Review: PICKNIC POPS: “PATRIOTIC POPS” at Grand Rapids Symphony

The Grand Rapids Symphony is reviving its most iconic and popular summer tradition. The Family Fare Picnic Pops has moved to Secchia Meadows at Millennium Park, and a unique concerts for every music lover!   Picnic Pops debuted at Cannonsburg Ski Area in 1995 and quickly became a family-friendly West Michigan summer favorite. The series was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and since then, the Symphony has been working to bring Picnic Pops back to the community.

The first night, Picknic Pops: “Patriotic Pops” conducted by Bob Berheart and featuring baritone Craig Irvin, along with the Grand Rapids Symphony, presented an evening of Americana.  After opening with the National Anthem and a special appearance by the Kent County Color Guard, the concert kicked off with the first set featuring John Philip Sousa’s “Liberty Bell March”, George M. Cohan/ arr. Hermann “George M. Cohan Salute”, and Jerry Goldsmith “The Generals”.

Next, we moved into a selection of Old American Songs by Aaron Copland and featuring the vocals of Craig Irvin singing “Boatmen's Dance”, “Simple Gifts”, and the comical “I Bought Me a Cat”, as well as attempting to make the various animal noises that go along with it.  He finished out the set by singing the song “Impossible Dream”, written by Mitch Leigh and from the Musical Man of La Mancha, showing off his impressive tenor vocal range as musical theatre pieces love to do!

The symphony then performed a moving rendition of John Williams' piece "Hymn to the Fallen" from the film Saving Private Ryan.  They also performed an “Armed Forces Salute” written by Robert Arr. Lowden, and John Williams “Liberty Fanfare”.  Then, after the intermission, we were treated to a medley of the “Great Westerns Suite”, followed by another wonderful piece from Musical theatre and a western of sorts, Richard Rodgers/ arr. Bourdon and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, “Highlights from Oklahoma”.  Once again, Craig Irvine's voice, very fitting for the Oklahoma medley, put me in a musical theatre warm-up for what folks can see with a full night of Broadway coming Tuesday night with Sutton and Kellie.

Craig wasn’t finished yet singing "They Call the Wind Maria" from Paint Your Wagon by Frederick Loewe and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, western classic “Rawhide” by Dimitri Tiomkin/ arr. Palmer and Russ and closed out his portion with “Sing Out, America!” written by Richard Hayman

The Grand Fanele was very grand, and included well-known numbers such as: John Williams' “Midway March” and John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” performed with a LIVE Drone show!  It was very unique to see the drones take to the sky and form all different shapes in the show, which normally would have had fireworks overhead.  The cool thing with the drones that sets them apart is the different shapes and colors you can illustrate with them in the sky.  Illustrations included: a map of the state of Michigan with a star over Grand Rapids, a map of the U.S.A., an eagle, the American Flag, Grand Rapids Symphony” literally having their name in lights, and one great big U.S.A. all in various lights of Red, White, and Blue.

The finale in the Picnic Pops in the Picnic Pops Series, one you will NOT want to miss: A Night of Broadway with Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara, with the Grand Rapids Symphony, will be taking place at Millennium Park’s Secchia Meadows on Wednesday, July 22, 7:30 PM.  For tickets and more information. visit https://fs30.formsite.com/grsymphony/picnicpops2025/index

Visit https://www.grsymphony.org/ to check out their exciting lineup for the 25/26 season and for the popular Films and Live Scores, for which the Symphony provides the instrumentation in the scores to popular films.   They are providing the music to Back To The Future In Concert on July 25th, at 7:30 PM at the Hastings Performing Arts Center.  The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in Concert on October 31st at 7 PM and November 1st at 10 PM, and Shrek 2 in Concert on January 2nd, 2026, at 7:30 PM at DeVos Performance Hall.

In addition, on October 4th, Ben Folds will be performing, and on November 21st and 22nd, The Polar Express in Concert will be appearing just in time for the Holidays. And if you're a fan of Dolly Parton, March 20th & 21st, “Dolly Parton's Threads: My Songs in Symphony” will be coming. For more information on all those and the complete lineup, visit GRSymphony.org.

Connect with Grand Rapids Symphony on Facebook at facebook.com/grsymphony, on Twitter at @grsymphony, on Instagram at instagram.com/grsymphony, and online at www.grsymphony.org/.