The Gloria Musicae Singers Present
Patriotic Spectacular!
July 4 at 4:30 p.m.
First United Methodist Church, Sarasota
The Gloria Musicae Singers salute Independence Day with rousing songs celebrating America, including favorites by Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, George M. Cohan and more. Also features a salute to our armed forces.
(Sarasota, FL) Sarasota’s Gloria Musicae Singers celebrate Independence Day with “Patriotic Spectacular,” featuring rousing songs celebrating America, July 4, 4:30 p.m., at First United Methodist Church, 104 S. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota. Under the direction of Dr. Joseph Holt, the concert features traditional patriotic songs, spirituals, and favorites by Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, George M. Cohan and more. The concert also features a salute to our armed forces. Free parking is available at the Zenith Garage on Mira Mar Court. Tickets are $25 in advance; $30 at the door. Student tickets are $15 at the door on day of concert. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.gloriamusicae.org or call 941-387-6046.
“This concert features songs that are all about the love of country,” says Dr. Joseph Holt, Gloria Musicae’s artistic director. “When you’re in love, you want to sing. You can feel that love when you hear the Gloria Musicae Singers. These are songs from the heart about the land we love and honor.”
Holt explains that he chose arrangements by Gershwin and Berlin to “highlight these remarkable first-generation Americans whose families immigrated to the United States in the later part of the 19th century to seek a better life and escape Jewish persecution by the Russians. How extraordinary is it that these two new Americans would be at the forefront of creating the American musical style of the 20th century?”
In addition to popular Americana musical fare, Holt adds that the concert includes a tribute to freedom by combining traditional African-American spirituals with a Civil War piece about being a soldier and a setting of some of Abraham Lincoln’s most poignant words from the 1860s. The combination of pieces, created expressly for this concert by Holt, highlights the sentiment stated in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.” The familiar spirituals “This Little Light of Mine” and “Ride the Chariot” are featured within this short medley.
The concert also includes George M. Cohan’s “Yankee Doodle Dandy Boy,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” John Philip Sousa’s “Star and Stripes Forever” and Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic” are also featured.
“This July 4th concert is the perfect prelude to an evening of downtown dining and enjoying the fireworks over Sarasota Bay,” says Holt. “There’s no better way to celebrate our great heritage and national pride!”
About the Gloria Musicae Singers
The Gloria Musicae Singers is a professional vocal ensemble that celebrates choral music through innovative performances. The critically acclaimed group, under the artistic direction of Dr. Joseph Holt, performs a repertoire spanning four centuries, and includes orchestral works, intimate madrigals, church motets, folk songs, close-harmony jazz, and Broadway show music. The ensemble also specializes in premiere performances of lesser-known choral works, particularly music by living American composers. The Gloria Musicae Singers has performed premieres by René Clausen, Dick Hyman, Robert Levin, Gwyneth Walker, and James Grant, along with the premiere of a new edition of a rarely heard score by Rossini. For more information about Gloria Musicae, visit www.gloriamusicae.org.
