Rockford Symphony Orchestra presents a slice of 'Americana'

A slice of "Americana" is coming to the Coronado Performing Arts Center.

Not baseball, hotdogs, apple pie... , but rather a special one-day-only concert called "Americana" performed Saturday by the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Pecatonica native and resident Kevin Stites.

More: From Pecatonica to Broadway to the Coronado: Music of John Williams show is homecoming

Here's what you need to know.

What is "Americana?"

This concert is a celebration of music by Americans and inspired by the American experience. The first half of the program features American composers Kenneth Fuchs and Florence Price. The concert concludes with Dvořák’s New World Symphony, a work inspired by his time in the United States and written in Spillville, Iowa.

From documentary theme to concert overture

"Discover the Wild," the themes of which, Stites said, were composed to accompany a television nature documentary series set in Wyoming featuring the animals who inhabited the land.

"Ultimately, the series never happened and Ken never got paid," Stites said. "So, he turned it into a concert overture and it is, I believe, a perfect way to open this evening. Because, again, the themes that he came up with were inspired by the scenic majesty of that era."

Melodies based on culture

Price was the first Black woman to have her music played by a major American orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933.

"We're doing the Florence Price First Symphony," Stites said. "She composed melodies that are based in her culture. To me, that's as American as it can get."

A Czechoslovakian in Iowa

Dvořák was born in what is now the Czech Republic, but he wrote his famous New World Symphony No. 9 in Iowa while he was serving a tenure at the National Conservatory of Music in New York.

"He was greatly influenced and absorbed the Black music of the time, Gospel music, but also that of the Native American Indian," Stites said. "He wrote that symphony purely because of his impressions of America."

What can the audience expect?

Stites said the evening will be filled with melodies that pull at the heart and subconsciously awaken a feeling of place and the American experience.

What about the concert before the concert?

A special recital by Andrew Mertzenich will be performed from 6:30 to 7 p.m. on the Grand Barton Organ sponsored by the Land of Lincoln Theatre Organ Society.

How can I get tickets?

The Rockford Symphony Orchestra will perform from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Concert tickets ($26 to $66) are available online at rockfordsymphony.com, by phone at 815-965-0049, or by visiting the RSO offices which are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday at 711 N. Main St.

Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: RSO performing 'Americana,' Pecatonica's Kevin Stites guest conductor