Maryland Symphony Orchestra

dank@herald-mail.com The speakers are up, rows of trash cans placed and the stage is set. The preparations for the Maryland Symphony Orchestra's 17th annual Salute to Independence were numerous, but went smoothly at Antietam National Battlefield on Friday. Now organizers are just hoping the weather cooperates. Tens of thousands of people are expected to crowd the hillside and every other grassy patch around the battlefield visitor center today. The annual Independence Day weekend celebration features a 7:30 p.m. symphony concert, with fireworks after nightfall.

The Miss Washington County-Miss Western Maryland Scholarship Foundation will hold the sixth annual Taste and Benefit Auction Sunday Nov. 16, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Plaza Hotel in Hagerstown. Special guest Miss Maryland 2008 Louise Schlegel will attend. The event will feature a live and silent auction, raffle items and food provided by the Fireside Restaurant. The list of auction items has now topped 100 and continues to grow. Several local artists have donated to the event, including Susan Shaffer and John Neal Mullican.

Donna Bean and Donald White will be easy to spot at the Maryland Symphony Orchestra performance Saturday. They'll be the ones in a tuxedo and gown, making their first public appearance as husband and wife. Bean and White, of Madison, Wis., will be married Saturday afternoon in State Line, Pa., with about 100 guests in attendance. After the reception, a chartered bus will take them and their guests to Antietam National Battlefield. Bean, 23, and White, 30, are letting their attendants decide whether to wear their formal attire to Antietam.

Kipe to speak to Lioness group Andrew Kipe, executive director of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, will present the program at the Thursday, Oct. 2, meeting of the Hagerstown Lioness Club. A Hagerstown native who was formerly general manager of the Portland Symphony, Kipe will share his perspesctive about the past, present and future of the MSO, which performs a variety of concerts in Washington County each year. The meeting will be held at the Academy Theater (off the city parking lot in downtown Hagerstown.

Mary Catherine (Reel) Beggarly, 78, of Hagerstown, passed away Thursday, May 24, 2012, at her home, surrounded by her loving family. Born Sept. 8, 1933, in Hagerstown, she was the daughter of the late Edith Elizabeth Johnson. Mary was a 1951 graduate of Hagerstown High School. She was a member of First Christian Church in Hagerstown. Mary loved the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, and volunteered as an usher for many years at The Maryland Theatre. She retired as a central service technician for Washington County Hospital as well as Robinwood Medical Center after more than 30 years.

Tonight Long Meadow Shopping Center fireworks Featuring a concert by Spectrum from 7 to 9:30 p.m. and fireworks at 9:30 p.m. Intersection of Potomac and Northern avenues, Hagerstown. Rain date is Saturday. Saturday "Freedom's Birth: An American Experience" Re-enactors, history lectures, jazz and fireworks. Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Concert at Cavalier Heights at 7 p.m.; fireworks finale from Bolivar Heights at approximately 9:45 p.m. No entrance fee. Parking at Cavalier Heights Visitor Center, Bolivar Heights, throughout the day starting at 4:30 p.m. Parking areas will close at 8:30 p.m. 1-304-535-6298.

The holiday rush slowed to a more relaxed pace inside the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts on Sunday afternoon when a Maryland Symphony Orchestra recital offered the sounds of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. The MSO recitals at the museum began when orchestra was celebrating its 25th anniversary and the museum was marking its 75th anniversary, according to Sandy Wantz, chairperson of the museum's program and education committee. All musicians in the MSO are made aware of the recitals and musicians usually submit demos to be considered for the performances, said Wantz, explaining that the recitals started about five years ago. The piano quintet performing at Sunday afternoon's recital included Rebecca Racusin, Sarah D'Angelo, Dana Rokosny, Jessica Sammis and Berenika Schmitz.

Tamara Nuzzaci Park is leaving her job as executive director of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra next month. Park, who was hired for the position in August 2011, said the MSO's board of directors has formed a search committee to look for her replacement. Her final day as executive director will be May 17. According to MSO officials and Bravo, a publication of the MSO, Park said she and her husband have always dreamed of living in the mountains of Colorado and will be moving there.

Lively event To the editor: All fourth graders in the county went to the Maryland Symphony Orchestra on April 27. What I liked the best about the Maryland Symphony was the percussion. I liked percussion because I liked the sound of the xylophone, chimes and all the drums. Citibank sponsored the orchestra concert. I think mostly every kid liked the orchestra. Thank you, Citibank, for the experience of hearing a live symphony orchestra. Justin B. Smith Hagerstown Awesome concert To the editor: My name is Garrett J. Jessop.

Preparations are winding down for Saturday’s Salute to Independence Concert at Antietam National Battlefield. The popular annual event — which is expected to draw 20,000 people to the battlefield — features a performance of patriotic music by the Maryland Symphony Orchestra and culminates in a fireworks display. Work to construct a stage for the performance began last week and is expected to be completed Friday, said Ed Wenschhof, the park’s acting superintendent. Wenschhof said the event, which is in its 26th year, is one of his favorites.