“AMERICA’S ORCHESTRA” CELEBRATES AMERICA’S FAVORITE PASTIME WITH KENNY LOGGINS AND MUSIC FROM THE ORCHESTRA’S
CHART-TOPPING 2009 CD THE RED SOX ALBUM
MULTI-GRAMMY WINNING
RICKY SKAGGS AND THE BLUEGRASS PICKERS OF KENTUCKY THUNDER
RIDE INTO SYMPHONY HALL FOR “TRIPLE CROWN” PERFORMANCE
KEITH LOCKHART AND THE BOSTON POPS PAY TRIBUTE TO
MUSICAL LEGACIES OF RICHARD RODGERS AND GEORGE GERSHWIN
Click here to listen to Kenny Loggins’s hit, “Footloose.”
“America’s Orchestra” celebrates America’s favorite pastime in two Keith Lockhart-led Boston Pops performances highlighted by the sensational Kenny Loggins on June 21 and 22. Mr. Loggins’s compelling and soothing voice will headline a program of music from the orchestra’s chart-topping 2009 CD The Red Sox Album. Selections will include “Casey at the Bat,” “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” and “Sweet Caroline,” along with the popular Kenny Loggins tunes “This is It,” “Celebrate Me Home,” and “Footloose.” These performances are a spring training for the Boston Pops’ first ever tour of minor league baseball parks coming this August. For additional details about the ten-city ballpark tour click here.
On June 23 and 24 Maestro Lockhart and the Pops perform a tribute to American musical icons, celebrating the musical legacies of Richard Rodgers and George Gershwin, with Rodgers classics such as “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” and “The Sound of Music,” as well as Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” and “I Got Rhythm.” The two-part program focuses on Richard Rodgers first, and highlights the works of George Gershwin in the second set. Canadian soprano Kathleen Brett and actor/vocalist Ron Raines feature on both portions of this memorable Boston Pops concert.
For the final spring Pops performances of the season, June 25 and 26, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder mount the Symphony Hall stage for a Boston Pops performance featuring the music of the recent film Seabiscuit and such classical pieces as the William Tell overture. The invigorating “Light Cavalry Overture” and “De Camptown Races” will kick off this celebration of Bluegrass and America’s love of horses. The celebrated Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian will also feature as a soloist on June 25, the 60th annual Armenian Night at Pops. Derby hats are recommended as concert attire for these Triple Crown performances.
Tickets for the American Pastimes, American Icons, and Triple Crown concerts range from $21 to $91, and may be purchased by visiting www.bostonpops.org, calling 888-266-1200, or visiting the Symphony Hall box office at 301 Massachusetts Avenue.
Photos and full bios of artists appearing in the 2011 Boston Pops season are available at www.bostonpops.org/presskit.
MORE ON KENNY LOGGINS
Kenny Loggins has been many things to many people over the past three decades — “a moving target” as he’s put it. In his time, Loggins has been a guitar-slinger with a psychedelic rock band, a hot young songwriter with a publishing deal, half of a legendary country-rock duo, a massively successful and accomplished solo artist, a sonic pioneer in the smooth jazz genre, a reigning soundtrack superstar, a rocker, a seeker, as well as an enduring recording artist and live performer whose most recent works have spoken deeply to both young audiences and decidedly adult and worldly concerns. At the heart of it all, there remains a brilliant singer-songwriter and guitarist with a lifelong passion for exploring the endless power of the song to communicate. By any standard, Loggins’ commercial impact has been extraordinary; twelve of his albums have gone platinum and beyond. In a world of one-hit wonders and fifteen-minute sensations, Kenny Loggins has enjoyed hit songs in four straight decades.
MORE ON RICKY SKAGGS AND KENTUCKY THUNDER
A life full of music. That’s the story of Ricky Skaggs. By age twenty-one, he was already considered a “recognized master” of one of America’s most demanding art forms, but his career took him in other directions, catapulting him to popularity and success in the mainstream of country music. His life’s path has taken him to various musical genres, from where it all began in bluegrass music, to striking out on new musical journeys, while still leaving his musical roots intact. 2011 marks the 52nd year since Ricky struck his first chords on a mandolin, and this fourteen-time Grammy Award winner continues to do his part to lead the recent roots revival in music. With 10 consecutive Grammy-nominated classics behind him, all from his own Skaggs Family Records label (Bluegrass Rules! in 1998, Ancient Tones in 1999, both Soldier of the Cross and Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe in 2003, Brand New Strings in 2005, Instrumentals in 2007, Salt of the Earth with The Whites in 2008, and Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947 in 2009), bluegrass music continues to be in good hands, with the masterful Skaggs at the helm. Click here to listen to Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder’s recording of “Dawg’s Breath” from their album Instrumentals: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.
MORE ON KATHLEEN BRETT
Canadian soprano Kathleen Brett is cherished by audiences in America and Europe not only for the beauty of her tone and stylistic instinct but also for her natural stage presence and dramatic skills. Ms. Brett has enjoyed a long artistic collaboration with the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto, where she has portrayed a variety of roles including Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Romilda in Handel’s Xerxes, and the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. As a regular guest in many of the leading opera companies in the United States she has appeared as Nannetta in Falstaff with Los Angeles Opera and made her Lincoln Center debut in Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice with L’Opera Français de New York. Ms. Brett is equally at home in concert halls all over North America, excelling in a wide repertoire that ranges from works of the Renaissance to contemporary music. She has performed with every major Canadian orchestra and with many of the finest in the United States including those of Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia, and with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops.
MORE ON RON RAINES
Ron Raines played Alan Spaulding on CBS’s longest running daytime drama, Guiding Light. For his work in this role, he was nominated for three Emmy awards and three Soap Opera Digest awards. On PBS, he has appeared in three “Great Performances”—Gershwin at 100 (Carnegie Hall), The Rodgers and Hart Story: Thou Swell, Thou Witty, and My Favorite Broadway, The Love Songs—and on Evening at Pops in a Richard Rodgers tribute under Keith Lockhart’s direction. Well known to theater audiences in New York and around the country, Mr. Raines has starred on Broadway as Billy Flynn in Chicago, as Gaylord Ravenal in the 1983 revival of Show Boat, and in Teddy and Alice. He has played leading roles in virtually every major American musical and operetta including South Pacific, Annie, Kismet, Sayonara, Kiss Me, Kate, The King and I, Naughty Marietta, Brigadoon, Oklahoma!, Carousel, Follies,and Man of La Mancha around the country. As a concert performer, Ron has appeared with more than 50 symphony orchestras. Mr. Raines and his wife, Dona D. Vaughn, have a daughter, Charlotte Vaughn Raines.
MORE ON HASMIK PAPIAN
The Armenian artist graduated from “Komitas” High Academy in Yerevan first as a violinist, then as a singer. After her debut at the Armenian National Opera as Rosina (The Barber of Seville) and Mimì (La bohème), Hasmik Papian started an international career and has since sung on the most prestigious operatic stages in the world: Vienna State Opera (Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Rachel in La Juive, Leonora in La forza del destino, and the title roles of Tosca and Aida), La Scala Milan (Abigaille in Nabucco), Teatro Liceu Barcelona (Aida), Bastille Opera Paris (Mathilde in William Tell and Lisa in The Queen Of Spades) as well as the Metropolitan Opera in New York (Aida, Norma, Lady Macbeth, and Leonora in Il Trovatore). She has sung at the state operas of Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, and Dresden, in Zurich, Geneva, Madrid, Rome, Bologna, Palermo, Ravenna, Lyon, Toulon, Nice, and Monte Carlo, in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tel Aviv, Seoul, Tokyo, Mexico, Santiago de Chile, and São Paulo, to name just a few. In North America, she has appeared at the opera festival of Cincinnati, in San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Washington D.C., Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto.
BOSTON POPS PERFORM ON THE CHARLES RIVER ESPLANADE, JULY 4
Always a summer highlight, the Pops will once again throw one of the country’s largest Fourth-of-July parties on the Charles River Esplanade with special guest Michael Chiklis. The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, in its 38th year, is sponsored by Liberty Mutual Group, one of America’s leading insurers, offering auto, home, and life insurance for individuals and families, and a variety of insurance products and services for businesses.
BOSTON POPS PERFORM AT TANGLEWOOD, HYANNIS, AND NANTUCKET
The Boston Pops has a full summer schedule with three concerts during the 2011 Tanglewood Season as well as performances in Hyannis, Nantucket, and on the Charles River Esplanade for the annual July 4 celebration. At Tanglewood conductor John Williams will lead a concert featuring James Taylor on Friday, July 1. Maestro Williams will also lead the orchestra during the annual Film Night on Saturday, August 20. This concert features famed actor Morgan Freeman as a guest narrator and special guest Gil Shaham on violin. Also at Tanglewood, Keith Lockhart will conduct the Pops in “A Tribute to Cole Porter” on Sunday afternoon, July 17, with Broadway vocalists Kelli O’Hara and Jason Danieley. Ms. O’Hara and Mr. Danieley rejoin the Pops on Saturday, August 6, at the Bethel Woods Performing Arts Center in Bethel Woods, NY, and on Sunday, August 7, on the Town Green in Hyannis for additional performances of the Cole Porter set. These performances will be led by conductor Robert Bernhardt. Keith Lockhart also leads the Pops under the sun on Jetties Beach in Nantucket, MA with guest performer Carly Simon on Saturday, August 13.
2011 BOSTON POPS SEASON OVERVIEW
Continuing a 125-year tradition of bringing the best American music to audiences in New England and across the country, the legendary Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart present a spring season brimming with a rich variety of American popular music and favorite light classics, May 11 – June 26, at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA. A kaleidoscope of American musical styles, including jazz, bluegrass, Dixieland, country, gospel, pop, rhythm & blues, and the show-stopping songs of Broadway and Hollywood, will be featured during the 2011 Boston Pops Season, as the orchestra performs many of the most celebrated styles of our national musical legacy. The season showcases the phenomenal talents of musical theater greats Linda Eder, Julia Murney, and New York Pops conductor Steven Reineke; Boston Pops Gospel Night conductor Charles Floyd; film music master and Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams; jazz trumpeter and vocalist Byron Stripling; bluegrass king Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder; Ray Charles protégé Ellis Hall; pop music all-star Kenny Loggins; New Orleans jazz ambassadors Dukes of Dixieland; and the great interpreter of the American Songbook, Michael Feinstein.
With many programs drawn from the ever-evolving American Songbook, Mr. Lockhart and the Pops will also present American Icons—concerts that pay tribute to some of the great artists who compose the national repertoire and give voice to its songs. These programs will include works by distinctly American composers and performers, including Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra, George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cab Calloway, Mahalia Jackson, and Louis Armstrong.
NEW THIS SEASON: BOSTON POPS DISCOUNT TICKET OFFERINGS
For the first time, the Boston Pops will offer a College Card ticket program for the 2011 Spring Season. Available for $25 to students with a valid college ID, a College Card allows students to see performances at no additional charge. Subject to availability, one ticket per card will be available for Spring Pops performances with the exception of the College Nights, May 13, 20, and 24, and June 8 and 11. Students with a College Card from the 2010-11 Boston Symphony Season may use this card and updated information can be viewed at this link. Thanks to a gift from an anonymous donor, $20 tickets are also available for patrons under 40 years of age on a first-come, first-served basis. These 20-under-40 tickets will not be available for the College Nights, May 13, 20, and 24, and June 8 and 11. In addition, a limited number of $9 rush tickets will be available for Tuesday and Wednesday night concerts with the exception of May 24. These tickets are one per person, cash only, and available starting at 5 PM at the Symphony Hall box office on the evening of a concert.
ADDITIONAL TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the 2011 Boston Pops season at Symphony Hall are priced from $21-$101 and may be purchased online at www.bostonpops.org or by phone through SymphonyCharge at 617-266-1200 or 888-266-1200, Monday through Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM (with a $5.50 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.
SPONSORSHIP
Opening Night at Pops and the entire 2011 Boston Pops season are sponsored by Fidelity Investments. 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 Airline Partner of the Boston Pops.
All performances start at 8 pm with the exception the Sunday, June 26 performance which begins at 7:30 pm. Programs and artists are subject to change. For current information, dial 617-CONCERT (266-2378). For further information, please call the BSO at 617-266-1492 or visit www.bostonpops.org.
CONCERT LISTING
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 8:00 PM
Wednesday, June 22, 2011 8:00 PM
American Pastimes
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Kenny Loggins, guest artist
Grammy-winning superstar Kenny Loggins joins Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops for an evening of tunes from the orchestra’s chart-topping 2009 CD “The Red Sox Album,” including “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” and “Sweet Caroline.” The performance will also include film scores and some of Kenny Loggins’ most popular hits.
Thursday, June 23, 2011 8:00 PM
Friday, June 24, 2011 8:00 PM
American Icons
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Kathleen Brett, guest artist
Ron Raines, guest artist
During the final American Icons program, Keith Lockhart leads America’s Orchestra in the music of Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, and George Gershwin.
Saturday, June 25, 2011 8:00 PM
Sunday, June 26, 2011 7:30 PM
Triple Crown
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, guest artists
Hasmik Papian, additional guest artist on June 25
It’s off to the races with high-energy bluegrass from Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. In a concert to include music from the film Seabiscuit, the Boston Pops and Keith Lockhart celebrate America’s love of horses.