On the cool evening of Saturday, July 20, the Whiting Park Festival Orchestra (WPFO) performed the first concert of its Summer with the Symphony series at Whiting Lakefront Park’s Mary E. Bercik Memorial Pavilion. The theme of this free concert was “Don’t Mess with Mother Nature!” Attendees set up their lawn chairs and folding tables on the grass in front of the pavilion, either enjoying snacks from home or snacking on treats from the concession stand. Martin Dybel, general manager of the WPFO, founded the orchestra alongside conductor Maestro Robert Vodnoy in 1999. Dybel also established the Summer with the Symphony concerts in 1994 and believes that the program has had a significant positive impact on the Whiting community.
“Our goal is to entertain and educate the populace,” Dybel said. “We always change up the programming to keep things interesting for our audience. Robert is very knowledgeable and selects all of the music. The Summer with the Symphony series has definitely elevated the level of culture in an area that is relatively deprived of it. Attending our concerts has become a tradition that spans generations. The concerts are open to anyone and there’s no charge. We want to enhance the community and give community members the chance to engage with one another in a meaningful way.”
The Summer with the Symphony series is often referred to as the “Ravinia of the South,” a nickname that likens the series to the prestigious Ravinia music festival held annually in Highland Park, Illinois. Summer with the Symphony draws attendees from Northwest Indiana, Chicagoland, and even Michigan. Charline Pacourek, along with her husband and son, has traveled from Chicago to Whiting to attend the Symphony in the Park concerts for the past two years. Pacourek feels that Summer with the Symphony is an excellent event for a number of reasons.
“I love the Summer with the Symphony series,” Pacourek said. “It brings the community together in a very special way. The concerts are held at this beautiful and safe location right next to Lake Michigan. I also love that it’s close to home. The mayor and everyone else in Whiting is always so polite and kind, so much so that I’m sorry I never bought a house here. People usually pay a lot of money to attend concerts like this, but we get to enjoy it for free. I would rather come right here to attend four symphony concerts free of charge instead of driving two hours to Ravinia. This program is simply magnificent.”
The orchestra performed a diverse array of pieces, all of them related to the central theme of Mother Nature’s power in some way. “In Nature’s Realm” by Antonin Dvořák, “The Sound of Music” by Richard Rodgers, highlights from John Williams’ score from “Jurassic Park,” and excerpts from “Finian’s Rainbow” by Burton Lane numbered among the evening’s selections. Dybel takes just as much pleasure in seeing the attendees enjoying the concerts as he did when he first established the Summer with the Symphony program.
“I hope everyone here walks away feeling happy and entertained tonight,” Dybel said. “Hopefully they enjoyed some food and drink and had a good time relaxing on a beautiful summer night with their friends and family by the shores of Lake Michigan, with the Chicago skyline in the background. It’s always great to see how happy people are when they’re here and I enjoy seeing the many friends that we’ve made over the three decades we’ve been putting on concerts. It’s always a fun and exciting evening.“
The next Summer with the Symphony concert, which will feature vocalists Kimberly Jones and Matthew Daniel, will be held on Saturday, August 3 and is titled “Amazing Superheroes.” The following concert will be held on Saturday, August 17 and is titled “Wine, Women and Song!” The final concert of the series, which is titled “Salute to American Music!,” will be held on Sunday, September 1 and will feature pianist Inna Faliks and a fireworks show.
You can learn more about the Whiting Park Festival Orchestra and its future concert dates by visiting whitingparkfestivalorchestra.com. Please visit whitingindiana.com for more information about the City of Whiting’s upcoming events.
