Welcome to Star Spangled Symphony from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

For fifty years, we gather on the 4th of July to celebrate our nation's independence, our men and women in uniform, and the sheer joy of of music performed by the Colorado Springs Philharmonic.

I'm Philharmonic CEO Nathan Newbrough and welcome to our home, The Pike's Peak Center for the Performing Arts where a capacity crowd of our friends and neighbors will gather for this annual tradition.

Understand that this is no ordinary concert.

It's lively, it's patriotic, but it's also absolutely free to everyone in our region to gather together.

It's a decades long partnership with the City of Colorado Springs, and now to get things started, our former Mayor, John Suthers.

Thank you, Nathan.

Welcome to Star Spangled Symphony.

I'm John Suthers and it was my privilege to serve as the 41st mayor of my hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

One of the things we're honoring with our 4th of July celebration every year in Colorado Springs is our miltary presence.

The military is part of the DNA of Colorado Springs.

we have about 45,000 active troops, soldiers and airmen.

We have about 120,000 veterans living in the Pikes Peak region.

and we are so proud to be the home of these individuals who are now giving and have given so much of their life to the defense of our country.

The Colorado Springs Philharmonic is an incredibly important part of our arts and cultural community here in Colorado Springs and the Pike's Peak region.

No 4th of July celebration would be complete without it.

The quality of musicians that the Philharmonic has attracted and the following that it has in the community it is so, so very important to the quality of life in Colorado Springs.

We hope you all enjoy the Star Spangled Symphony as we celebrate 4th of July.

[Applause] ♪♪♪ [Applause] ♪♪♪ [Applause] Thank you.

It's so great to see so many people here today.

We are gonna have a great time.

That was a little piece called Big Basin Breakdown and it just so happens that the composer is here today and in the orchestra.

Let's do a big, big round of applause for Tom Taylor.

[Applause] Hello, I'm Thomas Wilson, associate conductor of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and thank you for joining us for this broadcast.

Just within the last several years we've added to our armed forces, the Space Force.

and so, the old medley didn't have the Space Force theme.

So I decided I didn't want to have anybody in the audience who was serving in the Space Force fail to get recognized.

And so as soon as the theme came out I made an arrangement to fit in to Bob Lowden's existing armed forces salute.

[Piano] So, it's really very simple, so how to turn it into something?

How to find a life in it?

That's the challenge.

Bob Lowden, he's got a great sense of humor and there's a lot of jokes in there.

In fact, he even slips in Popeye near the end.

There's a little cadence- [Piano] So I decided right there.

Splice right there.

And instead of that 2/4 feel a 6/8 feel to fit the Space Force Theme.

And so, just rewritten slightly- [Piano] And then, since he's got a sense of humor and slips in all kinds of little jokes, I did too.

[Piano] I slipped in a little bit of Star Trek.

Most people won't even notice.

I love to throw in jokes for just the musicians.

And now let's get this rolling right.

We're going to do a little medley that's going to pay tribute to our men and women in uniform both active duty and retired.

This little medley has all 6- now 6- because of Space Force all 6 themes from the armed forces and whether you are active duty or retired when we play your tune will you please stand so we can acknowledge you.

♪♪♪ [Applause] Next we're going to turn to Malagueña.

This is from the late Big Band Era in Stan Kenton who probably had the greatest big band there ever was.

His arranger Bill Holman wrote some of the greatest arrangements in late jazz that have ever been and I wanted to take this arrangement of Malagueña and bring it into the 21st century orchestra.

You have certain things that are an advantage and some disadvantages.

For example.

we don't have saxophones, but now we have strings, we have some extra percussion, we have horns, we have some extra woodwinds, bassoons.

So there's all this extra color that we can make.

And so to bring that into the 21st century and make it a really exciting and intense experience for orchestra, this new arrangement has turned into a big hit for the Philharmonic and we're glad to be bringing it to you.

There are two soloists- actually three now that I think about it.

First, Bron Wright on trombone, and then we're going to have Sean Hennessy on trumpet and Jacob Klock on violin in the improvisation section.

So enjoy Malagueña.

We're going to open the American songbook now with music spanning about 70 years.

Just after World War II so many of the greatest big band musicians returned home and they formed bands like the world had never heard before in one last supernova of the big band era, none was better than Stan Kenton's band, and this is a tune in their style Latin tune, so a little bit of a Latin flair to it.

And it's very over the top, which I love to do.

[Audience laughs] It's a bit of a bumpy ride so buckle up.

This is Malagueña.

♪♪♪ [Applause] Okay.

I think we're warmed up now.

We're going to turn now to a special arrangement of America the Beautiful, that was specifically for the Philharmonic.

Last year on July 4th we were joined by a spectacular vocalist: Leo Nova Wolfe and today Leo returns and is joined by Anne Terze-Schwarz and Zachary Janzen to sing America the Beautiful.

O beautiful for spacious skies For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain America!

America!

God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife Who more than self their country loved And mercy more than life!

America!

America!

God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for spacious skies For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain America!

America!

God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

Shining sea!

[Applause.]

It was a great pleasure for me to perform Aaron Copeland's Lincoln Portrait as a part of this Philharmonic celebration of the 4th of July.

And I did so of course with the new Mayor of Colorado Springs, mayor Yemi Mobolade.

And now it is my distinct pleasure to introduce the 42nd mayor of Colorado Springs, Mayor Yemi Mobolade.

Thank you, John.

It was truly an incredible honor to do this piece with the former Mayor of Colorado Springs.

It felt like- it felt very symbolic.

Like the continuity of government from his administration to mine.

And for us to be with the Philharmonic at that public event on July 4th to read the words of one of our most famous presidents who happens to be a hero of mine as well and we share the same birthday.

February 12th.

So it truly was a special moment for me as an immigrant who became a citizen of this great country who's been drawn to the story of Abraham Lincoln to really have this tremendous opportunity to celebrate the 4th of July with our residents and with the Philharmonic and I- one of the moments in that performance is at the very end where I get to say some of the most famous words from Abraham Lincoln where it says, the government of the people, for the people, by the people and the music kind of crescendos I felt very lucky to be able to have that piece with me to articulate that to help put that exclamation point on the symbolism of the holiday.

And now we present to you Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait.

We'll turn now to music of Aaron Copland a quintessential American composer of the 20th century.

As the United States was getting drawn into World War II Copland made a decided shift in his style.

He wanted to write pieces that would keep people's spirits high and celebrate the country in which we live.

We are having two special guests on this next piece.

These two men represent, the finest this city, I think, has to offer.

They care dearly about this city They know it's a special place just like we do and they both worked very hard to make this a wonderful place to live.

And it's possible when you hear them you might even think they missed their calling for doing very well on this.

It is my absolute privilege to introduce our former and current mayors, Yemi Mobolade and John Suthers.

[Applause] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.

That is what he said.

That is what Abraham Lincoln said.

Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.

We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves.

No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us.

The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.

We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility.

♪♪♪ He was born in Kentucky raised in Indiana and lived in Illinois This is what he said.

This is what Abe Lincoln said.

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion.

As our case is new so we must think anew and act anew.

We must disenthrall ourselves and then we shall save our country.

When standing erect, he was 6 feet 4 inches tall and this is what he said.

He said: It is the eternal struggle between two principles, right and wrong, throughout the world.

It is the same spirit that says "You toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it."

No matter in what shape it comes whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation, and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle.

♪♪♪ Lincoln was a quiet man.

Abe Lincoln was a quiet and melancholy man but when he spoke of democracy this is what he said.

He said: As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.

This expresses my idea of democracy.

Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.

♪♪♪ Abraham Lincoln 16th president of these United States is everlasting in the memory of these country men.

For on the battleground at Gettysburg this is what he said: That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.

That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.

That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.

♪♪♪ [Applause.]

♪♪♪ [Applause.]

♪♪♪ Star Spangled Symphony is produced by the Colorado Springs Philharmonic in partnership with the city of Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak National Bank, El Pomar Foundation, Bob and Katie Lally, and GE Johnson Construction