SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
University Affairs Office
1801 E. Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
(707) 664-2057
e-mail: jean.wasp@sonoma.edu
University Affairs Office
1801 E. Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
(707) 664-2057
e-mail: jean.wasp@sonoma.edu
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2003 File #
Contact: Jean Wasp, Media Relations, (707) 664-2057
All-American Standards and Orchestra Games as
Independence Day on the Green Celebrates Fourth of July
An All-American program of stars and stripes music by Berlin, Sousa and Gould opens the Green Music Festival 2003 season on Friday, July 4 in the fourth annual Independence Day on the Green concert at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, Calif.
This classic family get-together features picnicking on the campus lawn by the lakes with a vintage view of the best fireworks in the county. A sell-out crowd of over 4,000 people is expected.
Gates open at 4 p.m. for pre-concert activities that include games and music for kids. Picnic throughout the afternoon. Boxed dinners, hot dogs and á la carte sandwiches as well as excellent Sonoma County wines will be available. Visitors can also bring their own picnic dinners.
Warming up the crowd at 5 p.m. will be the popular 15-piece San Francisco Starlight Orchestra. At 7:30 p.m., guest conductor Tim Hankewich leads the Santa Rosa Symphony in a program of patriotic classics including "God Bless America" sung by mezzo-soprano Bonnie Brooks.
Hankewich, associate conductor of the Kansas City Symphony says, "the 4th of July is not only a celebration of the nation’s independence, but a time to reflect and reconnect with our families."
Hankewich also plans to bring Orchestra Games to the concert stage - a feature designed to humorously showcase the various instruments and sections of the orchestra in a good-natured competition where the greater the audience participation, the greater the fun.
Tickets range from $7 to $52. Both lawn and reserved table seating are offered. For tickets and information, call (707) 546-8742 or visit the website at www.greenmusicfestival.org.
The campus is 40 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Festival will move to its permanent home, the Donald and Maureen Green Music Center at SSU, when it opens in a few years.