2014 Boston Pops Season

Fun Fun Fun From May 7 to June 14

By: BSO - Dec 02, 2013

 

“The Very Best of the Boston Pops” 2014 Boston Pops season, May 7-June 14, will showcase the amazing range of music and entertainment that audiences have come to expect from “America’s Orchestra,” under the direction of Keith Lockhart, at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA.  Along with the orchestra’s beloved tradition of presenting classic hits from Broadway, film, and the Great American Songbook—all chosen from its exclusive library of extraordinary music—the 2014 Boston Pops spring season will also introduce its audiences to debut appearances by Warren Haynes (5/13 & 14), Tony award-winning Billy Porter (5/20 &21), and conductor Sarah Hicks (5/23 & 24), as well as first-time collaborations with the New York-based jazz band sensation The Hot Sardines (5/28-30) and Cirque de la Symphonie (5/16 & 17),the wildly unique circus act that brings its aerial flyers, acrobats, dancers, and jugglers to orchestral stages throughout the country.

The Boston Pops Opening night concert on May 7 will feature Jason Alexander—actor, director, producer, writer, singer, and comedian, best-known for his role as George Costanza of Seinfeld fame—who will join Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra for an evening of comedy, song, and dance. Additional season highlights include a screening of the complete Wizard of Ozwith live orchestra accompaniment (5/10 & 11), the annual Film Night series with Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams (6/6, 7, 10, 11), Gospel Night with Grammy-award winning a cappella group Take Six and the world premiere of a new work, “The Song of Solomon” by conductor Charles Floyd (6/14), as well as performances by the winners of the 2014 Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition at the Boston Pops and original Dreamgirls cast member Jennifer Holliday (6/3). Ms. Holiday will also make a special appearance during the annual Gala fundraising event, Presidents at Pops (6/4).

Founded in 1885, the Boston Pops performs at world-famous Symphony Hall—where Pops patrons sit at cabaret-style tables and order food and drink with family and friends, all while taking in the fun-filled atmosphere of music and entertainment presented by the one and only Boston Pops. Tickets to the 2014 Boston Pops season, priced from $22-124, go on sale Wednesday, December 5, at 888-266-1200 or www.bostonpops.org.

“The 2014 Boston Pops season boasts a lineup of programs that combine the old with the new and unexpected in that signature Boston Pops way,” said Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart.

“The season’s special focus on some of the best arrangements from the orchestra’s exclusive library of 3,400 works, along with first-ever Symphony Hall appearances by artists as diverse as Warren Haynes, Billy Porter, and Cirque de la Symphonie, as well as a first-time film screening of The Wizard of Oz with live orchestra accompaniment, offers our loyal fans and first time attendees a great variety of fun-filled programs to choose from. We truly believe there is only one place you can hear the phenomenal variety and depth and even whimsy of American music performed in a single concert—and that’s at a Boston Pops performance in the incomparable setting of Symphony Hall.” 

MORE ON “THE VERY BEST OF THE BOSTON POPS” SEASON
Since establishing the Pops genre in 1885, the year of the orchestra’s founding, the Boston Pops has cultivated an impressive library of music reflecting over a century of America’s wide-ranging musical tastes. “The Very Best of the Boston Pops” draws from the 3,400 titles in the orchestra’s library—music prepared by some of the best arrangers and composers from every generation since the orchestra’s founding 128 years ago. This vast collection—virtually all of which is the exclusive domain of the Boston Pops—includes everything from Beatles medleys, college fight songs, American songbook classics, film music, and Broadway scores for full orchestra, to jazz standards, full-length symphonies, sing-alongs for every occasion, and contemporary pop hits, as well as original works commissioned especially for the one and only Boston Pops Orchestra.

BOSTON POPS 2014 SEASON PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS WEEK BY WEEK, MAY 7-JUNE 14 OPENING NIGHT WITH JASON ALEXANDER (MAY 7)
On Wednesday, May 7, Jason Alexander, star of television, film, and the stage will kick off the 2014 Boston Pops spring season, with his unique brand of humor and Broadway showmanship. In a special evening of singing, dancing, and comedy, Mr. Alexander will join Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops to perform beloved hits from Pippin (the musical that first sparked Alexander’s interest in Broadway), The Music Man, and Merrily We Roll Along. Although best known for his role as George Costanza on Seinfeld, Mr. Alexander, who debuted with the Pops in 1996, has proven to be a powerful force on the Great White Way, having made his Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. He has since starred on Broadway five times, including his Tony award-winning appearance in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, for which he also wrote the libretto. 

THE VERY BEST OF THE BOSTON POPS (MAY 8, 9, & 27)
The Boston Pops and Keith Lockhart will delve into the storied Boston Pops library to present a series of concerts showcasing “The Very Best of the Boston Pops” this spring. These concerts will spotlight works by such American masters as Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, and Duke Ellington, as well as famed arranger and composer Leroy Anderson’s Piano Concerto with frequent Pops guest Michael Chertock as soloist (May 8 & 9 only.) Keith and the Pops will also perform orchestrations by Chris Walden, who has arranged modern-day classics such as Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and ABBA’s Dancing Queen for the Boston Pops library. Rounding out the program are familiar movie themes by Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams. On May 27, the Boston Pops will present the Arthur Fiedler Concert, a heartfelt tribute to the legendary conductor whose name was synonymous with the Boston Pops for nearly fifty years. The program will take its inspiration from one of Arthur Fiedler’s many Boston Pops innovations—his strong emphasis on music of American composers and arrangers, including Leroy Anderson, the supreme Boston Pops arranger and composer of the Fiedler era.

OZ WITH ORCHESTRA (MAY 10 & 11)
This spring Pops season audiences can delight in the company of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion from the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz when the Boston Pops presents a screening of the complete movie with the original vocals and dialogue intact, and the score performed live by the orchestra under the direction of Keith Lockhart. The complete film will play above the Symphony Hall stage as the talented Boston Pops musicians perform “If I Only Had a Brain,” “If I Were King of the Forest,” and, of course, Judy Garland’s magical performance of “Over the Rainbow,” ranked the number one song in all of cinema by the American Film Institute. Oz With Orchestra will take place on May 10 at 8 p.m.; two Family Matinee concerts, which will include a special 50 percent ticket discount for children aged 12 and under, will take place at 3 p.m. on May 10 and 11.   

JERRY GARCIA SYMPHONIC CELEBRATION (MAY 13 & 14)
Following last summer’s critically acclaimed tour with eight US orchestras, including the Boston Pops at Tanglewood, the “Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration” with renowned guitarist Warren Haynes will rock Symphony Hall in an orchestral adventure of Deadhead hits. Lockhart, Haynes, and the Boston Pops will present a program featuring some of Jerry Garcia’s masterworks including “Dark Star,” “Bird Song,” and “Morning Dew." Music for the ambitious project was arranged by Chris Walden—whom Keith Lockhart has described as a favorite arranger of the Boston Pops—as well as Sean O'Loughlin and Steven Bernstein. Warren Haynes, whose soul-soaked guitar licks helped to define the sound of The Allman Brothers and jam band Gov’t Mule, appears just a few slots down from Grateful Dead guitarist and songwriter Jerry Garcia on Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.” Haynes was also on hand as the lead guitarist for the last tour featuring all living Grateful Dead members.   

CIRQUE DE LA SYMPHONIE (MAY 16 & 17)
The Boston Pops will share the stage with aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers, and strongmen during the very first Boston performances of the critically acclaimed Cirque de la Symphonie on May 16 and 17. This unexpected fusion of circus and orchestra combines the physical feats of cirque performers with the musical feats of the world-renowned Boston Pops musicians. The concert will synchronize the elegant and daring cirque acts of former Olympians and world record-holders with Boston Pops renditions of classical music masterpieces. Cirque de la Symphonie performances have prompted such accolades as “wonder, surprises, and enchantment” and “a breathtaking display of agility and incomparable beauty.”

“THE CORNER OF BROADWAY AND SOUL” WITH BILLY PORTER (MAY 20 & 21)
Broadway comes to the Boston Pops this spring in the form of Billy Porter, a phenomenal vocalist who electrified New York audiences last year with his performance in the hit Kinky Boots, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. Mr. Porter—in his first appearance with the Pops—will join the orchestra and Keith Lockhart at “the corner of Broadway and soul,” where Broadway ballads intersect with R&B beats and Gospel instincts. In addition to his Broadway roles in Grease, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and Miss Saigon, Mr. Porter is also a recording artist, songwriter, and director.

OUT OF THIS WORLD WITH CONDUCTOR SARAH HICKS (MAY 23 & 24)
Guest conductor Sarah Hicks, Principal Pops Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, makes her Boston Pops debut leading a program entitled “Out of this World,” with music inspired by outer space.  Highlights will include Holst’s The Planets (performed alongside a NASA film), the theme from Star Trek, the Also Sprach Zarathustra theme popularized in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, and John Williams’s intergalactic music from Star Wars, E.T., and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Ms. Hicks’s Boston Pops debut is also somewhat of a homecoming, as the acclaimed conductor received her bachelor's degree in composition at Harvard in 1993.

GATSBY NIGHT (MAY 28, 29, & 30)
The Boston Pops will close out May with Gatsby Night, a set of three 1920’s-style concerts that draw on the music of the Jazz Age to evoke the decadence and exuberance of the Roaring Twenties with the innovative New York-based jazz band The Hot Sardines in their Boston Pops debut. Blending standards with Dixieland music and Parisian flair, the versatile band—which also includes a tap dancer—will capture the spirit of the 1920s and ’30s with such tunes as “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen,” “Some of These Days,” and “St. James Infirmary.” The Boston Pops cabaret style floor seating—a staple since the first Boston Pops concerts in 1885—will offer 1920’s food and drink during the concert alongside a clandestine speakeasy atmosphere.

JENNIFER HOLLIDAY AND THE 2014 FIDELITY INVESTMENTS YOUNG ARTISTS COMPETITION AT THE BOSTON POPS (JUNE 3)
A Boston Pops highlight since its inception in 2009, the Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition returns to Symphony Hall this spring on June 3.  Created by Fidelity Investments to expand its longstanding support of the arts in local communities, the Young Artists Competition at the Boston Pops is an opportunity for Massachusetts high school students to compete for a chance to perform on stage front and center during the Boston Pops season. The competition, which will feature up to four instrumental and/or vocal grand prize-winners, is open to all Massachusetts high school students. Complete competition rules and applications will be available in January at www.bostonpops.org.

PRESIDENTS AT POPS, JUNE 4
The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston’s corporate community celebrate the 33nd annual “Presidents at Pops” on Wednesday, June 4, at Symphony Hall. Tony and Grammy-award winning vocalist Jennifer Holliday, who starred in the original Dreamgirls on Broadway, will bring her show-stopping rhythm and blues hits to the Symphony Hall stage for the BSO’s premier corporate spring fundraising gala. “Presidents at Pops” is designed for Boston business leaders and their guests, and celebrates the unique partnership between the BSO and the corporate community. Combined with its sister event, “A Company Christmas at Pops,” Presidents at Pops has helped to raise more than $47 million since its inception in 1982. Funds raised through this event help support the BSO’s Education and Community Engagement programs throughout the year. Ticket packages are available starting at $5,500. For more information, please contact Mary Thomson, Director of Corporate Initiatives, at 617-638-9278. Additional details about this gala fundraiser will be announced at a later date.   

FILM NIGHT WITH JOHN WILLIAMS (JUNE 6, 7, 10, & 11)
A perennial favorite, Film Night with John Williams will return this June as a signature event of the spring season. Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams will lead the Pops in popular film themes from his blockbuster scores to Star Wars, Jaws, and the Indiana Jones and Harry Potter series. In addition to presenting his own beloved scores, Mr. Williams will lead the Pops in a tribute to celebrated film composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as selections by some of the up-and-coming composers working in the field today. The Pops claims a special relationship with John Williams, who led the ensemble from 1980 to 1993, and now holds the titles of Laureate Conductor and Artist-in-Residence at Tanglewood, where he was feted at a gala concert in celebration of his 80th birthday in 2012. Among his recent work, Mr. Williams composed the score to the recently released Fox film The Book Thief, and will compose the score to the J.J. Abrams-directed Star Wars: Episode VII due out in December 2015. In a career spanning five, decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successfully composers for film and for the concert stage. Mr. Williams has composed the music and served as music director form more than 100 films, many through his artistic partnership with director Steven Spielberg.

GOSPEL NIGHT (JUNE 14)
Conductor, pianist, composer and longtime Boston Pops collaborator Charles Floyd brings the 2014 Boston Pops spring series to a rousing finale with voices of his all-volunteer Boston Pops Gospel Choir, and Take Six, a lauded a cappella group. In addition to receiving the praise of Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Whitney Houston, Take Six was called by Quincy Jones the “baddest vocal cats on the planet,” and the Alabama sextet has been the recipient of ten Grammy awards. Mr. Floyd will lead the Pops and Take Six in repertoire selected from the group’s unique blend of gospel, jazz, R&B, and pop. Sure to be a highlight of this spirit-raising performance, former Pops Gospel Choir vocalist Samuel Moscoso will also return to the Boston Pops stage for the world premiere of “Song of Solomon,” a new composition by Charles Floyd, for high tenor and orchestra, and based on the Old Testament scripture of Solomon.

KEITH LOCKHART LEADS THE BOSTON POPS ESPLANADE ORCHESTRA IN A 75TH CELEBRATION OF THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME IN COOPERSTOWN, NY
Also on Saturday, August 2, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra will perform a concert in Cooperstown, NY, in celebration of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 75th Anniversary. From the great music soundtracks of movies like "Field Of Dreams" and "The Natural" to baseball anthems like John Fogerty's "Centerfield" and Bruce Springsteen's " Glory Days the cross -section of baseball and music is an American cultural touchstone. The Baseball Hall of Fame specially invited the Pops for an evening of baseball and music with celebrities from worlds of film, music, and baseball, with names to be announced at a latter date. The orchestra will also join forces with an all-star rhythm section made up of some the best recording artists in the music business, such as guitarist Tim Pierce, who has played with Bon Jovi, Rick Springfield, Santana, and Madonna, and LA session bass legend Leland Sklar, who has performed with everyone from Ray Charles to The Doors.

BOSTON POPS CONCERTS AT TANGLEWOOD AND ON THE CAPE
The Boston Pops will make five appearances at Tanglewood this summer kicking off with a Keith Lockhart-led concert on Sunday, July 13, with special guest Jason Alexander. A summer tradition continues on Saturday, August 2, with the return of Film Night featuring the iconic film scores of Hollywood. Additional details will be announced at a later date. Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams and Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart will also be on hand with the Pops to take part in one of the festival’s most beloved traditions, the ever-popular Tanglewood on Parade on Tuesday, August 5. On Friday, August 22, the Boston Pops and Keith Lockhart return to Tanglewood to present an encore performance of Oz with Orchestra for Berkshire audiences. The Tanglewood 2014 season comes to a close on Saturday, August 30, with a Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra performance for which conductor Keith Lockhart and members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus will be joined by Josh Groban. The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra will also perform its  annual Cape Cod concert on the Hyannis Town Green on Sunday, August 10.

BOSTON POPS PERFORM ON THE CHARLES RIVER ESPLANADE, JULY 4
The Boston Pops will once again perform several patriotic favorites at America's premier Independence Day celebration; The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular at the DCR Hatch Shell.  Always a highlight of the summer in Boston, this free outdoor concert receives over 500,000 visitors from New England and around the globe. Now in its 41st year, The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular is sponsored by Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance, one of America's leading insurers, offering auto, home and life insurance for individuals and families, as well as a variety of insurance products and services for businesses.

TICKET AND SPONSORHIP INFORMATION
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the 2014 Boston Pops season at Symphony Hall, priced from $22-124, go on sale at 10 AM at www.bostonpops.org or 617-266-1200 on Wednesday, December 5. All performances start at 8 PM, except for the Oz With Orchestra performances on May 10 and 11 and the Cirque de la Symphonie performance on May 17. These three Kids Matinee concerts start at 3 p.m. and tickets for children ages 12 and younger are 50% off.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.bostonpops.org or by phone through SymphonyCharge at 617-266-1200 or 888-266-1200, Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM and on Saturday from 12 noon to 6 PM (with a $6.25 handling fee for each ticket ordered online or by phone). Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Symphony Hall box office, open 10 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday, and noon to 6 PM on Saturday. On concert days during the Pops Season, the box office remains open until 8:30 PM. Most major credit cards and cash are accepted at the box office. For group sales of 25 or more, please call 617-638-9345 or 800-933-4255. 

The Boston Symphony has a dedicated line for disabled patrons who would like to purchase tickets to BSO, Boston Pops, or Tanglewood concerts, or who need information about disability services at Symphony Hall or Tanglewood. This line can be reached by dialing 617-638-9431. For access via TDD/TTY, please call 617-638-9289. Patrons with disabilities can access Symphony Hall through the Cohen Wing on Huntington Avenue or through the Massachusetts Avenue entrance.           

Ticket packages to Presidents at Pops, the BSO's exclusive spring corporate gala, start at $5,500 and include floor and balcony tickets with a sponsor page in the evening's commemorative program book. Lead Sponsorships are available from $25,000 to $75,000, and include premium seating, full-color sponsor pages, sponsorship of children at DARTS (Days in the Arts at Tanglewood), the BSO's summer arts immersion camp in the Berkshires, membership in the BSO Business Partners, as well as recognition at the event and throughout the Pops season.     

SPONSORSHIP
Opening Night at Pops and the entire 2014 Boston Pops season are sponsored by Fidelity Investments. John Williams' Film Night Series (June 6, 7, 10, 11) is sponsored by Arbella Insurance Foundation. The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel is the Official Hotel of the Boston Pops. Commonwealth Worldwide is the Official Chauffeured Transportation Provider of the Boston Pops. American Airlines is the Official Airline of the Boston Pops.   

Boston Pops 2014 Season Listing    
Wednesday, May 7, 8 p.m.  
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Jason Alexander, special guest

Thursday, May 8, 8 p.m.
Friday, May 9, 8 p.m.
The Very Best of the Boston Pops
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Michael Chertock, pianist

Saturday, May 10, 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 10, 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 11, 3 p.m.
Oz with Orchestra
Keith Lockhart, conductor

Tuesday, May 13, 8 p.m.      
Wednesday, May 14, 8 p.m.
Symphony Jerry Garcia
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Warren Haynes, special guest

Friday, May 16, 8 p.m.
Saturday May 17, 3 p.m.
Cirque de la Symphonie
Keith Lockhart, conductor

Tuesday, May 20, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, May 21, 8 p.m.
At the Corner of Broadway and Soul
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Billy Porter, special guest

Tuesday, May 23, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, May 24, 8 p.m.
Out of this World
Sarah Hicks, conductor

Tuesday, May 27, 8 p.m.
The Very Best of the Boston Pops
(Arthur Fiedler Concert)

Wednesday, May 28, 8 p.m.
Thursday, May 29, 8 p.m.
Friday, May 30, 8 p.m.
Gatsby Night
Keith Lockhart, conductor
The Hot Sardines, special guests

Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at 8 p.m.
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Jennifer Holiday, vocalist
This performance will feature the winners of the 2014 Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition at the Boston Pops

Wednesday, June 4, 2014, at 8:00 (Sold out)
Keith Lockhart, conductor
“Presidents at Pops”
TBD [is there another guest expected?], Jennifer Holliday

Friday, June 6, 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 7, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, June 10, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, June 11, 8 p.m.
Film Night
John Williams, conductor

Thursday, June 12, 8 p.m.
Friday, June 13, 8 p.m.
Keith Lockhart, conductor
To be announced

Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m.
Gospel night
Charles Floyd, conductor
Take 6, special guest