GFD's Davis to commemorate 9/11
Ten years after the tragic events now simply known as 9/11, many have been unable to purge that day’s horrific images from their memories.
It’s the memory of a 9/11 thought that haunts Lt. Barry Davis, a 22-year veteran of the City of Greer Fire Department.
“We were coming over from Station Two to Headquarters for training when the plane hit the first building. After that we just sat and watched,” Davis said. “When the first building went down we all turned and looked at each other and said, “Oh (expletive), all those firemen are still in there.”
The past decade has allowed Davis, who is also a certified emergency medical technician, to fully appreciate the value of his work to the community. On Sept. 10, he will join other local first responders at the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra’s “Heroes & Legends” concert, an opportunity to pay tribute to the heroic first responders who lost their lives at the World Trade Center.
Davis and the others were recruited for a choir to sing such patriotic favorites as “America the Beautiful,” “Shenandoah,” “God Bless America,” and the “Armed Forces Salute” at the concert, which will be held at Converse College’s Twichell Auditorium.
As he prepared for the group’s first rehearsal on Aug. 30, Davis was ready to focus on the musical selections rather than the memorial itself.
“Being a 9/11 memorial, I thought it would just be a cool thing to do,” he said. “Emotionally I don’t know what it’s going to be like yet. I’ve sung at a few funerals and it can be difficult to keep it together.”
The concert includes a special world premiere performance of Kenneth Fuchs’ “Falling Man,” a large-scale vocal-orchestral work about a survivor of the 9/11 attacks and the effect his experiences on that day have on his life thereafter.
Rather than opening an old wound through too-fresh memories, Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra music director Sarah Ioannides said she anticipates the memorial concert being a cathartic experience for both the performers and audience members.
“Music softens life’s pain allowing us to comprehend and process tragedies that are often too difficult to face,” Ioannides said. “We process the pain through Kenneth Fuchs’ composition and we honor the heroes of this great country with beloved patriotic classics and community spirit.”
For more information on the concert, visit www.spartanburgphilharmonic.org.
It’s the memory of a 9/11 thought that haunts Lt. Barry Davis, a 22-year veteran of the City of Greer Fire Department.
“We were coming over from Station Two to Headquarters for training when the plane hit the first building. After that we just sat and watched,” Davis said. “When the first building went down we all turned and looked at each other and said, “Oh (expletive), all those firemen are still in there.”
The past decade has allowed Davis, who is also a certified emergency medical technician, to fully appreciate the value of his work to the community. On Sept. 10, he will join other local first responders at the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra’s “Heroes & Legends” concert, an opportunity to pay tribute to the heroic first responders who lost their lives at the World Trade Center.
Davis and the others were recruited for a choir to sing such patriotic favorites as “America the Beautiful,” “Shenandoah,” “God Bless America,” and the “Armed Forces Salute” at the concert, which will be held at Converse College’s Twichell Auditorium.
As he prepared for the group’s first rehearsal on Aug. 30, Davis was ready to focus on the musical selections rather than the memorial itself.
“Being a 9/11 memorial, I thought it would just be a cool thing to do,” he said. “Emotionally I don’t know what it’s going to be like yet. I’ve sung at a few funerals and it can be difficult to keep it together.”
The concert includes a special world premiere performance of Kenneth Fuchs’ “Falling Man,” a large-scale vocal-orchestral work about a survivor of the 9/11 attacks and the effect his experiences on that day have on his life thereafter.
Rather than opening an old wound through too-fresh memories, Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra music director Sarah Ioannides said she anticipates the memorial concert being a cathartic experience for both the performers and audience members.
“Music softens life’s pain allowing us to comprehend and process tragedies that are often too difficult to face,” Ioannides said. “We process the pain through Kenneth Fuchs’ composition and we honor the heroes of this great country with beloved patriotic classics and community spirit.”
For more information on the concert, visit www.spartanburgphilharmonic.org.