Palm Beach Pops to Cease Concert Series Operations

Jon Lappin, President of The Palm Beach Pops, today released the following statement:

"By all rights and for so many reasons, the 2014-2015 season was a triumph for The Palm Beach Pops, South Florida's most beloved pops orchestra since 1991. Thanks to the incredible talent of our musicians and ongoing support from fans and supporters, we not only survived the sudden passing two summers ago of our founder, Maestro Bob Lappin, The Palm Beach Pops continued the 'Music & You' In-School Youth Education Program and we presented three critically acclaimed concerts.

"In fact, The Palm Beach Daily News recently singled out our Marvin Hamlisch tribute concert as one of their annual Critics' Choices and Top Picks, and the Gold Coast PR Council recently gave The Palm Beach Pops a prestigious Bernays Award for what the Shiny Sheet hailed as our 'impressive comeback season.'

While both music fans and reviewers cheered our past season, The Palm Beach Pops continues to confront several serious challenges, however, including a declining donor and audience base, increased and unexpected competition, and the inability to secure the required number of acceptable performance dates at the Kravis Center.

Accordingly, it is my sad duty today to announce that The Palm Beach Pops Board of Directors has decided to cease concert series operations at this time. With the full support of our Board of Directors, however, we are determined to continue presenting and expanding our critical music education programs that teach Palm Beach County schoolchildren the rudiments of music, introduce positive role models while developing creativity, providing tools for communication and enabling students to build a strong sense of self.

Rather than squander our reserves by facing a declining appreciation for the arts, The Palm Beach Pops remains financially sound and we intend to aggressively pursue performance opportunities and other profitable endeavors that we have identified going forward. We are not closing our doors. In fact, The Palm Beach Pops is actively seeking paid engagements, at which the Grammy and Emmy-winning Lee Musiker will still serve as conductor and music director.

Furthermore, The Palm Beach Pops is absolutely committed to continuing our 24-year track record of making an indelible contribution to South Florida's cultural community during this transformative period.

While this difficult decision may be disappointing, The Palm Beach Pops will forever remain one of the most important cultural gems in the County. The contributions to the cultural landscape, the support in founding a performing arts center, the thousands of people and children whose hearts we touched, the opportunities we gave talented youth onstage, the employment opportunities we provided, the tourism we attracted and the guardianship of the American Songbook are tremendous and must be recorded in the history of our community."

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