Summon the Heroes
On a September evening, the familiar sweep of Sarasota’s bayfront can become a place for collective memory.
By Edit Sarasota Staff
On a September evening, the familiar sweep of Sarasota’s bayfront can become a place for collective memory. In “Summon the Heroes,” music will offer a language for grief, gratitude and endurance as the community marks the 25th anniversary of September 11.
Presented by the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in partnership with the Sarasota Orchestra, the concert is designed not as a history lesson but as a gathering: a roomful of neighbors listening, remembering and considering the meaning of service and resilience across a quarter-century. Led by conductor Evan Roider, the program brings heartfelt music to an occasion that continues to resonate far beyond the dates and headlines associated with it.
For Sarasota, a city shaped by people who arrive from elsewhere as well as those whose families have been here for generations, such an event can hold particular weight. The region’s cultural life often functions as a civic commons, creating opportunities for reflection that are neither purely private nor explicitly political. In that setting, an orchestra’s sound—communal, physical and unfolding in real time—can make space for emotions that are difficult to articulate alone.
The Van Wezel, with its unmistakable purple exterior and long-standing place on the bayfront, is an apt setting for the occasion. Since opening in 1970, the hall has served as one of Sarasota’s most visible artistic anchors, welcoming touring performers and local audiences while helping define the city’s identity as a cultural destination. Its partnership with the Sarasota Orchestra extends that role into a shared act of remembrance, joining the hall’s broad public reach with the orchestra’s deep connection to the community.
“Summon the Heroes” also arrives at a moment when anniversaries invite more than looking backward. For younger generations, September 11 is increasingly a historical event rather than a lived memory; for others, it remains immediate. A concert can hold both realities at once, honoring those who were lost and those who responded while acknowledging the continuing work of rebuilding, caring and living together.
“Summon the Heroes” will take place Thursday, September 10, 2026, at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Under Roider’s direction, the Sarasota Orchestra and its audience will gather at the bayfront hall for an evening of reflection, resilience and remembrance.