NEWPORT NEWS — Soundscapes will mark America’s 250th anniversary with a free community concert designed to center youth voices and highlight the future of the nation through music.
The concert, titled “We Are America’s Story,” will take place on April 26 at 3 p.m. at the Diamonstein Concert Hall at the Ferguson Center and is free and open to the public.
“What the 250th celebration of our country is, yes, we’ve reached a milestone,” said Rey Ramirez, Soundscapes co-founder and program director. “But for us, what we celebrate is what the future can hold and where we’re going.”
Rey said the concert’s focus is intentionally forward-looking.
“What I’m excited about is the next 250 years,” he said. “And where the next 250 years reside is in our youth right now.”
The program will feature performances from students across Soundscapes’ full continuum, including daily after-school programs, the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, and the Peninsula Youth Jazz Band. Short video vignettes will be woven throughout the concert to tell the stories of students, staff, teachers and families connected to the organization.
“It’s not really about the program,” Rey said. “The program is what we do. It’s really about how we get to giving them the tools to succeed in life, and music is the vehicle for this.”
The concert will open with a communal performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
“Let’s not forget that 250 years has had its trials and tribulations,” Rey said. “Our community, especially in this area, is the start of what has had some very difficult times in American history.”
The program will conclude with “Pick Up Your Instruments,” an anthem written by Soundscapes’ youngest students.
“It was written by our youngest students, and that is our future,” Rey said. “Finishing with our student voice is where we want to end the concert, because we are America’s story.”
Soundscapes is currently a recommended finalist for a National Endowment for the Arts grant to support the concert, though organizers confirmed the event will move forward regardless.
“The concert is definitely happening,” executive director, Carol Minter, said. “We would love to fill the Diamonstein Hall with attendees and to support our students.”
For Rey, the event is deeply personal. This will be the first year he is not conducting the concert, allowing him to experience it from the audience.
“When I stepped on the podium last year,” he said, “I looked back at our timpani player, and he has been with us since he was a kindergartner. He’s been with us for 16 years.”
“That right there nearly broke me on stage,” Rey added. “That music connection is something that doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
As Soundscapes prepares to take the stage this April, the organization hopes the community will join it, not just to celebrate the nation’s past, but to witness the future being shaped through music.
