MIDDLEBURY — Avoid the crowds and the traffic, find easy parking and enjoy music and fireworks honoring Independence Day — all on the spacious, manicured grounds of the Middlebury College athletic fields, nestled between and with views of the Adirondack and Green Mountains. The family-favorite 25th Annual Henry Sheldon Museum Pops Concert and Fireworks Display will be held Thursday, June 29, featuring the celebrated Vermont Philharmonic led by energetic Director Lou Kosma with special vocal selections by Merritt David Janes, currently appearing in the Broadway cast of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical School of Rock.
Concert grounds open for picnicking at 5:30 p.m., the concert begins at 7:30 p.m., and fireworks will crack at sunset. Tickets are on sale until Sunday, June 25: adults $20, youth 12-18 $10, and children under 12 years of age are free. Bring your blankets, lawn chairs, flashlights, picnic dinners. Refreshment tent will offer hot dogs, drinks and sweets.
The concert features patriotic melodies, treasured Broadway show-stoppers, contemporary hit parade and light classical favorites, that will appeal to all ages and musical tastes. Kosma has spent his career specializing in musical education for children.
Featured tenor soloist Janes grew up in Colchester, where his love for music was nurtured, in part by his mother, Susan Janes, the concertmaster of the Vermont Philharmonic. In addition to School of Rock, Janes has appeared in musical productions of Sweeney Todd, Beauty and the Beast, Catch Me If You Can, The Wedding Singer, Phantom of the Opera, and Shrek. He is an inspiration for Vermont youth studying voice and theater.
This year the Sheldon Museum will recognize Lyn DeGraff as the honorary chair of the event for her 25 years of volunteer service. The reasonable ticket prices are made possible by individual and business sponsors — many which have supported the event during its 25-year history. These sponsors include: Woodware, the Residence at Otter Creek, Casella, National Bank of Middlebury, Cabot, Middlebury Rotary Club, MacIntyre, Waybury Inn, IPJ Real Estate, Otter Creek Engineering, Atomic Pro Audio, Vermont Tent Company and Middlebury College.
Should the weather interfere, the concert will be held in the adjacent Kenyon Arena of Middlebury College’s Peterson Family Athletic Complex.
For more information contact the Henry Sheldon Museum at (802) 388-2117 or visit henrysheldonmuseum.org.