As the weather turns warm, free outdoor concerts light up all over St. Louis.
This summer concert season has a few changes to its lineup. Clayton has added “May Musical Mondays” to its previous events; St. Peters has replaced its “Summer Concert Series” with a much larger “Lakeside Series” at a Lakeside Park.
One city in particular, Chesterfield, has been accumulating concert series over the past few years. This summer, it is debuting an Orchestra Music Series at Chesterfield Amphitheatre.
Jason Baucom, Chesterfield’s superintendent of arts and entertainment, manages special events like the orchestra series. He says that, over the years, Chesterfield has been trying to reach as wide a range of people as possible by offering every genre in the concerts at its amphitheater. This new orchestra series, he says, is part of that.
“Not everybody gets the opportunity to see orchestra music,” Baucom said. “This is a free music series. It’s not all about spending a lot of money and experiencing this type of music. It’s about bringing the family out, really introducing it to a new generation, and enjoying it as a family.”
As with most outdoor concert series, families are invited to bring blankets, chairs, food, beverages — whatever they want, except for glass. This freedom of the outdoors is part of what Baucom thinks will make these concerts special.
“You’re getting to experience this orchestra music outdoors, and you’re getting to see the sun set behind the trees while you’re listening to this beautiful music,” said Baucom. “It’s just magical.”
The first Twilight Tuesday, April 28, at the Missouri History Museum brings the warm R&B offerings of the Coleman-Hughes Project feature Adrianne Felton.
Those concerts start in Mid-may and continue through June.
For more details on this and other free summer concerts in and around St. Louis, check out the list of concert series.
We are looking for other free, outdoor concert series to add. We have contacted some and will get the information onto the chart as soon as possible. Check back weekly for information about upcoming concerts.
Send information to dkorando@stlpublicradio.org.
