Bob Bernhardt may have more than three decades of experience as a pops conductor, as a music director and in the opera pit, but he still is willing to try something new.

He guest-conducts the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra for the first time on July 3 during a concert at Lions Pavilion Park in New Buffalo, Michigan.

“It is an Americana potpourri for the most part. It’s largely family fare with a heartfelt tribute to service and sacrifice, which is at the core of our Independence Day celebrations,” Bernhardt said.

Pieces he said he is looking forward to conducting include “Les Miserables” tune “Bring Him Home,” which features Bernhardt’s longtime friend Tim King, interim executive director of the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra, on vocals.

Bernhardt, who lives in Tennessee, also cited a tune that might be familiar to movie fans as a highlight of the program.

“A piece I try to do every Independence Day holiday is ‘Hymn to the Fallen’ by John Williams from ‘Saving Private Ryan.’ It’s the music that’s played near the end of the film when there’s an aerial survey of the American graves at Normandy,” he said.

“I find it deeply moving and important just as I do the film. The film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is one of the most important films of the last 50 years.”

The free concert, which is sponsored by New Buffalo Business Association and the Pokagon Fund, also features “Armed Forces Salute.”

“We play all the service anthems, and we ask members of each service and their families to stand when their service anthem is played,” Bernhardt said.

“At a time when we as Americans seem to be fairly polarized, there is something incredibly soothing and comforting about how music can move each and every one of us. We’re going to be doing everything from Sousa marches and Rodgers & Hammerstein to Duke Ellington and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’

“It’s going to be lots and lots of fun and with a dose of remembrance added in. It’s just family entertainment. No matter where you are on any social or political scale, this concert can be wonderful medicine for everybody. It’s intended to be joyful as well.”

The LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra continues performing during post-concert fireworks over Lake Michigan with songs including John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever” and “Star Wars (Main Title),” the main musical theme by Williams from the film.

Bernhardt, who has been a frequent guest conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra since 1992, first conducted during his senior year at Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he was an Academic All-America baseball player.

After trying spring training with the Kansas City Royals, he earned a master’s degree with honors from the University of Southern California’s School of Music and went on to work with stars including Jason Alexander, the Beach Boys, Megan Hilty, Wynonna Judd, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Kelli O’Hara.

“I have found a career that has allowed me to be myself,” said Bernhardt, the principal pops conductor for the Grand Rapids Symphony in Michigan, the Louisville Orchestra in Kentucky and the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera in Tennessee and a regular guest conductor with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Canada. “That’s an enormous gift. Thirty years of opera, pops, classical subscription concerts and educational concerts — I’ve had a chance to do everything. I’m very proud of that. It’s made me very happy.”

Jessi Virtusio is a freelancer.