Original Coverage & Source Attribution: hoodline.com
Symphony Pro Musica kicks off its 44th season this weekend with two performances of “Happy Birthday, America!,” a program built around the country’s 250th anniversary that pairs a world-premiere orchestral piece with fife-and-drum pageantry. The Saturday show lands at Hudson High School’s auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on November 14, while the Sunday performance moves to Mechanics Hall in Worcester at 3 p.m. on November 15.
A Regional Orchestra With Local Roots
Symphony Pro Musica, a regional orchestra founded and conducted by Mark Churchill, includes multiple Southborough musicians among its ranks, according to My Southborough, whose report on the weekend concerts prompted a reader to remind the outlet’s author that he himself plays in the orchestra. The Sunday date is independently confirmed by Mechanics Hall’s own event listing, which notes the concert runs at 3:00 p.m. at the Worcester venue, according to Mechanics Hall. These concerts close out an American anniversary theme that the orchestra began during its 2025-2026 season, per the same report.
Both nights open with a traditional symphony performance centered on resident composer Arson Fahim, whose SPM-commissioned, world-premiere work headlines the program. Fahim is also the composer behind An Afghan in Boston, a 10-minute piece honoring his five years studying music in the United States; that work features a solo cello performance by Churchill, with Fahim himself conducting. The concerts additionally include a Churchill cello solo as part of the broader program.
Fifes, Drums, and a Fireworks-Night Connection
The program’s second half shifts into pops territory, featuring patriotic works alongside guest players from the Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums, a group established in 1982 by Boston-area musicians, according to the Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums. Mechanics Hall describes the Sunday lineup similarly, noting the second half “includes favorite patriotic works and features the acclaimed Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums in full regalia.”
Among the pieces the fife-and-drum corps will perform alongside Symphony Pro Musica is Evan Meier’s Liberty: From the Ashes of Tyranny, a work the ensemble also performed with the Boston Pops on July 4. That piece was commissioned by the Middlesex County Volunteers Fifers for the 2026 Boston Pops July 4th Fireworks Special, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, according to composer Evan Meier’s website. The program also includes Charles Ives’s Symphony No. 2, which weaves patriotic and hymn tunes into Brahmsian textures, the Southborough outlet reports.
Ticket Prices and Free Admission Options
Ticket prices differ by night. Saturday’s general admission in Hudson costs $27.24, with senior tickets at $21.99, while Sunday’s Worcester show runs $30 for general admission and $25 for seniors, per the same report. Admission is free for students and U.S. veterans at both performances, and the Saturday concert extends free admission to the Afghan community as well.
Students have long attended SPM concerts at no charge, a pattern that shows up both in the current listing and in a prior concert page, according to a report from My Southborough‘s earlier coverage. For Sunday’s Worcester date, veterans can redeem free tickets using promo code VETS, and the event also offers a limited run of Card to Culture tickets, capped at five per order, through promo code CARD2CULTURESPM, according to Mechanics Hall’s listing. Mechanics Hall separately notes that WIC, EBT, and ConnectorCare cardholders may obtain free or reduced-price tickets to a limited number of seats for most events at the venue, per its Card to Culture page.
Looking Ahead
Past Symphony Pro Musica programs have ranged widely in scale and setting — a prior concert staged Mahler’s Sixth Symphony at St. Mark’s School’s Putnam Family Arts Center, while Fahim’s own Concert in Solidarity with Afghan Musicians drew an orchestra of more than 80 musicians and guest Afghan performers at Jordan Hall this past March, according to the Boston Globe. Symphony Pro Musica lists concerts in November, January, March, and May as part of its regular season, and the orchestra is inviting newcomers to join for future performances, according to its own season materials.
