June 27, 2022 By Elaine Sorrentino and Robert Cinnante
Music is a universal language that connects us–to history, to culture, to each other. Each summer we see this take shape with the return of Evenings Under the Stars, at the Carr Amphitheater on South Shore Conservatory’s Hingham campus. Conductor Nick Palmer takes the stage with the Plymouth Philharmonic on Saturday, July 9 for the first in a series of four Evenings Under the Stars (EUS) performances. Audience members will be treated to a fascinating work by New England native Peter Boyer, The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers. Unlike anything South Shore Conservatory has ever presented, Boyer’s dramatic, quintessentially American score sources quotes from speeches by John, Robert, and Edward Kennedy, along with original text by Tony award-winning lyricist Lynn Ahrens.
The Boston Pops and Keith Lockhart commissioned Boyer and Ahrens to write a piece celebrating the legacy of the three Kennedy brothers as a centerpiece of the Pops’ 125th anniversary season in 2010. The commission marked both the 50th anniversary of JFK’s election year, and the recent passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. The Dream Lives On honors the call to public service, a drive for social change, and a legacy of optimism for America’s future, all of which were epitomized by the Kennedy brothers.
The 2010 premiere of A Portrait of the Kennedy Brother received both national and international acclaim, narrated by actors Robert DeNiro, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman and Cherry Jones. While South Shore Conservatory’s Opening Night might not brag the same Hollywood star power, it brings together well-known local and regional talent, with an ensemble of narrators that includes Michael Bobbitt, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, local producer and storyteller, Joseph Collymore, actor Oliver Palmer, and SSC Trustee Emeritus, Deborah Allinson.
Opening Night will also pay tribute to Dorothy Palmer, one of South Shore Conservatory’s founding members and a generous advocate for the visual and performing arts in our region, instrumental in championing the Evenings Under the Stars concert series. The concert will also feature Florence Price’s Adoration and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, which bears the subtitle, “From the New World”.
EUS performances continue July 16 with American Rhythm, where artists from Duxbury Music Festival and Summer Music Festival share the stage for the second year in a row, for a collaborative concert showcasing the synergistic relationship between music and dance, featuring one of Aaron Copland’s greatest works, Appalachian Spring. Jazz with Friends on July 23 features critically acclaimed jazz guitarist Gray Sargent, who performed alongside Tony Bennett for nearly a quarter century. For the grand finale on July 30, Café Music takes spectators on an evocative musical journey, with the distinct work of Valerie Coleman and Paul Schoenfield, two living American composers at the forefront. For more details and tickets, visit Evenings Under the Stars - Summer at SSC (sscmusic.org) or find South Shore Conservatory on Facebook or Instagram. Elaine Sorrentino is Communications Director and Robert Cinnante is President of South Shore Conservatory.