To celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra hits the road with Summer Festival Tour: America 250, bringing music to communities across the Green Mountain State. There’s nothing quite like a balmy July evening in the Vermont outdoors, especially when the state’s orchestra performs beloved favorites like Morton Gould’s American Salute (based on “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”), Aaron Copland’s Hoe-Down from Rodeo, a lively selection of music by John Williams and John Philip Sousa, and more. Music Director Andrew Crust invites you to bring a picnic blanket and relax under sunny skies to enjoy this cherished annual tradition. Each location features the VSO’s Musical Petting Zoo before the performance, where audiences young and old can explore a variety of orchestral instruments. Two works will be elevated by live narration by actor/director Jarvis Green and special guests: John Williams’ piece Liberty Fanfare is performed alongside a reading of Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus,” and Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait includes writings by Abraham Lincoln paired with a reading of Calvin Coolidge’s speech “Vermont Is a State I Love.”