Boston Pops To Release The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers

On July 4, the Boston Pops will release a CD featuring the live recording of the world premiere performances of The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers, which took place at Symphony Hall May 18 & 19 with guest narrators Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and Cherry Jones, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, under the direction of Keith Lockhart. The album includes a new recording of the Boston Pops signature, John Philip Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever. The CD will be released on July 4th in connection with the Boston Pops 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, among the nation's largest and most historic Independence Day celebrations, and will be sold along the Charles River Esplanade, in addition to traditional CD outlets described below. The Dream Lives On will be performed during the July 4 concert with WBZ-TV's Jack Williams and Lisa Hughes, and acclaimed local actors Will LeBow and Jeremiah Kissel.

The Dream Lives On, priced at $3.99, will be available for purchase by the general public on July 4 in various locations along the Charles River Esplanade and online at www.bostonpops.org/shop. The CD will also be available for purchase at the Symphony Shop and on Amazon.com. The CD of The Dream Lives On is now available for pre-sale at www.bostonpops.org/kennedy. The album will also be available for download as a complete CD www.bostonpops.org/digital. Music sold in HD stereo AIFF and WMA formatting will cost $3.49. Music sold in MP3 formatting will cost $2.99. The MP3 album will also be made available on iTunes, CDBaby, and Amazon.com.

BACKGROUND ON THE DREAM LIVES ON: A PORTRAIT OF THE KENNEDY BROTHERS
Celebrating the legacies of these three influential and inspiring Massachusetts native sons, The Dream Lives On-composed by Peter Boyer with Tony Award-winning lyricist Lynn Ahrens-was commissioned by Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops. The Dream Lives On pays tribute to the towering achievements and singular spirit epitomized by the Kennedy brothers-the call to public service, drive for social change, and the legacy of optimism for America's future. The title of the work was taken from the closing lines of Ted Kennedy's speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Commissioning of The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers was made possible by generous support provided by Paul and Catherine Braverman and Robert and Evelyn Doran.

SPONSORSHIP
The entire 2010 Boston Pops season is sponsored by Fidelity Investments. The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel is the Official Hotel of the Boston Pops. New England Coffee is the Official Coffee 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.

BACKGROUND ON THE BOSTON POPS
Celebrating its 125th anniversary this spring, May 4-June 20, the Boston Pops Orchestra has distinguished itself as the founder of and leader in its genre, presenting the best of a wide variety of music from jazz to pop, indie rock to big band, film music to the great American songbook, and Broadway to classical. Affectionately know as "America's Orchestra," the Boston Pops is the most-recorded and arguably the most beloved orchestra in the country, beginning with the establishment of the modern-era Pops by Arthur Fiedler and continuing through the innovations introduced by John Williams and the new-millennium Pops spearheaded by Keith Lockhart.

With the 125th anniversary season, the Boston Pops reaches a landmark moment in a remarkable history that began with its founding in 1885. Civil War veteran Henry Lee Higginson, the founder of the Boston Symphony (1881) and Boston Pops, intended from the very start to present concerts of light classics and the popular music of the day.

It was Arthur Fiedler's nearly 50-year tenure as Pops Conductor (1930-1979) that established the Boston Pops as a national icon by moving the Pops beyond its origins in light classical music into the world of pop culture showcasing the popular artists of the day as well as the work of young American composers and arrangers. Mr. Fiedler organized the first free outdoor orchestral concerts on the Charles River Esplanade that led to the Boston's now-famous Fourth of July concert, established the Pops as the most recorded orchestra in history--including the first orchestral recording to sell more than a million copies--and introduced the "Evening at Pops" television series, bringing the orchestra into the living rooms of countless Americans.

When John Williams (1980-1993) succeeded Arthur Fiedler in 1980, he was the most highly acclaimed composer in Hollywood, and today, with 45 Academy Award nominations, he is the most-nominated living person in Academy history. With the Pops, Mr. Williams continued the orchestra's prolific recording tradition with a series of best-selling recordings for the Philips and Sony Classical labels, broadened and updated the Pops repertoire-commissioning new compositions and introducing new arrangements of Boston Pops classics-and entertained audiences with live orchestral accompaniment to film clips of memorable movie scenes, many of which featured iconic music from his own film scores. He traveled extensively with the Pops both nationally and internationally, leading the Pops on its first tours to Japan. Mr. Williams also brought a bit of Hollywood to the Pops stage, with special appearances by Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Frank Langella, not to mention Darth Vader, R2D2, and C3PO.

Having led more than 1,200 Boston Pops concerts, Keith Lockhart (1995 - present) is now in his sixteenth season as Boston Pops Conductor. In response to the ever-diversifying trends in music, Keith Lockhart has taken the Pops in new directions, creating programs that reach out to a broader and younger audience by presenting artists-both established performers and rising stars-from virtually every corner of the entertainment world, all the while maintaining the Pops' appeal to its core audience. He has made 67 television shows, led 33 national and four overseas tours with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, and recorded eleven albums. Mr. Lockhart's tenure has been marked by a dramatic increase in touring, the orchestra's first Grammy nominations, the first major network national broadcast (on CBS Television) of the Fourth-of-July spectacular from the Esplanade, and the release of the Boston Pops' first self-produced and self-distributed recordings, now numbering four: Sleigh Ride, America, Oscar & Tony, and The Red Sox Album. He led the Pops for Chris Botti's "In Boston" CD and DVD, featuring special guests Sting, John Mayer, Josh Groban, Yo-Yo Ma, and Steven Tyler, recorded live from two performances at Symphony Hall. The recording received multiple Grammy nominations earlier this year and the show was aired on PBS stations nationally. Mr. Lockhart has also led the Boston Pops at several high profile sports events, including the pre-game show of Super Bowl xxVI and the opening game of the 2007 World Series, at Fenway Park with the Boston Red Sox. Further information about the Boston Pops is available at bostonpops.org.

All programs and artists are subject to change. The Boston Pops is on the internet at www.bostonpops.org.

Don't Miss a Boston News Story
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...