4 1#01111 001*-- ii DTA THE DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OFFERS A SPECTACULAR SEASON OF LIGHT AND TRADMONAL CLASSICAL MASTERWORKS AND POPS FAVORITES AT MEADOW BROOK MUSIC FESTIVAL. SUZANNE CHESSLER Special to the Jewish News T he Detroit Symphony Orchestra has no intention of putting away Independence Day fireworks until next year. They're packing them up and tak- ing them to the Meadow Brook Music Festival, where instrumentalists and guest artists also will fill the air with crackling sounds from classical and contemporary repertoires. Starting with "American Fanfare," a program featuring Aaron Copland's Rodeo and George Gershwin's An American in Paris on July 13, and concluding with a pops concert conducted by composer/pianist Marvin Hamlisch on Aug. 12, audiences are in for some new programs with favorite celebrities and selections. Hamlisch, a Jewish entertainer familiar to Michigan audiences because of his frequent book- ings with the symphony at both Orchestra Hall and Meadow Brook, will be preceded by two other Jewish artists making Meadow Brook debuts — Broadway star Craig Schulman (July 15 and 29) and concert cellist Alisa Weilerstein (July 20). Concerts have been assigned to a specific schedule of 15 evenings of programming according to the type of music being played. Light classics for family entertain- ment are planned for Fridays, while classical master- works fill Saturdays. Pops performances are on Sundays. Although all the concerts will not include colorful fireworks to be seen in the air, they all are planned with colorful entertainers to be seen and heard as the day transforms to night in the outdoor setting. Broadway Tenor Craig Schulman has starred in the Broadway pro- ductions of Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Jekyll eT Hyde, but there are other musical the- ater roles he'd like to have even if he doesn't quite fit some casting director's vision. To his credit, Schulman has found another way to put himself and others into the spotlight and present any great song from the American stage: He produces his own concerts of theater music and takes them to audiences around the country. This summer, for the first time, he is teaming up with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with two such programs for the Meadow Brook Music Festival. "An Evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein," also featuring Broadway performers Tamra Hayden and Philip Hernandez, begins 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 15. "Broadway Under the Stars," with selections from recent shows and also featur- ing Kim Crosby and Chris Groenendaal, will be performed 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 29. "The idea for the first program was that we would have songs from older, established shows," says Schulman, a tenor. "Although it's essentially Rodgers and Hammerstein, we'll have some other great stuff as well. We'll have a little Bernstein SUMMER SOUNDS on page 64