Boat. The musical introduced racial themes in forward-looking ways on the Broadway stage. Today it remains a beloved classic of American musical theater, while provoking both admiration and controversy.
The program features the One City Choir, a large symphonic choir comprising committed and passionate singers from all of Boston’s 23 neighborhoods and surrounding communities. The choir takes its name from the words of Boston civic leader Hubie Jones, who has advocated that “Boston can be one city through arts and culture.â€
The concert is the culmination of a series of discussions and outreach events focusing on the history of race relations on the Broadway stage, and the role that African American music has played in shaping American culture. A panel discussion will be announced shortly, and will feature Emmett G. Price III, Dean and Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, Landmarks Orchestra board member and former Boston Public Schools Executive Director for the Arts Myran Parker-Brass, as well as Milton Wright, retired District Court Judge, Landmarks Orchestra Trustee and Music Director of Black Nativity.
Rain Date: Thursday, August 1, 2019. If it rains on August 1 as well, the concert will be held at First Church in Cambridge 11 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138.