Text and Photos
By Phoebe Muthart
Staff Writer

The Wagon Wheel Symphony of the Lakes performed a “patriotic pops” concert as part of a Patriot’s Day celebration Sunday, June 27, at Wawasee High School, Syracuse; due to the weather, the concert was not held at Oakwood.

The Symphony of the Lakes is a professional orchestra whose home is located in the Warsaw and Winona Lake communities. The mission of the symphony is to engage the northern Indiana community and enrich its quality of life through live musical performances and educational opportunities.

Prior to the concert, eight members of the Syracuse-Wawasee American Legion Post No. 223 Color Guard conducted a presentation.

The event was conducted by Dr. Jason Thompson, the principal conductor. During the concert, the band played several patriotic songs.“The Star Spangled Banner” was the first song followed by “Olympic Fanfare and Theme.” The song, “Variations on America,” was the next selection followed by “a Gershwin in concert” medley of four of his songs.

The symphony orchestra played  “The Washington Post March,” “Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten,” and “Armed Forces Salute.”

After the intermission, “The American Frontier” was played with the symphony doing four songs, including “America the Beautiful.” “Band of Brothers: Suite for Orchestra” was played followed by the “National Emblem March.” Six songs from “Suite from Hamilton,” were performed, followed by “What a Wonderful World” by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele, and “(What a) Wonderful World” by Sam Cooke, Herb Alpert and Lou Adler.

The orchestra’s last song of the concert was “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”Fort Wayne Philharmonic wasn’t able to perform this year.

The concert was hosted by Oakwood Foundation Chautauqua-Wawasee. For more information, visit www.chautauquawawasee.org or call (574) 377-7543.