The Tucson Pops Orchestra and Arizona Public Mediaβs KUAT-FM are teaming up to resurrect the orchestraβs beloved Music Under the Stars Sunday night concert series.
While the orchestra, comprised mostly of moonlighting Tucson Symphony Orchestra players, wonβt be setting up in Reid Parkβs DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center bandshell anytime soon, their music will be playing on KUAT as part of the public radio stationβs community concert series.
AZPM will broadcast βThe Best of the Popsβ on four consecutive Sunday afternoons beginning Sunday, Sept. 6, and continuing through Sept. 27.
Longtime Tucson Pops Music Director LΓ‘szlΓ³ Veres and KUAT host Andy Bade β who also serves on the Pops board of directors β curated the series, picking three concerts from the Pops 2009 spring parks series and a fourth concert from the ensembleβs 2012 series.
βWe are playing whole concerts, all live. If you hear the mistakes, itβs all there,β Veres said. βSome of my talking will be in it, but itβs not the same. When I talk I get the audienceβs reaction and you donβt get that on the (recording). It comes up as a silence. But what you hear is what you get.β
The Pops Orchestra last month announced it was canceling its fall Music Under the Stars series in response to COVID-19. But the ensemble is hopeful the health crisis will be under control by next spring when it plans to put on its springtime series beginning May 6, 2021, Veres said.
The orchestra also will release a new virtual performance of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which 50 Pops musicians recently recorded from their respective spaces. The project is being edited by Pops Concertmaster Michael Fan and will be posted at tucsonpops.org and Facebook page (facebook.com/tucsonpops) in the next week or so, Veres said.
The Best of the Pops concerts will premiere at 3 p.m. Sundays and be rebroadcast on the following Thursday at 9 p.m. on KUAT-FM Classical 90.5 Tucson/89.7 Northwest.
The schedule and programs:
- Sept. 6, rebroadcast Sept. 10: From the Memorial Day Concert on May 24, 2009, the program includes several patriotic Sousa marches and the composerβs βStars and Stripes Foreverβ; Broadway tunes including Richard Rodgersβ βCarousel Waltzβ and Andrew Lloyd Webberβs βMemoryβ from βCatsβ; and βAmerica the Beautiful.β
- Sept. 13, rebroadcast Sept. 17: From the May 17, 2009, show featuring baritone Rodney Glassman. The program includes Glassman singing everything from Great American Songbook classics β βT.Dβs Boogie Woogie,β βCome Fly With Me,β βWhen I fall in Loveβ β to Hollywood movie tunes from βGladiatorβ and classical (selections from Straussβ opera βDie Fledermausβ).
- Sept. 20, rebroadcast Sept. 24: From the June 7, 2009, show featuring soprano Nancy Davis Booth. The program includes βDonde Lieta UscΓ¬β from Pucciniβs βLa Boheme,β Great American Songbook classics including βChattanooga Choo Chooβ and βWhat A Wonderful World,β a Gershwin medley and an aria from Mozartβs opera βFigaro.β
- Sept. 27, rebroadcast Oct. 1: From the June 3, 2012, show, the program includes two works by Tucson composer Richard Faith (βLegends β An Overtureβ and βFestivalsβ), Broadway tunes from Andrew Lloyd Weber and the Sherman Brothers, and classical selections from Robert Wagner, Johann Strauss.
The broadcasts are supported by Long Realty Companies, which have long championed the Pops Orchestra, and the orchestraβs patrons. Public donations also are being accepted.