Firelands Symphony Orchestra returns to playing live shows

NORWALK — It's been more than a year, but Firelands Symphony Orchestra is back to playing live concerts in front of big crowds. The orchestra performed a pops concert Saturday evening at Norwalk Reservoir's Veteran Memorial Lake Park, drawing about 900 people who sat in lawn chairs next to a lake and heard the orchestra play a wide variety of tunes. Conductor Carl Topilow and the musicians he led roamed across decades of pop music. Aided by vocalist Laura Pedersen on some numbers, they played Duke Ellington's 1936 classic jazz tune "Caravan" (with Topilow pulling out his clarinet to play a solo) but also played show tunes, music from movies, Abba's "Dancing Queen" and songs by the rock band Queen, with Topilow coaxing the crowd to sing "We will rock you." It was the orchestra's first live show in more than a year, since early 2020. The orchestra had tried to play a show last fall at the same location, but it was rained out. The orchestra ordered tents to shelter the audience if it rained again (the orchestra played under a pavilion roof), but when the weather forecast turned out to be good, the orchestra was able to cancel the order, said Tricia Applegate, the orchestra's executive director. The crowd included Larry Fletcher, executive director of Lake Erie Shores and Islands. The show illustrates that events are back in a big way in the area, Fletcher said. He said his tourism agency's website currently lists 313 events. The orchestra's summer season includes several free live shows. The full orchestra takes the stage next at 7 p.m. July 4 for an Independence Day Pops Celebration at Jackson Street Pier in downtown Sandusky.