America Rising

TICHELI Angels in the Architecture
THOMAS Come Sunday
WILLIAMS  
WHITACRE Equus
PISZCZEK Atlantis (WORLD PREMIERE)
WILLIAMS "Hymn to the Fallen" from Saving Private Ryan
TRAD Armed Forces Salute
DRAGON America the Beautiful
SOUSA Various Marches

SpaceX, the Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency and your Space Coast Symphony present America Rising, launching an exciting concert series with an evening of soaring voices, brilliant musicians and a community united in celebration. Aaron Collins leads your Space Coast Symphony Wind Orchestra and Space Coast Symphony Chorus in a stirring salute to our country and the men and women who serve it. At the heart of the evening is a tribute honoring every branch of the United States Armed Forces. The luminous beauty of Eric Whitacre’s Sleep, the profound emotion of John Williams’s Hymn to the Fallen, and the familiar strains of America the Beautiful invite us to reflect, remember and celebrate together.

Adventure and discovery give this celebration its spark. Eric Whitacre’s Equus charges forward with galloping rhythms and breathtaking momentum, unleashing the power and agility of the Wind Orchestra. Omar Thomas’s Come Sunday draws on the musical richness of Black worship, carrying listeners from soulful reflection through blues, jazz and R&B to an ecstatic, full-throttle Shout! Frank Ticheli’s Angels in the Architecture unfolds through mystery, turbulent energy and radiant beauty, while the WORLD PREMIERE of Atlantis by Space Coast composer Mark Piszczek takes us into the imagined world of the legendary underwater city. Performing new music from composers in our community celebrates the same spirit of innovation and discovery that drives SpaceX, whose achievements continue to shape the region we call home.

And there is room for you in the music. We’re inviting talented choral and band students from around our community to join our professionals onstage for selected works in a shared celebration of community. The Space Coast Symphony Chorus lends its voices to several selections throughout the evening, and audience members will become part of the performance as they help create the otherworldly sounds of Angels in the Architecture. Children can explore musical instruments at our instrument petting zoo and join Aaron during the concert for a conducting lesson. Admission is FREE for everyone.

What does America sound like? A familiar melody that brings people to their feet. A hymn that gives us space to remember. The exuberance of a worship service, the restless energy of a galloping rhythm, or the first notes of a work no one has heard before. America Rising brings these experiences together, celebrating a musical culture shaped by many voices—and still being written.

The emotional heart of the concert is our tribute to the men and women of every branch of the United States Armed Forces. Heard in a park dedicated to veterans, these familiar melodies carry a deeply personal meaning. For some, they recall their own service; for others, a parent, a friend or someone whose absence is still felt. The Star-Spangled Banner, Armed Forces Salute and America the Beautiful give that gratitude a shared musical expression. John Williams’s Hymn to the Fallen offers a moment of reflection within the celebration, inviting us to consider the lives and sacrifices behind the tribute.

Eric Whitacre reveals two strikingly different musical worlds in Sleep and Equus. Originally commissioned in memory of a couple who died within weeks of one another, Sleep began as a choral work and eventually found its enduring text in a poem by Charles Anthony Silvestri. Its music inhabits that fragile space between wakefulness and dreaming, where thoughts linger before finally giving way to rest. Listen for the way closely woven harmonies gather intensity and then release it. In a program filled with motion and brilliance, Sleep invites us to listen inward. Read Whitacre’s account of the work.

Then comes the rush of Equus. Its title is the Latin word for horse, and Whitacre conceived it as a musical perpetual-motion machine—a work that begins running and refuses to stop. Repeating patterns supply the propulsion, but shifting colors and accents keep the landscape changing beneath them. Whitacre calls this approach “dynamic minimalism.” For the listener, the pleasure lies in feeling that steady momentum while hearing how much activity unfolds around it. For the players, it is an athletic display of precision, stamina and collective energy. Explore the composer’s notes on Equus.

Omar Thomas’s Come Sunday celebrates the Hammond organ’s central place in Black worship through the colors and possibilities of the wind ensemble. Its two movements trace an emotional journey. Testimony brings together the influence of Bach, blues, jazz and R&B, evoking the way an organist can prepare a congregation for reflection and revelation. Shout! releases that gathering energy in a joyous, rhythmically charged celebration. The title nods to Duke Ellington, and the work gives musical traditions rooted in Black life a commanding place on the concert stage. Listen for the transformation from inward anticipation to an exuberance that seems almost impossible to contain. Read Thomas’s introduction to Come Sunday.

Frank Ticheli’s Angels in the Architecture offers another kind of journey, moving through an atmosphere of mystery, agitation and luminous calm. For this performance, that atmosphere will extend into the audience. Participating listeners will use whirly sticks to help create the work’s otherworldly sounds, becoming part of the musical environment itself. It is an invitation to experience the ensemble from a new perspective: to listen closely, follow a gesture and contribute to something larger than any individual sound.

With the WORLD PREMIERE of Atlantis, we turn toward music whose performance history begins with us. Space Coast composer Mark Piszczek takes his inspiration from the legendary underwater city, opening a new imaginative world for our musicians and audience to explore together. A premiere offers a special kind of shared discovery: there is no beloved recording to compare it with, no memory of a previous performance. We meet the music together. Commissioning new music from composers in our community celebrates the same spirit of innovation and discovery that drives SpaceX.

Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever brings its familiar sparkle and forward drive to this gathering of musical voices. Alongside the patriotic favorites and contemporary works, our invitation to local choral and band students gives the evening another dimension. Young musicians will share the stage with our professionals, participating in the living tradition this concert celebrates. Honoring those who serve, welcoming the next generation and giving new music its first hearing all belong to the same occasion—a community coming together through sound.