Spokane Symphony celebrate America’s birthday at the Pavilion at Riverfront Park
It’s fitting that two of the main cogs behind the Spokane Symphony’s free concert celebrating America’s 247th birthday hail from other countries, as the United States is a nation of immigrants.
The Spokane Symphony’s violinist Mateusz Wolski is from Warsaw, Poland and conductor James Lowe is English. Can a Brit blow out the candles on America’s birthday cake Tuesday at the Pavilion at Riverfront Park after losing the colonies?
“Ha,” Lowe said via email while visiting his native country. “I find it all rather fun. I’m struck by the fact that whenever we celebrate, be it a wedding, national holiday or even, ahem, a coronation, we use music to set the mood. Besides, it (the Revolutionary War) is such a long time ago, who can even remember who y’all had the beef with. I like to think of it as America’s birthday.”
Wolski is just as enthused as Lowe.
“It’s a wonderful holiday since it gives people who are from many different countries, who now reside in America, a chance to celebrate how great this nation is,” Wolski said. “Yes, there are positives and negatives with America, but it’s wonderful to live here. I’ve lived in America since 1996, which is more than half of my life since I’m 48 years old and I’ve lived in Spokane since 2007. I’m honored to be part of such a show.”
Expect the traditional when the orchestra takes the stage under the Pavilion at Riverfront Park.
“There are some good works that you can’t miss out on,” Lowe said. “There are the standard composers. After all, you can’t spell Sousa without USA. But then you want to fit other music around them to make a good balanced menu. Of course, it has to be all about America.”
A left of center song such as fiddler Mark O’Connor’s “Appalachia Waltz” will be part of the show.
“That will be a nice addition to the program,” Wolski said. “We’ll have a number of marches and ‘Appalachia Waltz’ will be a nice change in direction.”
It’s only the second Fourth of July event for Lowe, who signed on as the symphony’s conductor just before the pandemic. It’s not easy for Lowe and the musicians because the symphony has been on break for more than a month.
“This concert is a serious challenge since we’re playing in the middle of the summer while on an extended vacation,” Wolski said. “We’re not in a groove now but how do we instantly get into a groove? But all of the musicians are very professional. We’ll do our best to put on a memorable show. We all look forward to this event since it’s a beautiful experience performing at Riverfront Park. The acoustics are pretty nice. The Fourth of July show is always a powerful experience.”
After the performance and the fireworks light up the sky, it’s time for Lowe to relax a bit and then prepare in August for the 2023-24 season.
“I’ll be studying lots of scores,” Lowe said. “Once the season is up and running, there’s hardly any time for me to catch my breath, let alone spend any time in deep contemplation about Dvorak. It’s actually one of my favorite times of year. Just me and the composer.”