Alex Mathews, bass-baritone, performs during the Independence Day celebration on Saturday July 3, 2021 in the Amphitheater. KRISTEN TRIPLETT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The conductor raises his baton to the ceiling, the orchestra comes to the crescendo of “Stars and Stripes Forever,” and the American Flag unfurls above the stage as the audience rises to its feet in applause. For many Chautauquans it is the quintessential Fourth of July moment, one they look forward to each year. While this year’s Independence Day festivities were a bit different than years past — with guest conductor William Eddins holding the baton, and the Music School Festival Orchestra and Chautauqua Voice Program taking the stage for the annual Independence Day Celebration in the Amp — the weekend signaled a joyous return of some of Chautauqua’s most beloved traditions, of families and fireworks, of celebration and community, in a gathering that President Theodore Roosevelt once described as “typical of America at its best.”
