Tucson Pops Orchestra is kicking its annual Mother’s Day Concert in the Park into overdrive with a world premiere and a special violin solo.
It’s also inviting Arizona Balalaika Orchestra to sing the popular Russian tune “Moscow Night.” The concert on Sunday, May 8, launches the Pops Orchestra’s 62nd annual springtime Music Under the Stars parks series, which runs Sunday evenings through June 5 at DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center in Reid Park, East 22nd Street and South Country Club Road. Concerts begin at 7 p.m. and admission is free, although donations are accepted.
The orchestra will present five concerts this spring:
- May 8 — Mother’s Day: The Balalaika also will join Concertmaster Michael Fan on A. Tsygankov’s “Mar Dysandra.” The program includes the world premiere of Hungarian composer András Derecskei’s “Arizona Promenade”; Derecskei is studying composition at the University of Arizona. Wolfram’s “March László” in honor of Pops Conductor László Veres, Hungarian Dance No. 5 and 6, and selections from “The Sound of Music” round out the program.
- May 15 — Stars of the Future: Emerging young artists are in the spotlight including cellist Jun Lee performing Saint Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1; and Meghan Clair Crownhart, Emily Gray and Liam Boyd perform an intricate Irish dance to the “Lord of the Dance” performed by the orchestra. Also on the program, Copland’s “Hoe Down” and “Saturday Night Waltz,” and selections from “Fiddler on the Roof” and “West Side Story.”
- May 23 — Vocalist Katherine Byrnes is the guest artist, performing “You Make Me Feel So Young,” “Strike up the Band,” “Embraceable You” and other popular tunes. Also, Sibelius’s “Finlandia,” music from the movie “Frozen” and Listz’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6.
- May 29 — Memorial Day Concert: The annual Memorial Day concert is the highlight of the spring series, featuring a trio of John Philip Sousa’s most popular songs — “Yankee Doodle,” “The Washington Post March” and “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Other patriotic songs on the program are “Salute to Armed Forces,” a special tribute to late Tucson Pops board member and Air Force veteran Jim Wheeler and Curnow’s “Where Never Lark or Eagle Flew.”
- June 5 — Violin duo: Violinists George Blum and Jose Moore perform Gottschalk’s lively “Celebre Tarantelle” on a program that includes Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture — Veres’s go-to season finale for years now. Nine members of the audience will be selected to participate as the “cannon fire” – each holding a drum and waiting for their cue.
For more information on the orchestra, visit tucsonpops.org
Meanwhile, Veres’s other orchestra, Arizona Symphonic Winds, kicks off its annual spring Music in the Park series on May 14. Concerts are held at 7 p.m. Saturdays at Udall Park’s László Veres Amphitheater, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road.
This is the volunteer group’s 27th season of performing free concerts of overtures, light classical music, Great American Songbook standards and Broadway show tunes. Admission is free, but as with the Pops Orchestra, donations are accepted.
The season:
- May 14 — “Stars of the Winds”: Winds members perform the quartet from Verdi’s opera “Rigoletto,” on a program that also includes overtures, marches and Broadway musical tunes.
- May 21 — “Stars of the Future”: The lineup includes performances by a 9-year-old violinist and a 12-year-old trumpeter.
- May 28 — “An Evening with John Philip Sousa”: Tuba soloist Mathew Tropman, who teaches at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, performs “Carnival of Venice.” Works by Sousa, Bernstein and a special tribute to the Armed Forces are also planned.
- June 4 — “Sounds of the Violins”: Guests include Jose Moore and Tucson Symphony Orchestra violinist George Blum playing a duet originally scored for piano.
Details: facebook.com/ArizonaSymphonicWinds
