8:00 pm | World’s Fair Park – Performance Lawn stage
This event is free and open to the public. No tickets required. Picnic blankets, lawn chairs, food, and drinks are welcome. No pets, alcohol, personal tents, or tent canopies are permitted.

Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with the KSO at the 42nd Annual Lawson Family Foundation Independence Day Concert, part of the City of Knoxville’s Festival on the 4th at World’s Fair Park. The KSO’s free performance begins at 8:00 p.m. and will be followed by fireworks launching from the Henley Bridge at approximately 9:45 p.m.

Led by Music Director Aram Demirjian, this year’s concert features patriotic favorites, American music, and special guests including Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, Tennessee State Senator Becky Duncan Massey, radio and television host Hallerin Hilton Hill, WBIR anchor John Becker, Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone David Crawford, East Tennessee mandolin virtuoso Wyatt Ellis, and KSO Poet-in-Residence Rhea Carmon (sponsored by Julia Caroline White).

The program includes audience favorites such as The Star-Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, Armed Forces Salute, John Williams’ Liberty Fanfare, Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, and John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever. Mayor Kincannon, Mayor Jacobs, Senator Massey, and Hill will participate in a special presentation featuring excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, while Carmon will be featured in Battle Hymn of the Republic. Becker will serve as narrator for Lincoln Portrait and Armed Forces Salute.

The concert will also feature performances by Crawford, whose career includes nearly 400 appearances with the Metropolitan Opera, and Ellis, one of bluegrass music’s most exciting young artists and a Grand Ole Opry performer. Together, these special guests help make this year’s concert a memorable celebration of America’s past, present, and future.

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