What's Happening in Lancaster, OH…

The 35th Lancaster Festival is on the way, but with some changes.

The festival begins with the Orchestra Opening Night, which usually takes place at St. Mary Church. However, the church is currently closed while it undergoes renovations, so the festival organizers are taking the opportunity to do things a bit differently.

The opening night will feature Gary Sheldon conducting the Lancaster Festival Orchestra at Fairfield Christian Church. The program for the evening is called “Celebrate America,” and will feature the orchestra accompanying four films in a multimedia presentation.

The festival’s executive director, Deb Connell, explained that they are working with Westwater Arts, who created four symphonic photo pieces, including one compiled especially for the festival, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Each of the special photographic pieces will be projected onto a giant, 440-square-foot screen to be hung above the orchestra. As the photos are shown, the orchestra will play complementary pieces.

For a piece on the American West, the orchestra will play “Rodeo” by Aaron Copland. Westwater Arts has also created two other works, “National Parks” and “Eternal Struggle,” to be accompanied by the orchestra. The fourth work is a seven-minute film by Nicholas Bardonnay entitled “The Festival at 35,” showing the history of the Lancaster Festival through photos. The music will be “Jubilee” by George Chadwick.

The festival kicks off this Thursday, July 18. Flyer printing is often used to create programs for events like this.