Boston Pops Orchestra


The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in playing light classical and popular music.
The Boston Pops was founded in 1885 as a second, popular identity of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, founded four years earlier. Consisting primarily of musicians from the BSO, although generally not all of the first-chair players, the orchestra performs a spring season of popular music and a holiday program in December, the BSO schedule on break at those times. For the Pops, the seating on the floor of Symphony Hall is reconfigured from auditorium seating to banquet/cafe seating. In addition, the Pops also plays an annual concert at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade every Fourth of July. Their performance of "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is famous for the unfurling of the American flag that occurs as the song enters its final moments. Identified with its long-time director Arthur Fiedler, in the past the orchestra has recorded extensively, made frequent tours, and appeared regularly on television. The Pops spring and holiday seasons allowed the BSO to become one of the first American orchestras to provide year-round employment for its musicians.
The current Music Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra is Keith Lockhart.

History

In 1881, Henry Lee Higginson, the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, wrote of his wish to present in Boston "concerts of a lighter kind of music". The Boston Pops Orchestra was founded to present this kind of music to the public, with the first concert performed on July 11, 1885 under the leadership of Adolf Neuendorff. Called the "Promenade Concerts" until 1900, these performances combined light classical music, tunes from the current hits of the musical theater, and an occasional novelty number. Allowing for some changes of taste over the course of a century, the early programs were remarkably similar to the Boston Pops programs of today.
The Boston Pops Orchestra had seventeen conductors before 1930, when Arthur Fiedler began a fifty-year tenure as the first American-born conductor to lead the orchestra. Under Fiedler's direction, the orchestra's popularity spread far beyond Boston through recordings, radio and television. Unhappy with the reputation of classical music as being solely for affluent concertgoers, Fiedler made efforts to bring classical music to a wider audience. He instituted a series of free concerts at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade, a public park beside the Charles River. Fiedler insisted that the Pops Orchestra play popular music as well as well-known classical pieces, opening up a new niche of popular symphonic music. Of the many musical pieces created for the orchestra, the Pops' most identifiable works were the colorful novelty numbers composed by Fiedler's close friend Leroy Anderson, including "Sleigh Ride", "The Typewriter", "The Syncopated Clock" and several others. Fiedler also initiated what has become a Boston tradition, and keeps growing as the years go by, which is the annual "Holiday Pops" concerts the Boston Pops give every December.
Under Fiedler's direction, the Boston Pops sold more commercial recordings than any other orchestra in the world, with total sales of albums, singles, tapes, and cassettes exceeding $50 million. The orchestra's first recordings were made in July 1935 for RCA Victor, including the first complete recording of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. The Pops made their first high-fidelity recording on June 20, 1947, of Gaîté Parisienne, and recorded the same music seven years later in stereophonic sound, their first venture in multitrack recording.
Fiedler is also credited with having begun the annual tradition of the Fourth of July Pops concert and fireworks display on the Esplanade, one of the best-attended Independence Day celebrations in the country with estimated crowds of 200,000–500,000 people. Also during Fiedler's tenure, the Pops and local public television station WGBH developed a series of weekly televised broadcasts recorded during the Pops' regular season in Symphony Hall, Evening at Pops.
Some shows have holiday–oriented themes, such as Christmas shows featuring performers such as Jonathan Meath, who appeared as Santa with the Boston Pops for ten shows during 2008–2009.
After Fiedler's death in 1979, he was succeeded as conductor of the Boston Pops by the noted film composer John Williams. Williams continued the Pops' tradition of bringing classical music to a wide audience, initiating the annual "Pops-on-the-Heights" concerts at Boston College and adding his own library of well-known film scores to the orchestra's repertoire. During his time with the Pops, Williams performed with Sammy Davis, Jr. as one of the artists for one of the Evening at Pops specials that aired on 1988. In 1991, the orchestra played Bill Monroe's Uncle Pen and other bluegrass classics with Ricky Skaggs and the Kentucky Thunder.
Keith Lockhart assumed the post of principal Pops conductor in 1995. Lockhart continues to conduct the Boston Pops today. Williams remains the Laureate Conductor of the Pops and conducts a week of Pops concerts every year, two nights at Symphony Hall each spring and two nights at the Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood each summer.

Guest artists

Lockhart has brought in numerous pop-music acts and icons in addition to Broadway greats to play with the orchestra since being named conductor, including Ben Folds, Rockapella, Guster, My Morning Jacket, Aimee Mann, Kelly Clarkson, and Elvis Costello.

Spring season

2012

Glee star Matthew Morrison performed with the orchestra.

2014 (May 7 – June 14, 2014)

The 2014 Spring Season was announced towards the end of February 2014, with the title "The Very Best of Boston Pops."
Opening Night was Wednesday, May 7 at 8pm, and the orchestra opened with "The Very Best of The Boston Pops with Jason Alexander," conducted by Keith Lockhart.
"The Very Best of the Boston Pops" was conducted by Lockhart and performed on select nights throughout the season, giving audiences both a chance to see what the orchestra was capable of performing as well as the opportunity to select which dates worked best for them. These performances were given on Thursday, May 8, Friday, May 9, Tuesday, May 27th, and Friday, June 13.

2015 (May 6 – June 13, 2015)

During the 2015 Pops Spring Season, the orchestra worked with Bernadette Peters, The Midtown Men, and Audra McDonald. In 2015, the film that was chosen for the "Film with Orchestra" series was Singin' In The Rain. The orchestra also had tributes throughout the season: two nights of the orchestra playing the music of The Beatles; the ever-popular "John Williams Film Night"; a Celtic sojourn hosted by Brian O'Donnovan with Carlos Núñez and Karan Casey as the special guests; the ever-popular "Gospel Night at Pops" conducted by Charles Floyd featuring The Blind Boys of Alabama; the return of "Cirque de la Symphonie" featuring Cirque du Soleil performers; and ending with Simply Sondheim, featuring Marin Mazzie, Jason Danieley and the Tanglewood Music Center Fellows as special guests.

2017

During the 2017 Pops Spring Season, the orchestra had its first season-long tribute to a composer, that composer being John Williams. They recorded a new CD, ', which was released during the season. The orchestra had two pre-season events which marked the first time the orchestra had ever used Symphony Hall before May: "Celebrating John Williams!" and "E.T. in Concert". The Pops opened the season with Queen Latifah, and went on to host such events as "Mamma Mia! Mother's Day with the Music of ABBA", working with Ben Folds, "Gospel Night" in its 25th anniversary with Floyd and the Boston Pops Gospel Choir; Leslie Odom, Jr. in his orchestral debut after starring in '; performing a tribute to The Beatles with Larry "Cha-Chi" Loprete as the host; "Parting with The B-52s", and giving the world premiere of Sondheim on Sondheim with Philip Boykin, Carmen Cusak, Gabriel Ebert, and Lisa Howard as the vocalists.

2018 (May 9 – June 16, 2018)

The 2018 Spring Season was announced on Monday, February 26, 2018, and featured a season-long celebration and tribute to Leonard Bernstein's centennial.
During the 2018 Pops Spring season, the orchestra worked with both Leslie Odom, Jr. and Andy Grammer for the second time after successful Fourth of July performances, as well as Sutton Foster again, who performed "A Broadway Celebration" with the orchestra. Some highlights of the season were the return of Laureate Conductor and legendary film composer John Williams for his annual "Film Night" appearances, in addition to an Opening Night salute to Leonard Bernstein for the occasion of Bernstein's centennial later that year. In addition to celebrating Bernstein's centennial, the orchestra presented concert versions of both On The Town and "West Side Story In Concert". They "Danced to the Movies", and were joined by tenor Alfie Boe who "Rocked the Pops" with them. The Pops were joined by Ashley Brown, Josh Strickland, Alton Fitzgerald White and Merle Dandridge to perform beloved songs from 9 Tony Award-winning and Academy Award-winning scores to "Disney's Broadway Hits". The orchestra also performed "The Best of the Boston Pops" Concerts, a series that hadn't been featured since 2013. The Pops performed their annual "Gospel Night" with the Boston Pops Gospel Choir and guest star Melinda Doolittle under the direction of Charles Floyd. The orchestra also welcomed back Leslie Odom, Jr. with special guests Renée Elise Goldsberry and Phillipa Soo for "An Evening with Leslie Odom, Jr".

2019 (May 8 – June 15, 2019)

The 2019 Spring Season was announced on Monday, February 25, 2019, with the title "Boston Pops: It's A Party!"
Bernadette Peters was the Opening Night headliner, with the Pops performing a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, the world premiere of "From The Earth to the Moon and Beyond", a piece by composer James Beckel. May 9 was the annual Presidents At Pops fundraising gala held every year.
The orchestra performed the score to in its entirety, live to picture on May 10 and 11, and 14.

2020 (May 6 – June 13, 2020)

The 2020 Spring Season was announced on Wenesday, February 26, 2020, with a special acknowledgement towards Lockhart's 25th anniversary as conductor. On April 8, the Boston Symphony Orchestra announced that their spring season would be postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic of early 2020. Keith Lockhart reassured patrons that the 2020 Spring Season would be performed the following year, thus ironically marking his 26th anniversary as conductor.

2021 (May 5 – June 12, 2021)

The 2021 Spring Season was announced on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, with a special acknowledgement towards Lockhart's 25th anniversary as conductor. On April 8, the Boston Symphony Orchestra announced that their spring season would be cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Opening Night was Wednesday, May 5 at 8pm and featured "An Evening with Penn & Teller", to be repeated on Thursday, May 6 at 8pm.
The Boston-based group Guster joined the orchestra on Friday, May 7 and Saturday, May 8 at 8pm to continue their orchestral performances.
was shown Wednesday, May 12 at 8pm, Thursday, May 13 at 8pm, Saturday, May 15 at 3pm and Saturday, May 22nd at 3pm.
"Songs of America with Jon Meacham" was the program for Tuesday, May 18 at 8pm and Wednesday, May 19 at 8pm. The Pops were joined by Meacham and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, under the direction of James Burton for the first two of their four appearances that spring.
"Ragtime In Concert" was the next performance, for Thursday, May 20 at 8pm, and Friday, May 21st at 8pm.
"The Wonderful World of Alan Menken's Music" was the program for Wednesday, May 26 at 8pm, Thursday May 27 at 8pm, and Saturday, May 29 at 2pm. The Pops were joined by Broadway actors Sierra Boggess, Telly Leung and Alton Fitzgerald White for these performances.
"Celebrating 25 with Keith!" was presented as special performances on Tuesday, June 1, Wednesday, June 2 and Thursday, June 3 all at 8pm. The Pops special guests for the event were Megan Hilty and Jason Danieley.
"Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton" was performed on Friday, June 4 and Saturday, June 5, both at 8pm. The Pops were conducted by Ted Sperling and were supposed to be joined by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus under the direction of James Burton, for the last two of their four appearances that spring.
"Star Wars: The Story in Music" was performed on Wednesday, June 9 at 8pm.
"An Evening with Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman & The Boston Pops" was Thursday, June 10 and Friday, June 11, both at 8pm. The Pops were joined by Palmer and Gaiman as special guests.
"Gospel Night" was Saturday, June 12 at 8pm. The Pops were conducted by Charles Floyd, and Smokie Norful was the special guest.

Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular

For the 2002 Fireworks Spectacular, the orchestra performed with Maureen McGovern, who paid tribute to the centennial of legendary and iconic Broadway composer Richard Rodgers by performing "My Favorite Things", and Barry Manilow, who paid tribute to and acknowledged the September 11 attacks when performing his 1976 hit "Weekend in New England".
For the 2005 Fireworks Spectacular, the orchestra performed with Big and Rich, Gretchen Wilson, and Cowboy Troy, and highlighted their newest CD America by performing "The Star-Spangled Banner", "Armed Forces Salute", "This Is My Country", "The Gettysburg Address", "Doodletown Fifers", "God Bless America", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", the "Main Title", Tchaikovsky's famous "1812 Overture", and John Philip Sousa's classic march, "The Stars and Stripes Forever".
For the 2006 Fireworks Spectacular, the orchestra performed with Aerosmith, who performed "Dream On" and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
For the 2008 Fireworks Spectacular, the orchestra performed with Rascal Flatts, who performed "Life Is A Highway" and "Every Day".
For the 2009 Fireworks Spectacular, the orchestra performed with Neil Diamond, who performed "Sweet Caroline", "Forever in Blue Jeans", "Cracklin' Rosie", and "America".
During the 2010 Fireworks Spectacular, the orchestra celebrated its 125th season and the Hatch Shell celebrated its 100th anniversary. The orchestra performed with Toby Keith, who performed "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" and "American Soldier". They also performed with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Renese King, and they performed "", with Lisa Hughes, Jack Williams, Jeremiah Kissel and Will LeBow. The Pops specifically commissioned the piece by Peter Boyer and Lynn Ahrens to be used during their 125th season.
For the 2014 Fireworks Spectacular, the orchestra performed with Julia Udine and Ben Jacoby from the 2014 U.S. touring production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera, and The Beach Boys, who performed "Fun, Fun, Fun", "Good Vibrations", and "Surfin' USA".
For the 2015 Fireworks Spectacular, Lockhart and the Pops performed with Michael Cavanaugh who sang some of Billy Joel's classic songs, the Boston-based band Sons of Serendip, and members of the United States Show Troupe.
For the 2016 Fireworks Spectacular, Lockhart and the Pops performed with pop stars Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, and Grammy- and CMA-winning country music stars Little Big Town. The 2016 Fireworks Spectacular also marked David Mugar's final Fireworks Spectacular show, which he produced for over 40 years.
In October 2016, the Boston Pops agreed to take over the management of the annual July Fourth fireworks concert on the Esplanade and to take on the responsibility for finding a corporate sponsor for the $2 million cost. On March 7, 2017, it was announced that Eaton Vance and Bloomberg L.P. had been signed on as sponsors of the concert under a three-year deal, and that the telecast of the event would move from WBZ-TV/CBS to Bloomberg Television.
For the 2017 Fireworks Spectacular, Lockhart and the Pops performed with actor Leslie Odom Jr., 1990s pop singer Melissa Etheridge, and pop singer Andy Grammer, in addition to the United States Army Soldier's Chorus.
For the 2018 Fireworks Spectacular, the orchestra worked with Rachel Platten, Rhiannon Giddens, the Indigo Girls, actresses Rita Moreno and Natalie Cortez, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus under the direction of James Burton. In addition to Bloomberg nationwide, the show was carried by independent station WHDH locally over-the-air, and online at Boston.com, BostonGlobe.com, bso.org, and on the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular app.
For the 2019 Fireworks Spectacular, Lockhart and the Pops paid tribute to the 50th anniversary of Woodstock by performing both a medley of the Theme and "Pinball Wizard" from The Who's The Who's Tommy! and a medley of "Aquarius" and "The Flesh Failures " from Hair. Lockhart and the Pops also performed with Queen Latifah, folk legend Arlo Guthrie, poet Amanda Gorman, two acts from America's Got Talent, The Texas Tenors and Amanda Mena, and the United States Navy Sea Chanters Chorus.
The 2020 Fireworks Spectacular was canceled on May 8, 2020, due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. In its place, the Pops decided to present "A Boston Pops Salute to Our Heroes" on July 4th, with the only option for broadcasting it being on television, radio and digital media.

Holiday Pops

Beginning in December 1973, Arthur Fiedler and the Pops started an occasional tradition at Symphony Hall, which after a few years, became a yearly staple of the winter season in Boston—their Christmas concerts, which became known regionally and locally as Holiday Pops.
Once Fiedler died in 1979, John Williams continued the tradition as conductor from 1980 until 1993. After two years of guest conductors while the BSO were interviewing their next permanent conductor, Keith Lockhart led his first Holiday Pops concert in December 1995. In addition to performing approximately between 40-42 each December, the Pops also began performing on New Year's Eve during Lockhart's tenure.
The Holiday Pops 2014 season ran from Wednesday, December 3, 2014 through Wednesday, December 24, 2014, with a movie shown Friday and Saturday, December 26–27, 2014, and the New Year's Eve concert happening on Wednesday, December 31, 2014.
2014 was the year that the Pops began showing popular Christmas movies after their 40- or 42-concert season was over. The first movie chosen was Home Alone. The score, written by the laureate conductor Williams, was performed live by the orchestra, accompanying the film. The New Year's Eve concert was performed by the Boston Pops Swing Orchestra, led by bandleader Bo Winiker.
2015 was a significant year, because John Oliver, longtime conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus had retired at the end of the Tanglewood season that summer.
The Holiday Pops 2016 season ran from Wednesday, November 30, 2016 through Saturday, December 24, 2016, with a movie shown Friday and Saturday, December 30–31, 2016, and the New Year's Eve concert happening on Saturday, December 31, 2016.
The second movie chosen was Back To The Future. The score, written by Alan Silverstri, was once again performed live by the orchestra, in sync with the film. The New Year's Eve concert was performed by the Boston Pops Swing Orchestra, once again led by bandleader Bo Winiker.
2016 was a significant year, because it was the first time in the history of the series of "Holiday Pops" concerts that the Tanglewood Festival Chorus performed without a conductor.
2017 was a significant year, because the BSO had chosen to replace John Oliver as the conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and he would begin conducting the chorus that year.
The Holiday Pops 2017 season ran from Tuesday, December 5, 2017 through Sunday, December 24, 2017, with the New Year's Eve concert happening on Sunday, December 31, 2017. There was no movie chosen for that year.
The New Year's Eve concert was performed by the Boston Pops Swing Orchestra.
The Holiday Pops 2018 season ran from Thursday, December 6, 2018 through Monday, December 24, 2018, with a movie shown Saturday and Sunday, December 29–30, 2018, and the New Year's Eve concert happening on Monday, December 31, 2018.
The third movie chosen was Home Alone once again. Billed as Home Alone In Concert, the score, written by Williams, was once more performed live by the orchestra, accompanying the film. The New Year's Eve concert was performed by the Boston Pops Swing Orchestra and special guest Seth MacFarlane.
The Holiday Pops 2019 season ran from Wednesday, December 4, 2019 through Tuesday, December 24, 2019, with a movie shown Saturday and Sunday, December 28–29, 2019, and the New Year's Eve concert happening on Tuesday, December 31, 2019.
The fourth movie chosen was Bugs Bunny At The Symphony. The score, written by Carl Stalling, was performed live by the orchestra, accompanying the film. The New Year's Eve concert was performed by the Boston Pops Swing Orchestra and special guest The Hot Sardines.
The Pops introduced a sensory-friendly concert for the first time on Saturday, December 7, 2019. The concert was designed and aimed at all families with children or adults diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder or sensory sensitivities.

"[A Visit from St. Nicholas]" celebrity narrators

Over the course of Lockhart's quarter-century tenure, there have been numerous celebrity narrators who have joined the orchestra to recite Clement C. Moore's classic poem, arranged by Joseph Reisman. These narrators have included the likes of comedian Jimmy Tingle ; singer Amanda Palmer ; New Jersey governor Chris Christie ; Greg Kretschmar ; Boston Bruins forward Shawn Thorton ; Casey Affleck ; newswoman Janet Wu ; then senator-elect Elizabeth Warren ; former baseball player and then-manager of the Boston Red Sox Alex Cora ; Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker ; Matt Seigel ; WBZ news anchor Lisa Hughes ; and WCVB Channel 5 news anchors Ed Harding and Maria Stephanos.

"[Sleigh Ride]" celebrity guest conductors

Over the course of Lockhart's quarter-century tenure, there have been numerous celebrity conductors who have joined the orchestra to lead them in Leroy Anderson's famous song. These conductors have included the likes of retired Boston Red Sox second baseman and NESN sportscaster Jerry Remy, Shaquille O'Neil, then governor-elect Charlie Baker, Boston Celtics center Tacko Fall, who became the tallest person to ever stand on the Symphony Hall podium.

POPSearch

is the Boston Pops' nationwide talent competition that offers amateur singers the chance to perform with the orchestra at Boston's Fourth of July Extravaganza, as well as on the orchestra's national tour. The winner also receives a cash prize. The American Idol–style competition has expanded into a nationwide contest through video submissions on YouTube and voting through BostonPops.org.
Tracy Silva, a mother of two from Taunton, Mass., and van driver for special needs children, won the inaugural POPSearch contest in 2004.
Frances Botelho-Hoeg, an elementary school principal from Kingston, Massachusetts, was knocked out in the second round of the inaugural POPSearch, but returned in 2005 to sweep the competition.
The POPSearch 2007 grand champion Maria Perry won $5,000 and performed with the Boston Pops on July 3 and 4 in the annual July 4 Extravaganza seen by a live audience of almost a half-million people on the Charles River Esplanade and several million more on WBZ-TV.

High School Sing-Off

In the early spring of 2008, Keith Lockhart announced the "Boston Pops High School Sing-Off—A Best of Broadway Challenge", the first-ever Boston Pops musical theater competition for Massachusetts high school students. Students from high schools throughout Massachusetts were encouraged to submit audition videos of musical theater vocal works for solo, duet, trio, quartet, or quintet to the Boston Pops before May 9, 2008. The winner was featured in the Fourth of July concert on the Esplanade.

Music directors and conductors