Sweet sounds of summer: Boston Landmarks Orchestra performs free concerts all season long
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Live, outdoor music is one of the sweet sounds of summer in Boston. And the Boston Landmarks Orchestra plays a big role in providing that warm-weather ambiance. All summer long the orchestra performs free concerts at the Charles River Esplanade Hatch Shell and at venues throughout Boston to bring live music into the community.
Season highlights this year include the orchestra’s third annual Juneteenth concert, a partnership with the New England Aquarium on the waterfront at Central Wharf and a performance at the Bethel AME Church in Jamaica Plain.
“Every summer, we aim to make live orchestral music accessible to everyone in Boston—whether you’re a lifelong classical fan or experiencing it for the first time,” said Boston Landmarks Orchestra Music Director Christopher Wilkins. “This season, we honor our past while building toward a more connected future.”
The Hatch Shell is the base of the annual summer concerts, but some are brought into other neighborhoods of Boston to make them as convenient for the public as possible.
Boston Landmarks Orchestra’s Juneteenth concert featured flutist DeShaun Gordon-King. PHOTO: TAYLOR ROSSI
The Juneteenth performance, held on June 14 at the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Uphams Corner, featured flutist DeShaun Gordon-King and a program of works by Black composers.
In collaboration with the New England Aquarium, the program “Debussy and the Music of the Sea,” will delve into aquatic-inspired works like Claude Debussy’s “La Mer,” Paul Gay’s “North Atlantic Sea Songs” and Maurice Ravel’s “Une Barque sur l’océan,” among others. This concert will be held at the Hatch Shell on August 13 and will feature a prelude by the North End Music and Performing Arts Center Summer Choir.
The Boston Landmarks Orchestra seeks to present a new vision of classical music and to debunk the image of orchestral concerts as stuffy affairs honoring predominantly white and male artists. Each concert in this free season is designed to showcase historical and contemporary composers of all backgrounds and styles.
Electronic music composer Val Jeanty performs with Boston Landmarks Orchestra
in August. PHOTO: RICHARD LOUISSAINT
Accessibility is also a key tenet of the project. The August 20 performance “Eroica Symphony: Beethoven and Revolution” will connect Beethoven’s revolutionary piece with our own turbulent political times. Boston-based composer and “sound chemist” Val Jeanty will perform works inspired by the cultural heritage and revolutionary history of her native Haiti. The electronic music composer, also known as Val-Inc, is a professor at Berklee College of Music.
This concert will be performed on August 21 at a location to be determined and on August 22 at Bethel AME Church.
The full Boston Landmarks Orchestra free concert season runs from through August 27. Program and concert details can be found on its website.
“For 25 years, Boston Landmarks Orchestra has been a musical bridge — connecting generations, communities and cultures,” said Board Chair Emmett G. Price III. “This season is a celebration of those connections and the power of music to uplift us all.”
