June 27, 2008

Patriotic Pops Concert again forced inside, but Fort Wayne Philharmonic shines on

TAKING A BOW — Conductor Bradley Thachuk and members of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra stand to take a bow from an appreciative audience at the Life Center auditorium Thursday night as the annual Patriotic Pops Concert was again forced inside because of rain. The concert had been scheduled to be held at Ouabache State Park, but like a year ago, the weather did not cooperate.

Mother Nature, for the second year in a row, tried to put a damper on the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Pops Concert . . . . and for the second year in a row, she has failed.

Just like a year ago, rain on Thursday forced the outstanding group of Fort Wayne musicians to abandon their plans for an outdoor concert at Ouabache State Park.

Instead, the event was moved to the Life Church auditorium where a large audience was put in the mood for the upcoming Independence Day holiday with a rousing and patriotic concert.

Led by conductor Bradley Thachuk, the Philharmonic Orchestra once again, whether outside or in, was outstanding.

“Our outdoor summer concert has become an indoor event,” Thachuk told the audience at the beginning of the performance, adding, “But next year I promise we will be at the park.”

The audience didn’t seem to mind going to the rain site for a second consecutive year as the orchestra received numerous standing ovations throughout the nearly two-hour performance.

The annual event is sponsored by Ouabache National Park and the Creative Arts Council of Wells County.

Welcoming the audience and introducing the orchestra was newly-elected State Senator Travis Holdman, who gave a special tribute to the late Sen. David Ford, who passed away earlier this year.

In past years, Ford had served as the master of ceremonies for the pops concert event.

Members of his family were present for Thursday’s event and drew recognition from Holdman in his introduction.

“David was a good man. I have some large shoes to fill,” Sen. Holdman said of the challenge of following Ford as the area’s representative in the Indiana Senate.

“I have already found myself asking the question ‘What would David do?’” Holdman said.

A moment of silence was held in Ford’s memory before the event kicked off with presentation of the flag by the American Legion Post 111 color guard and the orchestra playing the Star Spangled Banner.

Thachuk then led the orchestra through the “Washington Post March” before narrator Jeffrey Moore took the stage and keynoted “Casey at the Bat” as the musicians provided the backdrop.

Next up was “E.T. Adventures on Earth,” followed by “Love Is All You Need,” a symphonic rendition of many of the great hits by The Beatles.

Before the intermission, the orchestra and the audience closed with “Sing Out America,” featuring such favorites as “America the Beautiful,’ “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy,” and “God Bless America” among other patriotic favorites.

The second half of the program began with “A Salute to the Big Bands” followed by a medley tribute to composer George M. Cohan.

A traditional favorite of the Patriotic Pops concert followed with the Armed Forces Salute, with veterans in the audience standing to applause when their branch of service’s theme song was played.

Rounding out the concert was an entertaining version of the “Raiders March’ from the Indiana Jones movies, and the program was concluded with the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky.

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