Music was in the air at community birthday celebration

Thanks to the thousands who came out to Oronoco Bay Park to listen to the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra during Saturday's fireworks celebrating the nation's and the city's birthdays.

The amount of people there alone was exciting, but the sense of community was amazing! The musicians and Maestro Kim Allen Kluge did a great job on the big-band era hits, the patriotic numbers and even the themes from the Harry Potter movies! We all loved it when the whole crowd clapped along during Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever," and when people sang along with soloist Millicent Scarlett.

See some great photos of the crowd, the musicians and the fireworks by Alexandria News photographer Regan Kireilis, and a story by Carla Branch and Rebecca Newsham here.