A big band of professional freelance musicians will give Bach, Holst, and Mozart the jazz treatment when the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra plays its 32nd annual free Summer Series concert at Devou Park's Band Shell on August 1.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.

Music Director James R. Cassidy, who founded the KSO in 1992, said the program builds on the orchestra's long history of exploring jazz styles. The concert pairs musicians who perform with the symphonies of Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Lexington, Louisville, and West Virginia with top regional jazz players.

"Greater Cincinnati is home to stellar jazz musicians," Cassidy said. "The opportunity to dig into great jazz that is never to seldom performed becomes fun and engaging for both the audience and the performers."

The program, titled "The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra Swings the Classics," opens with jazz arrangements of C.P.E. Bach's "Solfeggio in C Minor," Gustav Holst's "Mars from The Planets," and works by Dvořák, Bizet, Verdi, and Brahms. After intermission, the big band takes on J.S. Bach, Mozart's "Symphony No. 40," and George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

Concertgoers can register for weather updates and prize drawings at kyso.org or by calling (859) 431-6216, according to the KSO.

A second performance of the same program takes place at 7:30 p.m. August 2, at Tower Park in Fort Thomas.