Pops in Burr Park

  • Date: July 1, 2022
  • Time: 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
  • Location: Burr Performing Arts Park

The Creative Arts Guild presents its second annual “Pops in Burr Park” concert in celebration of our nation’s holiday 6:30-10pm on Friday, July 1 at Burr Performing Arts Park in Downtown Dalton. The event is free and open to the public. There will be a variety of music concluding with a performance of popular patriotic arrangements by the Creative Arts Guild Chamber Orchestra and a firework display, along with flags to wave and glow necklaces to wear for all, and even a patriotic craft table for the kids. Beverages will be available for purchase.

“It has been a longtime dream of the Guild to bring an accessible orchestral music sampling to the masses as part of the Off the Rails summer music series in celebration of our nation’s holiday. In 2021, through the support of Mohawk Industries and Textile Rubber & Chemical Co. we finally got to realize that dream and the response from our community was exhilarating! This year, again through the support of our two generous presenting sponsors Mohawk Industries and Textile Rubber & Chemical Co., our Off the Rails Partners: Burr Park Arts Trust, Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia, Dalton Convention and Visitors Bureau, Dalton Utilities/Optilink, Downtown Dalton Development Authority, and Engineered Floors, and endorsed by the community excitement and desire to see our inaugural event grow, we are so very thrilled to bring a full evening of celebration to our community!” said Guild’s Executive Director, Amanda Brown.

Gathering a professional orchestra is no small feat. A chamber orchestra consists of around 30 musicians. The scheduling of this many musicians alone can be quite challenging – especially around common musical events such as the 4th of July. Additionally, it can be quite costly if you think about all the professional musicians it takes to get that unmatchable, powerful, and balanced sound. The idea of offering a free concert for the community meant that this performance and rehearsal process needed to be fully supported by sponsors who understood the value of this kind of experience and offering for our community. It is through the generous support of Mohawk Industries and Textile Rubber & Chemical Co. that we have been able to realize this dream and offer this gift of music and celebration to our community.

Brown added, “Committing to a professional paid orchestra was an important goal of the Guild as we launched the idea of the Creative Arts Guild Chamber Orchestra - originally gathered in 2016 through the support of Ken and Myra White to accompany our annual Snow Queen ballet. Support for working artists (musicians included) is a core value and intentional focus of the Guild. If we want to experience artistry on this level, it is important to pay musicians for their performances as this allows them an opportunity to make a living and validates their choice to spend all of the years of study and practice that it takes to make music a viable profession.”

Looking first for local professional musicians and then expanding to regional professional musicians, the Creative Arts Guild Chamber Orchestra comprises many locally known and loved musicians. Lead by Conductor George “Smitty” Barnett, and administered by Creative Arts Guild Music Director, Lisa Elders – who will also play flute/piccolo at the event, the 2022 Pops in Burr Park Creative Arts Guild Chamber Orchestra includes thirty-one skilled musicians. Also performing with the orchestra are several accomplished area vocalists, six Creative Arts Guild and Ballet Dalton Company dancers, actor and teacher Wes Phinney performing dramatic reading, and a group of local children who will sing “This Land is Your Land”. The evening music and festivities will kick off to the backdrop of a steel drum performance by AmeriCalypso at 6:30pm, followed by some familiar tunes performed by local band Mountain Rattle at 7:30, with the Pops performance beginning at 8:30pm. The finale will be a brilliant display of fireworks to wrap up the evening! In the unlikely event of rain, the concert will move to the Spigel Pavilion at the Creative Arts Guild.

The event will be dedicated in loving memory of Bill and Annelle Gillilan, who shared a love of music, our community and our country. Bill proudly served in the U.S. Navy from 1950 to 1954. The program will begin with the presentation of colors and include popular and traditional Pops favorites such as Stars and Stripes Forever and 1812 Overture.

Don’t miss this heart-warming tribute to a most important American Holiday! Add it to your calendar today!