Concert begins at 8:30 p.m., July 4, on the lawn of Carrollton Elementary School.
Admission is free.
Photo credit: Wells & Wells Photography
Cap off your Fourth of July celebrations with friends and family on the grounds of the Carrollton City Schools. The 2018 Sounds of Liberty Concert by The Carroll Symphony Orchestra begins at 8:15 p.m. and builds to a thrilling fireworks display with everyone’s favorite patriotic melodies.
Event planners invite everyone to gather on the grounds of Carrollton Elementary School which offers ample room for all the lawn chairs and beach blankets of the thousands who gather at the free event. Long-time attendees say that the grounds right in front of the stage offer the very best view of the fireworks as well as the thrill of experiencing the music “up close.”
As evening approaches, spotlights switch on, the professional musicians mount the stage, Conductor Terry Lowry takes the podium, local radio stations go live, the “Call to the Colors” signals the American Legion Honor Guard to raise the colors, and “The Star Spangled Banner” sounds across the crowd.
Audience members will enjoy an “All-American program,” so dubbed because all the evening’s works were written by American composers, including John Williams, Aaron Copeland, and John Philip Sousa.
Well-known soloist Larry Frazier’s performance of “Salute to the Patriots” will set the theme for the crowd to recognize both wartime and peacetime veterans of each of our country’s military branches as they take the stage. The symphony’s performance of John Williams’ “Hymn to the Fallen” from Saving Private Ryan will pay tribute to Carroll County’s brave men and women who have given their lives in service to our country.
The Carroll Symphony will premiere three, exciting, new American works by the winners of their statewide Young Composers Competition.
Everyone’s favorite patriotic melodies, including “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever, ” are guaranteed to thrill the audience as the evening culminates in a brilliant fireworks display.
Mayor Walt Hollingsworth welcomes everyone to the celebration, “As mayor, and on behalf of the City Council, I want to say that we think the Sounds of Liberty is a great thing for our city. Thousands of people come to attend the concert and fireworks show. Terry Lowry and all the other professionals needed to put on such an event do a first-class job. We’re excited about it and know we’ll have another great concert.”
Commission Chairman Marty Smith commented, “Other than it being an awesome annual event that everyone has grown to love and look forward to attending each year, many people stay in town for the fourth and have family and friends come to our area. We’re glad that the county has been able to be a partner and continue to support the rich traditions and efforts of our community leaders. The event has a great economic impact on our community.”
2018 will be the fifteenth year for the CSO to perform at The Sounds of Liberty. The Symphony’s first Sounds of Liberty concert was also the first year that awards were presented for the winning floats in the morning’s People’s Parade, a project organized and managed by the Evening Sertoma Club. The tradition continues as this year’s Community Spirit Cup will be presented by Carrollton Evening Sertoman Rebecca L. Smith, coordinator of The People’s Parade.
This year’s concert is presented by Carroll Symphony Orchestra Guild, City of Carrollton, Carroll County, Southwire, Milestone Investment Management, Systems and Methods Inc., Almon Funeral Home, SyncGlobal Telecom, Scott Evans Dodge, Scott Evans Nissan, Carroll County Sheriff Terry Langley, United Community Bank, Southern States Bank, Bank of North Georgia, Bank of America, West Georgia Technical College, Alex Roush Architects, Hughes-Ray Company, Steve Adams and West Georgia Ambulance Service, Bain Dental, Walker Cadillac-Buick-GMC, Turbo Data Networks,Garrett Drug Company, Cheers, Carrollton Gastroenterology, Ridley-Teal Properties, B-92 Country, and KISS 102.7.
The launch site for the fireworks show, presented by the Carrollton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, is across Ben Scott Boulevard from the concert stage and will be located between the practice football field and the baseball field by Carrollton Junior High.
Traffic exiting the evening’s event will flow steadily in new traffic patterns under the guidance of Carrollton Police officers. All streets leading to the event will be open until the beginning of the fireworks display.
Once the fireworks begin, “the curve” on Ben Scott Boulevard that separates the stadium from the tennis courts will be blocked and there will be no thru-traffic.
At the conclusion of the fireworks display, all vehicles on the “stadium side” will be limited to one-way travel to exit on the north side of campus. The traffic on the north side will exit via Wedgewood Drive, Trojan Drive, and Oak Avenue.
All vehicles on the “tennis courts side” will be limited to one-way travel to exit on the south side of campus. The traffic on the south side will exit via either Tom Reeve Drive which leads to Hays Mill Road or Ben Scott Boulevard which leads to the Highway 166 Bypass.
Police will be directing motorists and controlling the flow of traffic until traffic is cleared from the area. For those who cannot attend the concert in person, Gradick Communications’ radio stations Kiss 102.7 and B-92 Country will be broadcasting the concert.
