Sure, you can listen to the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra inside the spacious and quite impressive Forum in downtown Harrisburg, settle into a seat as the lights dim, and watch Music Director Stuart Malina wave his magic wand.
Yes, you can delight in the music that bounces against the walls, proving that this place has some of the best acoustics around. Certainly, you can be indoors, sitting and listening and delighting.
But maybe, just maybe, you like your music au naturale, amid the chirps of birds and cicadas, feeling a wisp of a breeze against your skin, watching children holding invisible batons while imitating Malina’s every musical move.
That’s what HSO’s summer concert series aims to do—leave behind those Forum walls and allow music to float atop the evening air. Five free concerts will get music aficionados together with those who simply wish to enjoy the ambiance of a tuneful summer’s eve.
The outdoor concerts begin June 30 in Annville and, after traveling around the midstate for a few days, wrap up with a rousing celebration of our country’s birth with a July 4 performance at Reservoir Park in Harrisburg.
“The music is always a mix of light classics, selections from Broadway shows and patriotic fare,” said Jeff Woodruff, HSO’s executive director. “Often, we’ll feature a vocalist or a soloist from the orchestra, perhaps some novelty things and, just maybe, a couple of surprises dreamed up by Stuart.”
The great outdoors lends itself to a more laid-back and easy-does-it sort of mood. Thus, the concerts are informal, casual, along with free of charge. All are welcome, and the emphasis is on entertainment and fun for all who attend. Even the musicians are casually dressed and the usual concert hall “etiquette,” according to Woodruff, is “not in play.”
“It’s a chance for virtually anyone and everyone to hear their wonderful Harrisburg Symphony perform, hopefully under a starry sky, with Stuart himself conducting,” Woodruff said.
Nature’s Own
HSO’s summer concert series has been making beautiful music for several decades, and, for the past several years, the orchestra has been performing in five locations for five nights in a row.
For years, Woodruff explained, the concert was called the “barge concert,” and the orchestra was seated on a dock floating in the Susquehanna. It played toward an audience seated on the banks above the river, plus a few people in boats surrounding the dock.
More recently, HSO performed on the infield at Metro Bank Park, the Senators’ home on City Island, now called FNB Field. Last year, because the Senators were actually in town, HSO planned to play in Riverfront Park, but rain forced the event indoors to the Forum.
The Dickinson College locale in Carlisle has also been a long-time venue for HSO performances.
“We have traditionally been the culminating attraction of the final Sunday of the community’s Summerfair Festival,” Woodruff said. “We set up and play on the campus of the college. When the weather’s nice, that concert has been drawing an estimated 5,000 people seated on lawn chairs and blankets.”
That sort of outreach is what the powers-that-be at HSO strive to achieve. It’s a way to take the orchestra out of the Forum’s interior and go out into various communities. There’s no ticket to buy, no drive downtown, no parking space to struggle to seek. During the years that HSO has been performing the summer concert series, it has played to people who probably don’t attend a musical performance at the Forum.
“We like the sense of community that is created when we set up and perform in these different venues,” Woodruff said. “We also think of it as audience building, as we do suspect that, over the years, more than a few who were introduced to the orchestra at one of the free concerts have been enticed to actually purchase a ticket to come hear the orchestra in the orchestra’s home, the Forum.”
So, while the Forum is an acoustically perfect gem, there’s nothing like nature’s own concert hall to enjoy the best music the region has to offer.
The Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra’s summer concert series takes place June 30 to July 4 at five different locations around the Harrisburg area. For complete information, visit www.harrisburgsymphony.org.
When and Where
Enjoy the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra’s summer concert series at the following dates and locations:
June 30: Lebanon Valley College quad, Annville, 8 p.m.
July 1: Negley Park, Lemoyne, 7:30 p.m.
July 2: Dickinson College quad, Carlisle, 8 p.m.
July 3: East Juniata High School, McAlisterville, 7:30 p.m.
July 4: Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, 7:45 p.m.
Author: Lori M. Myers
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