Brady Goss, who grew up in Wallowa, plays Nov. 15 at the OK Theater in Enterprise.

ELGIN — This month, the Elgin Opera House is launching a Summer Music Festival.

Over two weeks, the Opera House will present multiple outdoor concerts featuring bands from the Pacific Northwest as well as Opera House performers. Opera House resident music director Trevor Winder said the musical festival is something brand new.

“The Summer Music Festival is kind of the brainchild of myself, the tech director, Nathan Harris, and our executive director, Terry Hale,” Winder said.

“Really we just didn’t know of anything in the area, at least in Union County, where there was a big concert series, so we wanted to be the first people to make that happen. We reached out to a bunch of local bands, and they all said yes and were really excited.”

The concerts will feature Brady Goss Band, James Dean Kindle & His Country Combo, Kaylie Davis, Bill Wadhams, Fading Sage, and Smiths’ Giddy-Up and Groove Band.

“We’ve got everything from country music, a little bit of folk, storytelling to rock,” Winder said. “Then we’re closing the series out with Brent Smith, and he’s got a little bit of a Johnny Cash tribute band.”

Concerts will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 21, Saturday, July 22, Friday, July 28, and Saturday, July 29.

Winder said each concert will last until about 9:30 p.m. Admission to the outdoor concerts is free, but there will be opportunities to make donations.

All concerts are family friendly.

The first concert begins at 7 p.m. Friday, July 21, outside the Elgin Opera House. More information is available on the Elgin Opera House website, elginoperahouse.com, or on the Facebook event page for “The Elgin Opera House Summer Music Festival 2023.”

“The response has been awesome,” Winder said. “We’re hoping it’s going to be an annual thing that we get to do year after year.”

Alumni concert

While the Summer Music Festival concerts take place on Fridays and Saturdays, the Elgin Opera House Fundraising Alumni Concert is scheduled for Thursday, July 27. A benefit for Opera House programming, the festival will feature more than 20 lead actors and actresses from past shows.

“You should probably bring a lawnchair and a blanket, a snack if you want it, although we will have snow cone (vendor) out here a couple nights,” he said. “You’ll also want to bring a good attitude.”

In addition to the Summer Music Festival, the Elgin Opera House will also be presenting its annual Shakespeare Festival and summer camp performances of “Frozen Jr.” this month.

“It’s going to be a party in downtown Elgin for two weeks,” Winder said. “It’s going to be a really good time, and a lot of fun.”

“It’s going to be a party in downtown Elgin for two weeks. It’s going to be a really good time, and a lot of fun.”

— Trevor Winder