It’s concert season at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center.

The Traverse City Philharmonic returns for its fourth summer season of outdoor performances — and its second in the Civic Center Amphitheater — with two exciting evenings of music: 7 p.m. Monday, July 21 and 7 p.m. Monday, July 28. Reserved and general admission tickets are available, and kids 12 and under receive free general admission! Bring a lawn chair, pack a picnic, or reserve a seat — it’s your summer night, your way. Families love the relaxed vibe and accessible introduction to live music, with kids playing in the park and the music wrapping up by 8:30 p.m.

This year we will do yet another twist on one of our most beloved programs, the John Williams tribute concert. We’ll have all of your favorite John Williams soundtrack scores – “Star Wars,” “ET,” “Superman,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Harry Potter,” “Jurassic Park,” and more. Once again we encourage guests who like to have fun dressing up as their favorite film characters to come in costume. If we have enough, we’re going to have an impromptu costume contest with all who wish to be onstage and strut their filmcharacter stuff. This year in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the classic Steven Spielberg summer blockbuster film, “Jaws,” we’re going to play a longer suite of music from the film that John Williams arranged for concert performances.

In addition to being one of the most prolific and greatest film composers of all time, John Williams worked on a number of films for which he did not write the score but served as music director/conductor/arranger. One of the most famous of those is “Fiddler on the Roof.” So we’ve invited star violinist, Andrew Sords, who wowed audiences on our recital series a few years ago, to join us for the extended full suite from “Schindler’s List” music and a big rip-roaring rhapsody on music from “Fiddler” for violin and orchestra. Originally written for Isaac Stern, it has become a staple for violinists all over the world. John Williams also served as conductor and music director for the Academy Awards several times, and once wrote an amazing “Tribute to the Film Composer” with excerpts from more than 25 films by his great colleagues and a few by him, which will be part of our program. A nostalgic trip down memory for classical film buffs!

Only one week later on July 28 our guest violin soloist, Andrew Sords, joins the orchestra again for the most popular violin solo concerto in the world, the great Tchaikovsky “Violin Concerto!” Wherever it’s played, its beautiful melodies and exciting rhythms promise sold-out houses and standing ovations! And just to be sure we keep things moving at light speed throughout the summer, we are playing one of the greatest and again, most popular symphonies ever written, Beethoven’s “7th Symphony.” Seriously readers, if you want to have an unforgettable time right in town in TC, casually, with the family, experience the thrill of a full live professional symphony orchestra that belongs to your own town. This summer is the time to bring a cooler, grab a lawn chair, a picnic blanket, or order a reserved seat (although there are only a few left at this point!) and come on out to the Civic Center and accomplish two things — a memorable family event, and a chance to take incredible pride that your community has an orchestra of such amazingly high quality. You’d have to go to Detroit or Chicago to hear better! More info on summer concerts and tickets from $15-$45 at TCPhil.org, along with info about our education programs and next season. Reserved seats have chair provided, General Admission is bring your own chair/blanket. Concessions sold on site. Kids 12 and under are free General Admission!

Kevin Rhodes, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor