Journal-News.com

HAMILTON — The thunder of cannons, the flash of fireworks and the sounds of the Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony Orchestra are coming to Voice of America Park in West Chester Twp. at 7:30 p.m. July 15.

For the first time, the 75-member Hamilton-Fairifeld Symphony Orchestra will put on a large-scale free outdoor concert that has cost $30,000 to produce.

"This is a major, major step for the performing arts community," Music Director and Conductor Paul Stanbery said.

The concert will feature vocal soloist Jeff Berger, a Lakota West High School graduate. Berger, who is a music theater major at Nebraska Wesleyan University, will accompany the symphony with his "Frank Sinatra-style" croon, Stanbery said.

The grand climax will include a performance by more than 120 classical musicians — including the West Chester Symphony — of the 1812 Overture, a patriotic favorite, as cannons boom and fireworks light up the sky.

More than 3,000 are expected to lay out their blankets and unfold their lawn chairs to enjoy the lakeside performance at what is now Butler County MetroParks' Ronald Reagan Voice of Freedom Park at 7850 VOA Park Drive, where canoe and peddle boat rentals are offered. The park is adjacent to West Chester Twp.'s Voice of America Park.

Pending National Park Service approval, the two parks will return under the Voice of America name when 258 acres of VOA is transferred to MetroParks' ownership later this year. The merger of the parks will open the way for future development plans, which Stanbery said he hopes will include an amphitheater where the "VOA concert at the Lake" could become an annual staple. Over the long-term, such a facility would cut costs because the concert's outdoor stage was $8,000 to rent, Stanbery said.

"It's a wonderful venue that could certainly stand for some development in the future to offer these kinds of events," he said.

MetroParks Director Mike Muska said talk of an amphitheater has been bounced around, but that the parks board has just begun a search for consultants to help design a master plan for the VOA Park. Still, MetroParks would likely need more than its current revenue stream to pay for such an expensive element in the plans, he said. Possibly the expected success of the concert will push it further up the public's priority list, Muska said.

"We've never had anything of this scale in the county parks system and I think it's exciting," Muska said. "Providing a concert like this in a park setting is just a further way to show the public the opportunities that are out there for supporting and enjoying the park."

For more information about the event, call (513) 895-5151 or visit hfso.org.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or chiggins@coxohio.com.