Admission Cost: Free.

The University of South Carolina School of Music is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence through music, in one of America’s most distinctive natural landscapes: Congaree National Park!

Between 10 a.m. and noon on April 18, student groups from the School of Music will be playing simultaneously throughout the landscape of the park’s old growth bottomland forest, rich with giant hardwoods and towering pines. Visitors are encouraged to move along the park’s network of elevated boardwalks to experience the sounds of jazz, woodwinds and choral.

Program:

America’s Sound: Jazz in the Congaree at 250
featuring Butterfield Combo
Thomas Bridgmon, trumpet; Santi Balagtas, trumpet; Jackson Goldy, drums; Dennis Heaven, double bass; Isaiah Mendoza, guitar; Jayden Moreno, saxophone; coached by Craig Butterfield.

Echoes of America’s Past
performed by USC Saxophone Quartet
Allister Frankle, soprano sax; Meng-Yun Weng, alto sax; Ryan Johnson, tenor sax; Ryan Conteras, baritone sax; coached by Clifford Leaman

An American Quartet
featuring Fuse Woodwind Quintet
Molly Damitio, flute; Jonathan Krause, oboe; Jennifer Saavedra Tovar, clarinet; Connor Hammond, horn; Elle Senn, bassoon; coached by Hassan Anderson

American Choral Singing over 250 Years
performed by USC Choral Ensemble
Ella Canney, Kate Ewing, Kara Gingrich, Niyah Gordon, Houston Hackett, Kaleb King, Lucy Moore, Abby Rudolph, Jacob Tierney, and Grady Vasilevskis; directed by Alicia W. Walker

Congaree National Park is located at 100 National Park Road, Hopkins, SC 29061. To learn more about the park, visit: nps.gov/cong

This event was conceived and coordinated by Michael Harley, Professor of Bassoon, USC School of Music