Above: A regional symphony including Southborough members will hold patriotic concerts, complete with fife & drums. (images cropped from flyer)
A reader reached out to remind me that he’s among multiple Southborough musicians are part of the Symphony Pro Musica regional orchestra. They hope the community will join them at one of their two “Happy Birthday, America!” concerts this weekend, celebrating the nation’s 250th.
Admission to one of the concerts is free to students and U.S. veterans.
This is the first concert of the 44th season of the orchestra founded and conducted by “Maestro March Churchill”. But it’s also wrapping up an American anniversary theme that kicked off its 2025-2026 season.
This weekend’s performances will open with a traditional symphony performance of their “resident composer” and include a solo cello performance by their maestro.
For the second half, a “Pops style” section and guest players from the Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums.
The concerts are this Saturday evening, November 14th in Hudson High School’s auditorium and Sunday afternoon, November 15th in Mechanics Hall in Worcester.
The website details:
Rounding out SPM’s year-long musical commemoration of America’s 250 th is a program full of delightful and varied works. We open with the world premiere of an SPM-commissioned work by our resident composer, Arson Fahim. He has written a 10-minute work paying tribute to his last five years studying music in the US. It’s titled “An Afghan in Boston” and features a solo cello, performed by our conductor, Mark Churchill, with the composer on the podium. . .
The spirited Symphony No. 2 by American musical pioneer Charles Ives follows with dozens of patriotic and hymn tunes woven into its fabric of Brahmsian textures. The program’s second half includes favorite patriotic works and features the acclaimed Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums in full regalia. With SPM they’ll perform Evan Meier’s “Liberty: From the Ashes of Tyranny,” a work written for them which they recently performed with the Boston Pops on July 4!
You can read more about the program here.
Below are prices and links for the general admission tickets:
- Saturday, November 14th, 7:30 pm @ Hudson High —$27.24/general admission and $21.99/senior, free to students, veterans, and “Afghan Community”. Click here for tickets.
- Sunday, November 15th at Mechanics Hall in Worcester — $30/general admission and $25/senior. (This event is eligible for free tickets under the Card to Culture Program (using promo code). For eligibility requirements, please see mechanicshall.org/cardtoculture) Click here for tickets.
To learn about joining the orchestra to play in a future concert, click here.
