Musicians take to Tucson parks for fall concert series

László Veres and his Arizona Symphonic Winds will ring in the promise of cooler temperatures when they return to Udall Park on Saturday, Sept. 14, to kick off the annual Music in the Park Series.

But fans of Tucson Pops Orchestra‘s Sunday night Music Under the Stars series at Reid Park will have to wait a week.

Music Director Khris Dodge pushed the three-concert series back to Sept. 22, partly because the promise of cooler weather seems a little fleeting given our recent run of 100-plus-degree days.

As of Sept. 5, we had already experienced 84 100-degree days, and the forecast called for temperatures to top the century mark every day through Thursday, Sept. 12.

Dodge, in his second season at the podium of the ensemble Veres led for 32 years, said he also delayed the series because some of his dates conflicted with his musicians’ schedules. Tucson Pops, the only pops orchestra in town, is comprised largely of professional musicians from Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the University of Arizona.

Dodge said he streamlined the series to three concerts instead of the four or five they had done in past years. Saying he’s a proponent of the “less is more” approach, Dodge said he wants to focus on quality.

“If we can put out some really excellent shows and do fewer, we’re better off and our patrons are better off,” he said.

Tucson Pops performs at 7 p.m. Sundays Sept. 22-Oct. 6 at Reid Park’s DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, 900 S. Randolph Way, off South Country Club Road and East 22nd Street.

Arizona Symphonic Winds performs at 7 p.m. Saturdays Sept. 14-Oct. 5 at the László Veres Amphitheater at Udall, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road.

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Audiences at both are advised to bring a chair or blanket; there are few, if any, established seats in the parks. Picnic baskets are also allowed. Admission is free, and donations are accepted.

Arizona Symphonic Winds

• Sept. 14: Catalina Foothills High School marching band joins the Winds.
• Sept. 21: “Stars of the Winds” spotlights trumpeters Kenny Soufley and Jacob Culver in a program that includes a medley of Miami Sound Machine and “Soldier’s Chorus” from Gounod’s opera “Faust.”
• Sept. 28: Soprano Elena Galbraith will perform works by Gershwin, Strauss and Percy Grainger in a program that includes a medley of Rolling Stones hits, classic marches and a Spanish Dance tune.
• Oct. 5: Tucson Pops Orchestra Concertmaster Michael Fan joins the Winds to perform a version of Sholom Secunda’s “Bei Mir Bistu Shein,” arranged by Fan’s late brother-in-law John Denman. Denman, a renowned clarinetist who was married to Fan’s late sister Paula, had arranged the song for clarinet. Veres said Michael Fan is playing that version with his violin.

Tucson Pops Orchestra

• Sept. 22: The 50-piece orchestra will perform movie and Broadway-themed songs while Circus Academy Tucson puts on a show in a collaboration that Music Director Khris Dodge says highlights “our community and (its) artistic output.” Erin Anderson and Tyler Wright are guest vocalists.
• Sept. 29: The spotlight is on the orchestra and its favorite repertoire, including a performance by two soloists of Copland’s sublime “Quiet City.”
• Oct. 6: Tucson blues violinist Heather Hardy guests with the orchestra in what might just be Dodge’s favorite concert of the series. “She’s one of my favorite musicians in town and on top of that just a wonderfully authentic human being,” he said of Hardy. In addition to doing violin-forward repertoire, the program will spotlight Tucson.

Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch