Oh, Say Can They Sing : Flag-Waving Panache Drives Pacific Symphony’s Independence Day Program

If Daisy and her beau had pedaled by on their tandem bicycle, no one would have batted an eye at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on Thursday night. They would have fit right into idyllic scenes of civic bands, rolling countryside and small-town churches, all painted by the Pacific Symphony for its Independence Day program.

Guest conductor David Bishop--experienced in musical theater and, for eight years, director of the Minnesota Orchestra’s summer pops concerts--washed the evening with a patina of stage kitsch that reached bottom with a medley of flag-wavers by George M. Cohan, Woody Guthrie and Irving Berlin in rah-rah arrangements by Bishop and Carmen Dragon.

Jason Graae, the vocal soloist here, slick and--judging by his own quips--without illusions about his cheerleading role, brought spit-and-polish energy to his performance while encouraging an audience sing-along.

Baritone Jubilant Sykes replaced showmanship with earnestness and captivating versatility during three of Copland’s settings of “Old American Songs,” particularly in his simple, fervent interpretation of the hymn “At the River.”

Sykes brought similar ardor and artistry to a set of three spirituals, although the gruesome crucifixion description in “Were You There” seemed more appropriate for an Easter Sunrise service than the Fourth of July.

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Town-and-country dances of plain and not-so-plain folk found voice in orchestral works by Copland, Bernstein and Gottschalk (the last as arranged by Ulysses Kay)--all with plenty of foot-tapping syncopation and percussive, brassy panache.

The concert was belted out over a static-free sound system for all 9,758 in attendance to enjoy. In the closing medley of marches by Sousa, even with competing fireworks, the sectional piccolo work on “Stars and Stripes Forever” rang jaunty and true.