Olympia Symphony, partners create all-day music festival

The Olympia Symphony Orchestra has transformed its summer concert at the Capitol into a full day of music, dance and more.

The new Festival on the Capitol Green will feature performances Sunday, plus food trucks and activities for children.

“This marks the 10th anniversary of the Capitol concert, and we wanted to make it more significant for the community,” said Jennifer Hermann, the orchestra’s administrative assistant. “We have this wonderful venue and this great visibility, and we wanted to start partnering with other groups.”

The new festival was born from a change in procedure, said Huw Edwards, the orchestra’s conductor.

It was complicated setting up the tent under which the orchestra plays, having a sound check and doing the concert all in one day, so beginning last year, workers set up the tent the evening before. That opened the opportunity for an all-day festival at no extra expense to the orchestra.

“We have more time,” Edwards said. “So we said, ‘Let’s make it an all-afternoon festival showcase.’ ”

The event will provide lots of exposure to the featured groups. It typically draws crowds of 2,000-3,000 people.

The concert will put the spotlight on young performers, he said. “I was very much wanting the youth groups to play, so we invited the Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia, the Olympia Youth Chorus and Ballet Northwest.

“Those along with the orchestra are the big headline groups.”

There’s also a multicultural flair to the lineup, from Japanese (the dancers of the Bon Odori Festival) to Brazilian (Samba Olywa, the drum-and-dance group that anchors the Procession of the Species).

The orchestra will be the last group to play, taking the stage around 6:15 p.m.

As has become summertime tradition, the concert will feature both the classics drawn from the regular season — including selections from Beethoven, Grieg, Hanson, Mascagni, Tchaikovsky and Wagner — and a few novel pieces.

“We always start with a Sousa march,” Edwards said. “This year, we’re going to do ‘The March of the Invincible Eagle.’ ”

Another summer favorite is “Armed Forces Salute,” by Bob Lowden, which incorporates the theme songs of each branch of the military. Soldiers, veterans and those with military connections are invited to stand when the song for their branch is played.

The musicians also get a chance to have a little musical fun in the sun — assuming the forecast remains nice.

“We normally play a medley from a movie or something lighter,” Edwards said. Past examples included music from “Jurassic Park” and a James Bond medley.

“This year, we’re doing a Beatles medley,” he said. “The last song in the medley is ‘When I’m 64,’ and the Olympia Symphony is about to begin its 64th season.

“We’re hoping people will still love us and need us when we’re 64.”

Picnics have always been welcome at the orchestra’s summer concerts. This year, there will be food trucks around for those who didn’t pack their own food.

For children, activities will include a beanbag toss, coloring and a couple of activities inspired by Edwards himself.

“The maestro is an avid golfer,” Hermann said, “so we’re going to have putting for kids to do.”

And there’ll also be toy conductors’ batons for young ones to use.

“They can conduct the symphony along with the maestro,” she said, adding hastily, “Not from the front. From their spots on the lawn.”

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 2:51 AM with the headline "Olympia Symphony, partners create all-day music festival."