Regional Arts and Culture: Roswell Symphony Orchestra Opens Season With America 250, Featuring Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess”

ROSWELL, NM — The Roswell Symphony Orchestra is back from summer break and preparing a tribute to the country’s 250th anniversary to launch its latest musical season.

On Sept. 26, the RSO will present America 250, a concert program honoring the signing of the Declaration of Independence with patriotic pieces from various eras. Audiences can look forward to hearing compositions by Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Leroy Anderson and John Philip Sousa, plus a medley of U.S. military branch songs and an invitation to sing along with the symphony to an arrangement of “America, the Beautiful.”

The Gershwin portion of the program features selections from “Porgy and Bess,” which the composer called a “folk opera” when it premiered in 1935. The work blended classical composition with jazz, blues and spirituals in a way that was new at the time, and many of its melodies became standards in their own right, including “Summertime,” “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “Bess, You Is My Woman Now.”

Set in Charleston, South Carolina’s fictional Catfish Row, the opera follows love, hardship and hope in a tight-knit community, with a score that ranges from tender lullabies to joyful, soaring moments.

RSO Music Director Dr. John Farrer described the anniversary as a once-in-a-lifetime milestone, calling the concert “our chance to celebrate this very special occasion.” He said the program is made up of enjoyable, beautiful, well-composed and accessible music, and that he and the orchestra will be having a good time as well.

The concert begins at 7 p.m., a new start time for the orchestra. It will be held at Pearson Auditorium, 101 W. College Blvd., on the New Mexico Military Institute campus. Tickets are available at roswellsymphony.org, by calling 575-623-5882 or at the door, and range from $20 to $35. Students attend all symphony concerts free of charge.

The rest of the season

After the season opener, the RSO has three more concerts on the calendar:

• Christmas Classics — Sunday, Dec. 13, 2026, at 2:30 p.m., a holiday matinee.• Classical and Romantic — Saturday, March 6, 2027, at 7 p.m., with guest violin soloist Nathan Meltzer featured on the Mozart Violin Concerto.• Rhapsody in Blue — Saturday, April 24, 2027, at 7 p.m., featuring Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with returning guest piano soloist Evren Ozel.

“I think the rest of the season will be absolutely terrific,” Farrer says.

About the RSO

The orchestra traces its roots to the basement of the First Methodist Church, where it first gathered on July 28, 1959. That original group was made up of lawyers, accountants, teachers, florists, housewives and geologists — amateurs determined to give the region a professional-sounding orchestra. Farrer took the podium for the 1972 season, following William Kirschke, Thomas Lewis and founding director Glenn Cunningham. He is a recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence and Achievement.

Today the orchestra’s professional musicians travel from cities within a 200-mile radius of Roswell, including Lubbock, Amarillo, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, El Paso, Portales and Alamogordo. Its mission is to bring the best of orchestral literature to Roswell and Southeast New Mexico through an annual concert season and music education programs for children and young adults.

If you go

WHAT: Roswell Symphony Orchestra presents America 250

WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Pearson Auditorium, 101 W. College Blvd., Roswell, NM 88201

TICKETS: $20–$35 at roswellsymphony.org, 575-623-5882 or at the door; students free

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