- September 5, 2026
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Never forget.
Those words have long been associated with the Holocaust. But after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the expression gained broader use.
Of the 2,977 people who died on 9/11 in New York City, Washington, D.C. and western Pennsylvania, 441 were first responders. Since then, at least another 4,300 firefighters, police, rescue workers and survivors have succumbed to cancer and respiratory illnesses caused by the toxic dust they inhaled, according to the World Trade Center Health Project. Of these, nearly half were first responders.
Countless others still alive who answered the call for help on 9/11 are plagued with physical ailments and post-traumatic stress disorder.
But they have not been forgotten. Nor have local first responders who risk their lives every day in the line of duty. That’s the message that the Sarasota Orchestra wants to send with its “Summon the Heroes” concert at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Led by guest conductor Evan Roider, the program is a benefit for local nonprofits that help first responders and their families: Resilient Retreat, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Charitable Foundation, Sarasota Firefighters Benevolent Fund and Sarasota Police Foundation.
In an age rife with conspiracy theories, there is no evidence to suggest that the Saudi nationals who hijacked planes on Sept. 11 knew that 911 was the number used in case of emergency all over the U.S. The echo between the date of the attacks, the deadliest on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor in 1941, and the phone number stands as one of the eerier coincidences in history.
Even though it was not the site of 9/11 casualties, Sarasota was a focal point on that bright September day. That’s because President George W. Bush was here to visit Emma E. Booker Elementary School. He was reading “The Pet Goat” to a second-grade class when an aide whispered the shocking news into his ear.
The president kept his cool, as video footage would nearly instantaneously demonstrate to millions. As Bush’s genial smile transformed into a frozen, tight-lipped stare, the eyes of the world turned to Florida’s Gulf Coast before the president was whisked off to a safe location.
For better or worse, Sarasota holds a special place in the history of 9/11. As the conductor of the “Summon the Heroes” concert, it’s Roider’s job to create a program that captures the gravity of the occasion and gratitude for sometimes unsung heroes.
Roider, who recently became principal pops conductor of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, is a familiar face to Sarasota Orchestra fans. A fun-loving fellow, he has conducted several lighter Great Escapes and Pops concerts for the orchestra. Roider is passionate about music from TV, film and Broadway and directed more than 1,000 performances of “Wicked.”
With his oversized black spectacles and cool attire, he looks a bit like Elvis Costello of the 1980s. Still, Roider knows his way around the classical masterworks repertoire and can rise to a serious occasion.
How did Roider answer the Sarasota Orchestra’s call for a program that honors grievous loss but embodies hope and generosity without getting bogged down in a maudlin, patriotic swamp?
With great care.
As might be expected, “Summon the Heroes” will open with our rousing national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” before moving on to Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” and Samuel Barber’s mournful “Adagio for Strings.”
The mood will turn upbeat with Hollywood composer John Williams’ “Summon the Heroes,” the selection that gives the concert its title. Williams originally wrote the piece for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Those looking for religious and patriotic standards will welcome soprano Amy Owens’ rendition of “Amazing Grace” and “America the Beautiful,” backed by the 76-member Sarasota Orchestra.
To hear Roider tell it, the highlight of the evening will be James A. Beckel Jr.’s “Liberty for All,” which will be narrated by Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe founder and artistic director Nate Jacobs.
Written in 2000-02 for the Carmel Symphony, the roughly 11-minute work includes excerpts from memorable speeches and texts throughout U.S. history. Among them are Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, General George Washington’s words of encouragement to his troops at Valley Forge, President Abraham Lincoln’s letter to a mother whose sons perished in the Civil War and President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration address.
“I always find when I’m listening to music and there’s a narrator there, the voice along with the music always gives me chills,” says Sarasota Orchestra Senior Vice President of Artistic Operations RoseAnne McCabe in an joint Zoom call with Roider. “It almost doesn’t matter what they’re saying. I think ‘Liberty for All’ will be an incredible moment.”
Those who have seen WBTT’s Jacobs perform or heard him speak will no doubt agree with McCabe.
This isn’t the first time that the Sarasota Orchestra has held a concert in honor of 9/11 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. “We have this great partnership with the Van Wezel,” McCabe says. “We actually did a 10th anniversary 9/11 commemorative concert, and I think in 2002 we did a one-year anniversary concert. But the 25th anniversary really felt like the time to pause and remember.”
McCabe notes that there’s a generation of young people who weren’t alive on Sept. 11, 2001. The “Summon the Heroes” concert represents an opportunity to reach out to them and teach them about the past, she notes.
It will also be a chance for those alive on that fateful day to remember and give thanks to first responders and their families.
Even before the terrorist attacks, Sept. 11, 2001 was shaping up to be an eventful day in Sarasota because of President Bush’s visit to promote his No Child Left Behind education initiative. “When a president comes to a town the size of Sarasota, it’s a big deal because it closes down roads and such,” says McCabe. The president was accompanied by an entourage of print and broadcast media, making sure his trip was well-documented.
McCabe had been working for the predecessor organization to the Sarasota Orchestra for a little over a year when Sarasota became forever linked with 9/11. A native of South Bend, Indiana, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in double bass performance from Indiana University in Bloomington. According to her official bio, she handles “most of the elements behind the scenes for the concerts, events, outreach, and the Sarasota Music Festival.”
Roider was in the fourth grade in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when the hijackers’ planes hit the Twin Towers. “I remember they brought this big TV on a cart into the classroom,” he says. Was there any concern that images of death and destruction might be harmful to young viewers? Not that he was aware of, Roider says.
Disaster struck closer to home for Roider and other residents of Louisiana four years later. That’s when Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, leading to the loss of 1,392 lives. Momentous events such as 9/11, Katrina and later COVID were flash points for Roider’s generation the way that the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy was for baby boomers.
“There are sort of these pinpoint moments in our lives, right? September 11th for me, Hurricane Katrina, obviously COVID. I think we all stop in those moments to acknowledge the first responders and to give thanks for them,” Roider says. “But a lot of times, those moments pass, and we move on.”
He adds: “I think this is a great opportunity to just take a moment when hopefully things are calm, where we can say thank you to the first responders, and they can truly be the focus. And what better way to do that than through music?”
McCabe chimes in. “When there are no words to describe things, music can fill that void,” she says. “It can be so healing for people that have memories that even 25 years later, they’re still processing. Music can help them with their trauma, even just a little bit.”
But isn’t just the music, McCabe notes. “It’s being surrounded by 1,500 other people. There’s nothing like community coming together to hear this music that we all know and love,” she says.
No, they haven’t forgotten.
