'Holiday Pops' With Peter Nero And Von Trapp Children 12/5

Come hear those sleigh bells ring!

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops present 10 performances of Holiday POPS - a beloved family tradition. The von Trapp Children will captivate audiences, along with organist Peter Conte, the POPS Festival Chorus, and the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas Gospel Choir.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops Holiday POPS!, a beloved family tradition, returns to fill Verizon Hall for 10 performances this holiday season. The charming von Trapp Children, great-grandchildren of Captain and Maria von Trapp from the famous singing family featured in The Sound of Music, return to Philadelphia to lend their voices to the festivities. Organist Peter Conte, the 150-member POPS Festival Chorus, and the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas Gospel Choir also join Grammy Award-winning pianist/conductor Peter Nero at the piano, along with the best orchestra of its kind in the entire cosmos, to ring in the holidays with a festive blend of seasonal favorites. The concert also includes a special audience sing-along, a Holiday POPS! tradition, and a spectacular finale with the entire company of over 200 on stage.

Performances of Holiday POPS! take place December 5 at 8:00 p.m., December 6, 18, 19, and 20 at 2:00 p.m., December 7 and 17 at 7:00 p.m., December 12 and 13 at 3:00 p.m., and December 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, celebrates its 30th anniversary in the 2008-09 season. Since its inception in 1979, it has become one of America's premier pops orchestras, entertaining regularly sold-out audiences with an eclectic blend of jazz, classical, rock 'n' roll, big band, Broadway, and movie music with an impressive array of guest artists. The 2008-09 30th anniversary season is no exception, complete with the sounds of Broadway, Frank Sinatra, jazz, Hollywood, and other popular favorites.

Peter Nero: If the perfect pops conductor could be conjured, he might answer to this description, wrote Philadelphia Inquirer music critic Peter Dobrin. Huge talent with polymath abilities and catholic tastes. Musician who actually enjoys giving audiences what they want. Plays piano like a dream. He might look something like Peter Nero.

Nero plays with the energy of a 20-year-old rock and roll drummer, noted the Palm Beach Daily News on March 26, 2008. His Juilliard training shows in the cleanliness of his technique and in his control of the tone of the piano. His technical arsenal includes brilliant passage work, rapid bass lines, arpeggio-like figures ascending and descending, and subtle dynamic variations. His fast playing is thrilling, and his slow playing is marked by a beautiful lyricism.

Nero's love for the idiom, of course, couldn't be clearer, and it's hard to fault his touch, tone production and technical facility, all bespeaking a high level of achievement, said David Adler of the Philadelphia Inquirer of Nero during a recent solo performance in April 2008.

At a Pops concert, it's easy to get swept away by the crash of the orchestra or the dazzle of a guest artist, yet when Mr. Nero sits down to do what he does best, we can appreciate that all these things originate from the man on the piano bench, wrote Lindsay Warner of the Bulletin.

A two-time Grammy-Award winner and 10-time nominee, Mr. Nero has built an impressive career as a conductor, arranger, composer, and master pianist. For his ability to pick just the right material, he most recently was dubbed Dr. Feelgood. Named the epitome of the Pops Conductor/Performer by the Washington Post, Mr. Nero won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1961, another in 1962 for Best Performance and Arrangement by an Instrumentalist, and since that time has garnered 10 additional nominations and released 67 albums. He also possesses an Emmy for his participation in the NBC special 'S'Wonderful, 'S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin, with Jack Lemmon as host.

Mr. Nero's recent guest performances include engagements with the Indianapolis Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Charlotte Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Baltimore Symphony, among others. On January 27, 2007, Mr. Nero performed at the Academy of Music 150th Anniversary Concert, joining rock icon Rod Stewart from the piano on 'They Can't Take That Away from Me.' Maestro Nero was a guest soloist on Mr. Stewart's second of four recordings, As Time Goes By ... The Great American Songbook, Vol. 2. 'Mr. Nero has made numerous television appearances on national networks as well as PBS. He is the recipient of six honorary doctorates and in 1999 received the Pennsylvania Distinguished Arts Award.

 

One of America's premier pops orchestras, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was founded in 1979 under the musical leadership of Peter Nero, whose unique talents and innovative programming blending all musical genres have made their concerts widely popular in the pops world. POPS concerts run the gamut from great classics to jazz improvisation, big band to Broadway hits, ragtime to rock 'n' roll. Mr. Nero's participation as piano soloist has been received with boundless enthusiasm and acclaim. Guest artists both established stars as well as outstanding new vocalists from Broadway and the concert stage join The POPS each season. The Voices of The POPS, the resident vocal group, has become a member of the Philly Pops family as well.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops is the Official Pops Orchestra of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a significant part of Philadelphia's cultural scene. The POPS has produced continuously growing and loyal audiences and performs to regularly sold-out crowds as a resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops has played a role in the City of Philadelphia's Fourth of July celebration for over 25 years. On July 3, 2008, for the fifth consecutive year, Peter and The POPS performed a free outdoor concert in front of Independence Hall. This immensely popular annual event, which includes a musical tribute to all branches of the armed forces, draws thousands of attendees. This year's concert also featured Peter and The POPS performing music for the wedding of premier historic re-enactors Ralph Archbold and Linda Wilde, better known to Philadelphians as Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross. On July 4, 2006, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performed a free outdoor concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Their concert on the Parkway the previous Independence Day, featuring Sir Elton John, Patti LaBelle, and Bryan Adams, reached over a half million people. Other notables who have joined them for past city celebrations include James Earl Jones, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Ray Charles, Boyz II Men, and Dionne Warwick.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops celebrated its 25th anniversary during the 2003-04 season and is looking forward to celebrating its 30th anniversary during the 2008-09 season. Peter and The POPS had the honor of performing at the opening of the National Constitution Center in 2003, and participating in National Public Radio's nation-wide radio broadcast on July 4, 2002. Another highlight took place in April 2002, when Astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn made a guest appearance in a special performance of Peter's original composition Voyage into Space. Peter and The POPS were featured on ABC-TV's 'Independence Day 2001,' a live, star-studded national broadcast, sharing the stage with such luminaries as Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Whoopi Goldberg, and Garth Brooks.

More information about Peter Nero and the Philly Pops can be found at www.phillypops.org.

Guest Artists

The von Trapp Children Sofia, Melanie, Amanda, and Justin perform a variety of folk and classical songs from various European and American traditions, as well as selections from The Sound of Music. The children have performed with such major orchestras as the Boston Pops; the Atlanta, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Detroit, Phoenix, and Milwaukee symphonies; and the Minnesota Orchestra. Their upcoming engagements include performances with the Toronto, Pacific Coast, Edmonton, Oklahoma, and Kansas City symphonies, as well repeat performances with the Cincinnati Pops, Atlanta, and Indianapolis symphonies to name a few. Sold-out crowds have carried them into some of the worlds most prestigious theaters, including the Sydney Opera House, on a tour that took them to Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines.

Peter Richard Conte is grand court organist of Philadelphias Wanamaker Organ in Macys. When not touring, he performs on the six-manual, 28,000-pipe instrument twice daily, six days per week. The Wanamaker Organ is the largest fully-functioning musical instrument in the world. Mr. Conte was appointed grand court organist in 1989 and is the fourth person to hold that title since the organ was first played in 1911. He has been featured several times on National Public Radio and on ABC televisions Good Morning America and World News Tonight. His monthly radio show, The Wanamaker Organ Hour, airs on the first Sunday of each month, at 5:00 p.m., and can be heard via the internet at www.WRTI.org. Mr. Conte performs extensively throughout the United States and Canada. Locally, he has performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Delaware and Allentown symphonies. He also serves as choirmaster and organist of St. Clement's Church, Philadelphia. Mr. Conte's recordings appear on the Gothic, Dorian, JAV, and DTR labels.

The POPS Festival Chorus is made up of community members who audition to sing with the ensemble and rehearse over an eight-week period. The chorus is led by Jeffrey Kern, chorus director for Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.

The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas Gospel Choir represents the first African American Episcopal congregation in the U.S., founded in 1792. The Gospel Choir, organized in 1991 under the direction of Waltier Blocker, consists of about 30 singers from six different churches in the Philadelphia area. The ensemble has performed in numerous churches, halls, and synagogues along the East Coast, and has toured Costa Rica and the southern United States. The Gospel Choir has performed at the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses New Artist Showcase and took part in the National Celebration and Moving Ceremony of the Liberty Bell to its new pavilion in October 2003. The choir has appeared with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops at the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Holiday POPS! concerts.

Peter Nero AND THE PHILLY POPS
HOLIDAY POPS!
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
December 5 -Dec 20th

Single tickets: $27-$104, 215.893.1999 or www.phillypops.org.

Tastykake is a proud sponsor of the Holiday POPS! concert series.
US Airways is the official airline of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.
CBS 3 is the media sponsor of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops 2008-09 season.

 

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