The Utah Symphony will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by performing as part of the annual ceremony at the Utah Healing Field in Sandy.
The field features more than 3,000 American flags, placed by volunteers over three days on the lawn in front of Sandy’s City Hall. It has been installed every year since 2002, the first anniversary of the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people at New York’s World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and a field near Shanksville, Pa.
The program, conductor Conner Gray Covington said in a statement released Thursday, includes “music that will provide a sense of comfort and healing to the audience, but also serve as a way to promote a feeling of optimism and unity moving forward.”
The program includes two works by John Williams: “Liberty Salute,” written in 1986 to mark the centennial of the Statue of Liberty; and “Hymn to the Fallen,” part of the score of the 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan.”
Also on the program: “Armed Forces Salute,” arranged by Bob Lowden; Edward Elgar’s “Nimrod” (from “Enigma Variations”), often used in funerals; Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” a work dedicated to the country’s 16th president; and two recent works, “Seven O’Clock Shout” and “Umoja: An Anthem for Unity,” by American composer Valerie Coleman.
The ceremony also includes a flyover by U.S. Air Force planes, a presentation of colors, a 21-volley salute, a bugle performance of taps, and a performance by the Utah Pipe Band.
The ceremony begins Saturday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m. Tickets are free, but must be procured in advance, online at utah20th.eventbrite.com.
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