The decision to declare independence was bold and risky, and the out-come far from certain. In 1776 no one in the colonies was more motivated or more determined to rise to the challenges that lay ahead than the patriots of South Carolina. On June 6, 2026, no one will commemorate their success with greater joy and enthusiasm than the citizens of the South Carolina lowcountry who gather at the USCB Center for Arts in historic Beaufort for a day of history, music, and birthday cake. The program will comprise three parts: a combined lecture by eminent historians Drs. Lawrence Rowland and John McCardell-tracing the sources and discussing the causes of the American Revolution and South Carolina’s role in its success, a short break for discussion and the essential birthday cake with lemonade, and then an all American concert for four hands by brilliant pianists Jeewon Park and Andrew Armstrong-presenting works by American composers ranging from Sousa to Joplin to Gershwin to Barber; from “Yankee Doodle” to “Stars and Stripes” to ragtime, to “Rhapsody in Blue,” and beyond.
Our founders fought for and then created a republic whose motto, still on the dollar bill, was Novus Ordo Saeclorum (a new order of the ages). Those Founding Fathers clearly delineated that new order in official documents, but nowhere would it be better expressed than in the newly formed country’s music. For the last two hundred and fifty years, we have exercised our hard-won freedoms and enjoyed the distinctly American musical compositions that have declared them loudly, rhythmically, and uniquely both to ourselves and to the world at large. It is now time to engage our minds and tap our feet in celebrating our history, our freedom, and our music.
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