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Orchestra Needs $50,000 For Antietam Concert

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- Officials with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra say the group needs $50,000 by May 1 so it can conduct its annual Salute to Independence concert at Antietam National Battlefield.

Symphony interim executive director, April Dowler said on Monday that the event has lost sponsors. Spokesman Gregory Evans said in an e-mail that funding from the National Park Service is in jeopardy.

Dowler says May 1 is the deadline because musicians need to know whether to save the date and the MSO has contracts with vendors.

About 35,000 people attend the event, which is held on a Saturday around the Fourth of July. The free concert features fireworks and the firing of cannons during the "1812 Overture."

This year's concert is slated for July 2.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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