The Conroe Symphony Orchestra Celebrates America 250

CONROE, TX -- Ah! The Fourth of July. For many it brings back childhood memories of carefree summer fun, family, food, fireworks; and for those about 56 years and older, vivid memories of America’s Bicentennial in July 1976, will have you remembering events from fifty years ago. That’s how fast time moves. This year, being America’s 250th birthday, there was an abundance of freedom in the air as the Conroe Symphony Orchestra performed their ‘Celebrate America’ Freedom concert; the final performance of their 28th season. The First Methodist Church in Conroe was the perfect setting this past Saturday for a sold out Patriotic concert, as the orchestra played our National Anthem and had everyone in the audience proudly singing ‘The Star Spangled Banner,’ which was truly a special moment. CSO President Bill Thompson introduced U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Steven Hummer, who returned as guest master of ceremonies, and he called for the hands of the cadre of Veterans from the different American Armed Forces branches, which is quickly becoming a tradition of the retired general officer.

Conductor Gary Liebst started the concert with ‘Fanfare 250,’ composed by Noah D. Taylor, and is a piece which is dynamic and filled with energy displaying the dedication of the men and women of the United States Army, and written to recognize their 250 years of steadfast service in 2025. Some may think it odd, but our Army is one-year and several weeks older than Our Nation itself. It was a piece that captured the bravery, spirit and unity that perfectly defines the history of Our Nation’s first armed branch of service. And if you listened carefully, you could detect hints of Aaron Copeland’s Americana inspired masterpieces within the music.

One special piece that was played was the Premiere Performance of ‘Fanfare for Freedom: An Overture for America,’ with New York based composer and arranger, Jeremy Franklin Goodman, actually in attendance. It was a powerful presentation, representative of the American Spirit, with our tranquil lands, flowing fields of wild flowers and crops, as well as our shores, hills and majestic mountains. It addressed Our Nation’s times of strife and sacrifice in its tension, and shows Our God mandated role to not only take care of ourselves, but to oversee The World’s peace. For the Conroe Symphony Orchestra it was a special event, playing a piece that in the future may well be a classic, featuring Our Nation’s history and painting a musical portrait evoking Americana. With a hint of Our Nation’s military, ‘Reveille,’ the military bugle call used to awaken the troops, Fanfare’s orchestration is filled with heroic brass, lyrical strings, flourishing woodwinds, and powerful

Percussion, which envelops the themes that capture the glory of the United States.

One of two singing acts, one of which was named S.L.E.D., which is indicative of a more nefarious meaning, but was actually a Barbershop Quartet; secretive to not sharing their names, yet popularly entertained with multiple performances. One song, ‘Come Go With Me,’ was sung without orchestral support, and had audience members swinging their heads side-to-side with memories of 1957, to the song written by Clarence Quick, and arranged by Tom Gentry. The song was made popular by the American doo-wop group the Del-Vikings. With Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless The USA,’ arranged by Brian Beck, S.L.E.D. brought a new perspective in how the song is projected, and each of their performances were truly well received.

The Conroe Symphony Orchestra also invited Houston Soprano Renée Rybolt, who last performed with the CSO during the Christmas concert in 2024. Ms. Rybolt performed ‘Texas, Our Texas,’ and ‘God Bless America,’ with the orchestra, each time in perfect voice.

The CSO’s performance of the ‘Armed Forces Medley,’ composed by Richard Hayman, is always a favorite as the service themes of each of The Nation’s Armed Forces. There was some mixing up of the songs this year with US Coast Guard Veterans the first to stand, then Air Force, Navy, Space Force, Marines, the Army. It was a pleasure to see all The Veterans stand and be recognized by the audience.

‘Stars and Stripes Forever,’ the John Philip Sousa classic, and the ‘1812 Overture,’ by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, are paramount classics at July 4th concerts across The Nation, and the CSO performed them to perfection. Stars and Stripes was playing in Sousa’s head on a sea voyage long before he put pen to paper; while Tchaikovsky’s piece, composed to celebrate the Russian victory over Napoleon, has been popularized by the Boston Pops renditions, and is forever hence a symbol of American freedom played every July.

The Conroe Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, the Apricity Foundation, the Spikes Group, the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, the City of Conroe, and the Montgomery County Community Foundation. The CSO was founded in 1997, and was created to contribute to the cultural enrichment of Conroe and the county as a whole, assuring a better quality of life for everyone in the area. The CSO’s objective is to provide the region with the best possible musical experience, while creating music lovers and connecting communities. They strive to be recognized as one of the outstanding community orchestras in the state of Texas, and as a non-profit community orchestra, it is supported through individual and corporate donations, grants, and ticket sales.

The CSO will return later this year starting their 29th Season in playing for the great citizens of Montgomery County and beyond. Please consider donating to this wonderful organization

The CSO website is: conroesymphony.org