Khris Dodge will shine a spotlight on Tucson when he takes the podium of the Tucson Pops Orchestra for the first time as its new music director Sunday, Sept. 11.
โCelebrate Tucson!โ featuring Linda Ronstadtโs niece, Mindy Ronstadt, kicks off the 68th fall โMusic Under the Starsโ series at Reid Parkโs DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center. The younger Ronstadt will perform some of her auntโs hits, all of them arranged for orchestra by Dodge, including โDesperadoโ and the breakthrough hit โYouโre No Good.โ
โAnd you know weโre going to have to do โBlue Bayou,โโ said Dodge, who added that the song will include a verse in Spanish written by Linda Ronstadtโs father. โYou canโt not do that.โ
The Sept. 11 concert kicks off Dodgeโs tenure after he was named last spring to replace longtime Pops Music Director Lรกszlรณ Veres. Veres had been at the podium with the orchestra for 32 years.
Dodge will lead the orchestra, comprised of moonlighting Tucson Symphony Orchestra members, in three concerts this fall.
โWe have a lot of cool stuff that Iโm trying to do, and ... Iโm excited,โ said Dodge, a longtime fixture in Tucsonโs music scene who spent 20 years as orchestra director of Arizona Opera before launching his own Khris Dodge Entertainment company eight or nine years ago.
โWe want to do great music on the stage, and if the orchestra is engaged in the great music weโre playing, then the audience will be,โ said Dodge, who also is executive director of the HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival, held in late January.
Dodge, who has built the programs of the parks series around specific themes, said one of his goals is to present accessible music โthat people will find recognizableโ alongside new or lesser known works. The seriesโ second concert is built around the theme of classic rock from the 1960s and โ70s, featuring a cover band fronted by Tucson native Nick Gallardo and a classic car show. The series closes with the Pops debut of Tucson pianist and arranger Jeffrey Haskell and vocalist Katherine Byrnes.
Dodge said he hopes to build on Veresโ 32-year legacy with the Pops and grow its audience to include more young families and diversity.
โI hope that through the efforts that I bring with the orchestra, it will continue its tradition to be an orchestra that provides music for our whole community,โ he said.
Admission to Music Under the Stars concerts, which begin at 7 p.m. Sundays Sept. 11-25, is free, but donations are accepted. Concerts are held at Reid Park, 900 S. Randolph Way, near East 22nd Street and South Country Club Road.
Nick Gallardo, right, and Not Fade Away will join the Tucson Pops Orchestra on Sept. 18.
Sept. 11 โ Linda Ronstadtโs niece, Mindy Ronstadt, joins the orchestra for โCelebrate Tucson!โ a concert that blends the music of the Old West with Tucsonโs Mexican heritage as contemporary works that define Tucson. Expect to hear Ronstadt sing some of her auntโs most iconic tunes. The Tucson Rodeo Parade Museum will also have a display of vintage horse wagons.
Sept. 18 โ The classic rock band Not Fade Away will join the orchestra for โThe Classics Concert: Classical Music, Classic Rock โnโ Roll and Classic Cars.โ The program pulls from great classical music and classic 1950s and โ60s rock, including hits from Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, along with a vintage classic car show courtesy of the Rotary Clubs of Tucson.
Sept. 25 โ The Tucson Pops Night of Jazz features special guests jazz pianist Jeffrey Haskell, making his pops debut, and vocalist Katherine Byrnes, as well as classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala. Dodge says this may be the first Pops โJazzerโ concert, featuring works by Bach and Gershwin and timeless classics.
Photos: Tucson Pops maestro Lรกszlรณ Veres conducts final concert
Lรกszlรณ Veres retires from Tucson Pop Orchestra
Updated
Maestro Lรกszlรณ Veres faces the crowd while conducting his last song during his final concert with the Tucson Pops Orchestra at George DeMeester Performance Center inside Reid Park in Tucson, Ariz. on June 12, 2022. After 30 years with the Tucson Pops Orchestra, Maestro Veres has retired. Veres has been conductor and music director of the Tucson Pops Orchestra since 1992.
Lรกszlรณ Veres retires from Tucson Pop Orchestra
Updated
Maestro Lรกszlรณ Veres, right, smiles while talking with a former student Amanda Glenn via FaceTime as well as talking with Glenn's best friend and friend of Veres Amy Roberts, center, and another former student Amber Roberts before Veres's final concert with the Tucson Pops Orchestra at George DeMeester Performance Center inside Reid Park in Tucson, Ariz. on June 12, 2022.ย
Lรกszlรณ Veres retires from Tucson Pop Orchestra
Updated
Maestro Lรกszlรณ Veres blows kisses towards the crowd as they cheer for him during Veres's final concert with the Tucson Pops Orchestra at George DeMeester Performance Center inside Reid Park in Tucson, Ariz. on June 12, 2022.ย
Lรกszlรณ Veres retires from Tucson Pop Orchestra
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An emotional Maestro Lรกszlรณ Veres smiles while receiving a surprise gift from his granddaughter Karylin Veres during Veres's final concert with the Tucson Pops Orchestra at George DeMeester Performance Center inside Reid Park in Tucson, Ariz. on June 12, 2022. Karylin, who lives in Chicago, flew out to Tucson to surprise her grandfather who was not aware she would be attending.ย
Lรกszlรณ Veres retires from Tucson Pop Orchestra
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Susan Putt holds up a "Love You Laszlo" sign while Maestro Lรกszlรณ Veres speaks to the crowd during Veres's final concert with the Tucson Pops Orchestra at George DeMeester Performance Center inside Reid Park in Tucson, Ariz. on June 12, 2022.ย
Lรกszlรณ Veres retires from Tucson Pop Orchestra
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Maestro Lรกszlรณ Veres, left, receives flowers from his wife Fran Veres during Veres's final concert with the Tucson Pops Orchestra at George DeMeester Performance Center inside Reid Park in Tucson, Ariz. on June 12, 2022.
Lรกszlรณ Veres retires from Tucson Pop Orchestra
Updated
Maestro Lรกszlรณ Veres set up his music stand while audience members fill the grass before his final concert with the Tucson Pops Orchestra at George DeMeester Performance Center inside Reid Park in Tucson, Ariz. on June 12, 2022.ย
Lรกszlรณ Veres retires from Tucson Pop Orchestra
Updated
Maestro Lรกszlรณ Veres conducts during his final concert with the Tucson Pops Orchestra at George DeMeester Performance Center inside Reid Park in Tucson, Ariz. on June 12, 2022.ย
Lรกszlรณ Veres retires from Tucson Pop Orchestra
Updated
Maestro Lรกszlรณ Veres conducts "God Bless America" towards the crowd during his final concert with the Tucson Pops Orchestra at George DeMeester Performance Center inside Reid Park in Tucson, Ariz. on June 12, 2022.ย
