Free ‘Symphony in the Park’ concert kicks off 2022 Idaho Falls Symphony season
Published at | Updated at
IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho Falls Symphony is kicking off its 73rd season this weekend with its annual “Symphony in the Park” concert.
The concert is set for Saturday, Sept. 10 at 5:30 p.m. at the Freeman Park Band Shell in Idaho Falls. It is free for anyone who wants to attend. The musical selections for Saturday’s show will cover the theme of “Stories from the High Seas.”
“The Symphony in the Park is designed to introduce families and new audiences to the symphony in advance of our subscription season that starts up in October,” Symphony Director Thomas Hueser told EastIdahoNews.com. “It’s been a couple of years since we’ve had the concert because of COVID, but this is going to be a good one.”
Heuser said that the musical selections for Symphony in the Park cover seafaring tales and fit very well into the overall theme of Season 73, “Fantasy and Folklore.”
“The whole season’s theme of ‘Fantasy and Folklore’ is designed to tell stories through the music,” Heuser said. “(Saturday’s numbers) are all stories surrounding the ocean and stories of pirates and sailors.”
The concert will include selections from films like “Moana” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” as well as pieces from composers like Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn.
Symphony in the Park features music that is a little more familiar and accessible to newcomers and families.
“It’s one of our more popular events,” said Heuser. “It’s designed to get the whole family to experience the symphony together, maybe for the first time. First-time audiences can try it out. It’s risk-free with it being in the middle of the day and outside. We always hope to attract new audiences and families with this program, get them to love the symphony and get them hooked for the rest of the season.”
The Idaho Falls Symphony includes talented musicians from across the area, coming together in Idaho Falls to rehearse and play concerts.
“We’re what we call a ‘regional orchestra,’” said Heuser. “We pull folks from kind of a broad area. The majority are from Idaho Falls and Rexburg, but we pull folks from Pocatello, as far away as Boise and Salt Lake City and a good contingent come over from Jackson, Wyoming.”
With musicians living in various locations, the players are required to know their parts backward, forward and inside-out so that they can focus on creating musical synergy during rehearsals.
“We all come together for these rehearsal periods,” Heuser said. “It’s pretty typical for us to condense it into one-week rehearsal periods. So the musicians have to come with their music prepared and ready to roll and we put it together in a short amount of time. They’re all really, really fine players and it comes together well.”
Heuser said while the acoustics might not be perfect, playing in an outside venue does have some unique advantages.
“It’s always nice to have the Snake River and Freeman Park as a backdrop,” he said. “I think especially with a concert that has waves and water as a theme, we love that connection with nature that we get playing outside.”
You can connect with the Idaho Falls Symphony at their “Symphony in the Park” this Saturday, Sept. 10, at 5:30 pm at the Freeman Park Band Shell. Feel free to bring picnic blankets and chairs, but if you want the best spots to sit, you’ll want to get there ahead of time.
You can keep up with the Idaho Falls Symphony by visiting their website, Facebook page or Instagram. Click here for tickets to future Season 73 concerts.
