Manassas Symphony pays homage to the city’s Rock n’ Roll roots

Manassas Symphony is paying tribute to a famous Rock n’ Roll album that used Manassas in their album art.

Ron Sharpe was a junior at Gar-Field High School in 1971 when he and his band mates were abuzz about rock and roll royalty visiting Manassas. Superstar Stephen Stills, famous already for being a part of both Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, was a Civil War buff and brought his new band to town to shoot photos for an upcoming album. The one they liked best had the band standing on the train station platform under a “Manassas” sign, and thus the band and album were named. “Manassas” is considered a rock masterpiece.

Fast-forward nearly 50 years and the Sharpe family experience came full circle when his daughter, Veronica Miller, a first violinist in the Manassas Symphony, took part in a symphonic homage to that classic album cover. For classically trained Miller, the experience brought together different parts of her world, “I grew up listening to 60s and 70s rock records with my dad, and I had the experience of seeing CSNY in concert with my parents as a teenager. Plus, my whole musical life has been centered in Old Town Manassas.”

For Music Director James Villani, the album art re-creation was the culmination of an idea that was a long time coming. “I’ve been a fan of this album and its cover for quite a while.” Since joining the MSO in 2002, Villani had nurtured the idea of recreating this iconic photo at the historic Manassas train station with symphony musicians. The upcoming American Idols concert provided the perfect opportunity.

The MSO partnered with Ginger Carroll of Sweet Ginger Snaps photography to do their shoot on a sunny Sunday morning in October. Carroll said in a press release, “I was so excited to help remake this photo. Seeing the old photo with the band posed in an area that I walk by often was really cool – possibly the coolest shot I’ve done.”
Final touches were added by Jessica Caporaletti, a Graphic Designer with Allen Wayne in Warrenton. “Despite being a millennial, my music preferences are from the 70s, 80s, and 90s,” said Caporaletti in a press release. “I was familiar with the original album cover and was thrilled to work on this project.”

The final results are a witty tribute to the original. Musicians in concert black pose casually holding their instruments and making stoic faces similar to their rock counterparts. Maestro Villani occupies Mr. Stills’ position, leaning against the post, crossed legged. Miller’s scarf is a nod to the one Al Perkins wears in the original. The names that appear in big block letters are the American composers the MSO is playing this season.

Caporaletti said, “Overall we really wanted to capture the essence of the original album cover while still giving the final artwork its own unique touch. Using Photoshop, we achieved the same grainy effect as the film camera image.” Carroll adds, “I’m happy that we were able to capture the right feel. What a fabulous experience!”

The concert on March 7 starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Hylton Performing Arts Center. Under the baton of Music Director, James Villani, American Idols presents music from three of America’s greatest composers: Aaron Copland’s Quiet City, Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story,” and Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2 (Romantic).

Tickets start at $16 and are free for children and students through college. Contact the Hylton Center Box Office at 703-993-7759. More information on the MSO is available online.