Retired doctor and long-time local performer George Jarden will host the fourth annual “The Song of America” at 1 p.m. Friday, June 30, 2 p.m. Saturday, July 1, and 7 p.m. Monday, July 3, in the living room of Jarden’s home, 3100 Karen Drive.
There is no charge to attend, but seating is limited. For reservations, call 575-652-7301 or send an email to georgejarden@gmail.com.
Jarden, 87, “sings and narrates the history of America using songs based on writings of great poets and important Americans, along with period and historical songs and insightful storytelling,” Jarden said.
The performance traces American history from the voyage of Columbus through the American Civil War, he said.
“The Song of America is the classic history of America set to songs and storytelling with writings and songs, from the 1600s to the 2000s,” Jarden said.
The show includes “some 100 writings, poems and songs (that) immortalized the country's history,” he said, including works by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Greenleaf Whittier, Julia Ward How, Oliver Wendell Homes and many others as they memorialize Daniel Boone, “Old Ironsides,” the French and Indian War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
For the production, Jarden said he has also re-worked and added to the 1951 original “Song of America” of Roy Ringwald, “the great composer and arranger for the popular band and chorus Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians.”
Any child aged 12 and under who recites the poem “O Captain, My Captain” from memory at any of the three performances will receive $50, Jarden said. The poem was written by poet Walt Whitman shortly after the death of President Abraham Lincoln.
To register, visit https://georgejardenshows.com/the-song-of-america.
