Choristers of Christ Episcopal Church Choir and Temple Aliyah’s Nashir will join ranks with more than 200 singers from Boston-based choirs and choral societies to become the One City Choir, under the direction of Holly Krafka, for one night only, in celebration of the opening night of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra’s 2012 Landmarks Festival at the Shell.

This unique performance, titled Boston Sings, will take place July 11 at the DCR Hatch Shell on the Esplanade. The orchestra and the One City Choir will perform works by Aaron Copland, including selections from Old American Songs and The Tender Land. 

This landmark performance will also mark the inaugural presentation of a newly created award honoring the orchestra’s late founder, Charles Ansbacher. Ansbacher's goal of bringing music to all people became a lasting component of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra’s mission and extended as far as Vietnam, where he was the first American to conduct the Vietnamese National Symphony Orchestra. In spirit of this distinction and the obstacles overcome to achieve it, the Charles Ansbacher Music for All Award will be presented with an acknowledgment to the reconciliation between the United States and Vietnam.

Ansbacher's vision is carried out today not only through the free concerts performed at the Hatch Shell but by bringing music directly to Boston’s neighborhoods as well. In an effort to fulfill the goal of providing free music for all, the Boston Landmarks Orchestra will be holding a special series of neighborhood concerts at Dorchester Park on June 11, Pinebank Promontory in Jamaica Plain on July 15, and Blackstone Square in the South End on July 19. In addition to these concerts the orchestra will also perform at the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum’s grand opening on June 25.

For more information about the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, go to www.landmarksorchestra.com.