Princeton Symphony Orchestra Presents POPS, 2/12

For Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) Music Director Rossen Milanov, stepping up to the podium is anything but new. Yet, the accomplished conductor divulges that he has butterflies about the upcoming PSO POPS! concert, which takes place Saturday, February 12 at 8 pm, at Richardson Auditorium. "The music on a POPS! concert is common to many people in the U.S., but it's not part of my background," explains Milanov, originally from Bulgaria. "I'm much more accustomed to conducting classical concerts."
 
Nevertheless, in PSO POPS! The Broadway Concert: Hollywood in Love, Milanov will delve whole-heartedly into the pops genre, as the PSO presents a program of music by composers including Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, Lerner and Loewe, Andrew Lloyd Weber, and many more. Taking place just two days before Valentine's Day, the concert will explore love songs that first appeared on Broadway and were later memorialized in Hollywood on the silver screen. The evening will unfold like a love story, with theatrical scenes that depict themes such as Falling in Love, Love's Conflict, Commitment!? Marriage!?, and Forever Hopeful.
 
The concert presents an opportunity, rare even on Broadway, to experience these romantic show tunes as they were originally meant to be heard: with a full symphony orchestra.
 
Two world-class artists, tenor Brent Barrett and soprano Anna Bergman, will join the PSO, bringing their superb voices and theater expertise to the stage as they relate tales of desire, romance, and occasional heartache. Barrett is best known for his work on Broadway, which most recently includes leading roles in the Tony Award-winning musicals Chicago and Kiss Me, Kate. He has also recorded extensively and has made numerous television and film appearances. Bergman is known internationally for concert, cabaret, theater, and opera engagements. She has been noted especially for her incredible dedication to the roles she sings, which translates into heartfelt, honest performances.
 
Milanov, for his part, has completely immersed himself in the repertoire on the upcoming program, discovering the excitement and passion of music from Broadway and Hollywood. "There is a lot of freedom in pops music," he comments. "It's an opportunity to make a different type of great art, which is very fulfilling. And, I was not prepared for how much fun it is!"
 

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