Symphonies head outside for Labor Day weekend

Labor Day weekend in the Inland Northwest brings the traditional free symphony concerts in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene parks.

The Spokane Symphony performs Saturday at 6 p.m. at Pavillion Park in Liberty Lake, and on Monday at 6 p.m. in Comstock Park on Spokane’s South Hill.

Selections will range from patriotic numbers (“Stars and Stripes Forever”) to movie themes (“Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Jurassic Park”) to other audience favorites (“1812 Overture”).

The symphony also will reprise “Children of The Sun,” written in honor of the orchestra’s 60th anniversary by Music Director Eckart Preu’s older brother, Hans Peter Preu.

In Coeur d’Alene, the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra will give a concert Monday at 1 p.m. in City Park featuring a variety of classics and pops selections, including the “Stars and Stripes Forever,” “1812 Overture” and “William Tell Overture.”

Program highlights also feature East Coast singer Todd Robinson, familiar to Coeur d’Alene audiences from his appearances with Opera Plus, in selections from “The Barber of Seville” and “Carmen”; symphony trombonist Ernie Carlson (also of the Tuxedo Junction Big Band) soloing in “Over the Rainbow”; and a big-band medley, “Jump Jive Swing.”