Kenosha County Parks to host Symphony in the Garten on Saturday, July 30

Kenosha County Parks is excited to announce Symphony in the Garten, a unique musical collaboration, at Petrifying Springs Park. This FREE event will take place Saturday, July 30, County Executive Samantha Kerkman announced Friday.

Symphony in the Garten is a collaboration between the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra and Betsy Ade & the Well-Known Strangers.

The show will open with Spare Animals at 4 p.m. and will continue with the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with the Betsy Ade & the Well-Known Strangers. The festivities will be held in the Biergarten on the south end of the park.

“Kenosha County and Kenosha County Parks are pleased to host this one-of-a-kind musical event,” Kerkman said. “This is a great, free opportunity for the community to hear local musicians perform in a beautiful summertime setting.”

The symphony will perform under the direction of Music Director and Conductor Christopher Ramaekers, who is also Director of Orchestras at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Music Director of the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra, and Artistic Director of the Davis Theater Concert Series for Access Contemporary Music.

“We are thrilled to be returning to Petrifying Springs to deliver another free concert to the Kenosha area community through the support of Kenosha County and our sponsors,” said Pete Rodriguez, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra board president. “We will be performing American favorites such as Copland’s Rodeo, Bernstein’s Candide Overture, selections by Leroy Anderson and more. We’re especially excited to be performing with Kenosha’s own Betsy Ade and the Well-Known Strangers. It’s going to be a fabulous event that you won’t want to miss!”

Following the performance by the symphony, Betsy Ade & the Well-Known Strangers will perform alongside the orchestra in a one-hour collaborative concert, playing 12 original songs by the band.

“Since inception, our band has dreamed of an opportunity to perform our very own music with a professional symphony,” says Joe Adamek, one of the band’s founders. “The collaboration between our band, the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra and Kenosha County, has been tremendously exciting and we couldn’t be more thrilled for this event!”

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs and blankets. Concessions will be available and the Biergarten will continue offering beer and menu selections throughout the event.

Program schedule:

• 4 to 8:30 p.m.: Food available for purchase from Captain Mike’s Galley Food Truck, Cut Stone Foods, and Fancy Snacks Charcuterie
• 4 to 5 p.m.: Spare Animals performance
• 6 to 7 p.m.: Kenosha Symphony Orchestra to play selections by Aaron Copland among others
• 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.: The Kenosha Symphony Orchestra is joined by Betsy Ade & the Well-Known Strangers to perform the band’s original pieces

Kenosha County Parks thanks InSite Consulting Architects, Nicholas Industries, Partners in Design Architects, Snap-on, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and WM for their generosity and support of Symphony in the Garten.

NOTE: Western Kenosha County Transit will provide shuttle services for visitors to the Biergarten and parking areas. Additional parking and shuttle services will be available at University of Wisconsin-Parkside Parking Lots B and C in the Rita Lot.

Petrifying Springs Park is located at 5555 Seventh St. in the Village of Somers. The Biergarten is located at the far-south end of the park, near the Highway JR entrance.

Learn more:

For more information about the musical acts, visit the following sites: Spare Animals can be seen at www.spareanimals.com, the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra at www.kenoshasymphony.org and Betsy Ade & the Well-Known Strangers at www.wellknownstrangers.com.

For more details and information about other activities, please visit the Kenosha County Parks website at http://parks.kenoshacounty.org, call 262-857-1869, or check us out on Facebook at http://facebook.com/kenoshacountyparks.