Summary: The Square in downtown Wooster was filled with the sounds of music when the Ohio Light Opera Chorus and Orchestra presented a pops concert on the 4th of July.
With the Ohio Light Operas 2011 festival season in full swing, the members of the cast and orchestra of the nationally acclaimed light opera company took a break from their hectic rehearsal and performance schedules to thank the Wooster community for its unwavering support - through music.
For the twelfth consecutive year, a group of 31 instrumentalists and dozens of cast members from the Ohio Light Opera offered a free 4th of July concert on the Square in downtown Wooster before an enthusiastic crowd that according to Main Street Wooster Executive Director Sandra Hull shattered the previous record of well over 500 audience members.
Entitled America, the Beautiful the hour long pops concert featured selections from the shows being performed by the Ohio Light Opera during the 2011 season including a medley of songs from the musical Camelot along with patriotic favorites including America, the Beautiful and John Phillip Sousas Stars and Stripes Forever and concert classics including Shenandoah and Buglers Holiday.
The OLO orchestra, which is comprised of 31 of the finest young musicians from across the country, performed under the direction of Ohio Light Opera Music Director Michael Borowitz. Joining the orchestra was a chorus comprised of dozens of members of the 40 person cast for this years summer festival season.
For the past 31 years, the Ohio Light Opera has been bringing the very best of lyric theater to Wooster. During its long history the resident professional company of the College of Wooster has performed over 100 different works from around the world, many of which are very rarely performed. Since in founding in 1979, the Ohio Light Opera has entertained an audience of nearly a half a million patrons.
The Ohio Light Operas season continues through August 13 and includes seven different shows including the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot, Jubilee, which features the music of the incomparable Cole Porter, Gilbert and Sullivan favorite The Pirates of Penzance, Franz Lehars The Merry Widow, Victor Herberts The Fortune Teller and Leo Falls Madame Pompadour. As an added treat the Ohio Light Opera cast will perform a trio of short operettas – Jacques Offenbachs Evening Wind and Arthur Sullivans Cox and Box and Trial by Jury – in a single performance.
The Ohio Light Opera free community concert was made possible through a partnership between Main Street Wooster and the Ohio Light Opera.
Music returns to the Square in downtown Wooster on August 12 at 7:00 p.m. when Main Street Wooster presents the Air Force Band of Flight. The concert will be presented free of charge thanks to the sponsorship of Sprenger Health Care System, Wooster Glass and The Daily Record.
On August 19 Main Street Woosters busy schedule of family friendly events continues with a Concert and Cruise In featuring the band Classic Trendz. That event is made possible through the sponsorship of D+S Distribution, Wooster Appliance and Long, Cook and Samsa.
For more information on Main Street Wooster log on to www. mainstreetwooster.org.
For more information on the Ohio Light Opera visit the companys web site at www.ohiolightopera.org.
