30th Annual Chorus of Westerly's Summer Pops Concert

Date and Time

Saturday Jun 19, 2010

19th 8:00 PM

Website

www.chorusofwesterly.org

Contact Information

401-596-8663
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Description

The Chorus of Westerly Presents the 30th Annual

Summer Pops on June 19, 2010

Booming cannons, sparkling fireworks, clanging church bells, and the sound of 190 singers and 60 orchestral musicians will fill Westerly’s Wilcox Park on Saturday, June 19, 2010,as the Chorus of Westerly presents its 30th annual Summer Pops at 8 pm. Conductor George Kent leads the chorus and the Boston Festival Orchestra in a performance of traditional and new “pops” music ranging from patriot American favorites to selections from Broadway. Joining this year’s program will be the Compaq Big Band, an acclaimed 20 piece jazz ensemble from Boston. The performance will conclude with the event’s traditional triumphant closing, a rare choral rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Overture of 1812 complete with cannons from the Newport Artillery and fireworks by Grucci. The main performance begins at 8 pm with a pre-show at 6:30 pm. The pre-show will feature the University of Rhode Island Big Band, fiddle player Damon Leibert, and the Westerly Morris Men. Admission to the event is free. In the event of inclement weather, rain dates are scheduled for Sunday, June 20 and Monday, June 21. Summer Pops is presented thanks to major sponsorship support from Foxwoods Resort Casino, the Washington Trust Company, and several hundred area businesses and individuals. For more information on the performance, please visit www.chorusofwesterly.org or call 401.596.8663.

Now considered a staple in the southern New England arts landscape, Summer Pops 2010 will be the event’s 30th edition. However, in the beginning, 30 years of Pops was not anticipated. In planning for the first concert in 1981, Summer Pops organizers intended the performance to be a one-time only event offered as thanks to the community for their support of the Chorus’s 1981 Concert Tour of Great Britain. But when the 1981 concert, held on the post office steps in downtown Westerly’s Dixon Square, proved to be incredibly popular and successful, the Chorus decided to repeat the event the following year. By 1983, audiences for the event had outgrown Dixon Square and the performance was moved permanently to Westerly’s Wilcox Park. Today, the tradition continues as more than 25,000 area residents attend the event each year. Over 30 years, it is estimated that over a half a million people have attend a Summer Pops performance in Westerly.

Joining the performance this year as featured soloists is the 20-piece Compaq Big Band of Boston. Internationally acclaimed for their performance of jazz music, the Compaq Band features a big band and swing repertoire that includes classics from the 1930s and 1940s as performed by the bands of Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and others. The Band balances their instrumental and horn works with vocal numbers popularized by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Bobby Darin, Frankie Randall, Nancy Wilson, and more. The Compaq Big Band recently appeared in Westerly at the Chorus of Westerly’s 50th anniversary gala.

Summer Pops is a free event. No tickets are required and everyone is invited to attend. Those wishing to put down blankets in Wilcox Park early to reserve a spot may do so only after 5 pm on Friday, June 18, 2010. Blankets and items put down before this time will be removed. Unattended coolers and/or any other items besides blankets will also be removed if left in the park prior to the event. Please not that parking in downtown Westerly will be limited to designated areas and traffic patterns will be modified before, during, and after the event. The pre-show, which will begin at 6:30 pm, will be 75 minutes in length and is subject to change. The main performance, which begins at 8 pm, will be approximately 85-90 minutes and will include an 8-10 minute firework performance from Grucci.

In the event of rain, the Chorus of Westerly will post notices around the park of the new date, announce it on WBLQ radio (1230 AM), and post notice on its website at www.chorusofwesterly.org.

Major presenting sponsors for Summer Pops 2010 are Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Washington Trust Company. The Chorus receives support for all of its season programming from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. Chorus media sponsors for its season and this event include the Westerly Sun, Classical 95.9 WCRI, the New London Day, and WBLQ AM 1230.

For further information on the Compaq Big Band (including photographs and biographies) please visit http://www.compaqbigband.com. For further information on the pre-show soloists, please contact the Chorus by emailing Lee Eastbourne at lee@chorusofwesterly.org or call him at 401.596.8663. Interviews with music director George Kent can be arranged upon request to Mr. Eastbourne.