America’s finest were honored Sunday during the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra’s performance of “American Heroes.”
The stories of the nation’s most influential people and historical moments were told with violins, trumpets, cellos and drums, and also through singing and narration.
Music Director David Hagy also gave the audience history lessons between songs.
Soloist Teresa Moore-Mitchell sang, “America,” in honor of Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson. Anderson was an internationally known singer who began making history in the 1920s, helping black artists overcome racial barriers.
The orchestra performed several pieces in honor of Paul Revere, Martin Luter King, Jr., John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt.
The All-County Fifth Grade Honors Chorus sang, “We Will Return,” a song for Native American war leader Crazy Horse, and, “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” in honor of Harriet Tubman, who led slaves to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad.
Representative Mel Watt narrated, “A Lincoln Portrait,” while the orchestra played.
As Watt read excerpts from the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln’s Inaugural addresses, Lincoln’s vision for America resonated throughout Livingstone College’s Varick Auditorium.
The All-County Chorus is composed of about 140 fifth-graders from Rowan’s 20 elementary schools, and also students from North Hills Christian School, Sacred Heart Catholic School and Salisbury Academy.