GRAFTON-Among the summer arts happenings gracing green hills with theater, fine art, craft, circus, puppetry, and music, one noble mainstay is the annual concert of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) at Grafton Trails and Outdoor Center.
This year on Thursday, July 3, music lovers are welcome to picnic on the grounds as early as 5:30 p.m. before the 7:30 p.m. concert, then stick around for the after-concert fireworks display.
Led by VSO Music Director Andrew Crust, the 2025 Summer Festival Tour (which he describes as "sort of my baby") is, as announced on vso.org, "a dynamic program with works from across the world and a range of genres."
Titled "Summer of Love," it includes excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, as well as Nat King Cole's version of eden ahbez's "Nature Boy" and John Williams' score from Star Wars.
The program also includes music by Francis Scott Key, Franz Lehár, Georges Bizet, Lalo Schifrin, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Nina Simone, and John Philip Sousa.
About the eclectic line-up, Crust explains: "One of my main roles as music director is basically to create or to curate everything that's on the stage from the programs to the guest artists to community collaborations […]. Obviously we work with the soloists, as well, to see what they want to do."
Mezzo soprano Nikola Printz is VSO's 2025 guest vocalist. Described as "musically resplendent" (San Francisco Chronicle) and known for their "sheer stylistic range [and] full-throated vocalism and raw emotional honesty" (San Francisco Classical Voice), Prinz is quoted on vso.org: "Singing love songs is such a personal experience - sharing familiar melodies, poetry, and words that resonate deeply with listeners is incredibly powerful."
Among those love songs, Crust says, "Printz does this thing where they sing Villa-Lobos's Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 and then go directly into 'Nature Boy' without pause. It works quite well together. So we'll be doing those two linked."
'A very unstable moment'
The 90-year-old Vermont Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra with a core of some 50 players "who've auditioned from all over the world," says Crust. Almost half, he estimates, live in Vermont; others travel, many from Boston, New Hampshire, or New York. "We've got people from all over the place," he says.
Active all year long, the VSO is based in Burlington. "We are one of the only, if not the only, statewide orchestras in the U.S.," says Crust.
The VSO plays at the Flynn in Burlington and elsewhere throughout the state in its September-to-May season. Smaller VSO programs, such as its Made in Vermont Tour, are better suited to and heard in smaller venues.
The VSO also has "a whole slate of educational programming, from the full orchestra to smaller groups and mentorships and master classes," says Crust, who is also music director of the Lima Symphony Orchestra in Ohio.
Asked about audiences, Crust explains, "We're blessed in Burlington, to have a few universities and colleges around. And so, we have a lot of students who come to our concerts at student rates.
"Of course, every orchestra is worried about aging audiences, but they have been for decades and maybe even centuries," he continues. "So I don't think that's our most pressing issue right now."
What is? Funding.
As reported in Seven Days on May 8, the National Endowment for the Arts, under the administration of President Donald Trump, has clawed back $25,000 previously awarded to the VSO to support three concerts, two of which have already taken place.
These funds "were already promised for projects that we've already paid people for," Crust says.
"So, we've lost a lot of money because of the political climate. I think people are trying to decide if now's the right time to donate. We are, of course, very, very thankful to those people who have stuck with us, but it's an environment of uncertainty, I think, for arts organizations," he continued.
Crust says that at the VSO, "we're doing our best to keep doing meaningful work" during what he termed "a very unstable moment."
"We've diversified our programming. We've got a lot of great collaborations with Vermont artists and organizations. And so, I think we're doing all the right things," he says.
The VSO also gets funding from the state, "which almost no orchestra has," Crust adds. "We do get a lot of state support, which is great."
'A gift to the audience'
In addition to finale fireworks at Grafton, the July 3 event includes a pre-concert performance by students from Weston's Kinhaven Music School. Attendees are welcome, too, to visit VSO's Musical Petting Zoo, where they can explore a variety of orchestral instruments before the performance.
The Independence Day concerts have been a VSO tradition since 1978, and the orchestra has performed at Grafton Ponds since 1991.
"This is, in a way, my favorite program of the year because it's really accessible to everybody - the old and the young," Crust says.
Given the 2025 Summer of Love theme, he adds, "every single piece is about love and some iteration of it. We really just want to give this as a gift to the audience and create good vibes and good feelings in a beautiful setting - really bring the music to where the people are."
"And of course, you never know what will happen outside - dodging insects or hearing cows mooing in the distance," Crust adds.
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra performs "Summer of Love" at Grafton Trails and Outdoor Center (783 Townshend Rd., Grafton) starting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 3, with grounds open at 5:30 p.m. Fireworks follow the concert. In case of rain, the performance will take place at Vermont Academy's Horowitz Performing Arts Hall (23 Leavitt Lane, Saxtons River). For more information about the VSO and the Grafton event, and to purchase tickets, visit vso.org.
This Arts item by Annie Landenberger was written for The Commons.