Boston Pops
The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart.
Boston Pops
Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), the Boston Pops primarily consists of musicians from the BSO, although generally not all of the first-chair players.[1] The orchestra performs a spring season of popular music and a holiday program in December. For the Pops, the seating on the floor of Symphony Hall is reconfigured from auditorium seating to banquet and cafe seating. The Pops also plays an annual concert at the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade every Fourth of July. Their performances of both Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" and Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever" are famous for both Howitzer cannons firing and fireworks exploding (during the 1812 Overture) as well as the unfurling of the American flag that occurs as the song enters "The Stars and Stripes Forever"'s final moments. Identified with its long-time director Arthur Fiedler, the orchestra has recorded extensively, made frequent tours, and appeared often on television.
POPSearch[edit]
POPSearch is the Boston Pops' nationwide talent competition that offers amateur singers the chance to perform with the orchestra at Boston's Fourth of July Extravaganza, as well as on the orchestra's national tour. The winner also receives a cash prize. The American Idol–style competition has expanded into a nationwide contest through video submissions on YouTube and voting through BostonPops.org.
Tracy Silva, a mother of two from Taunton, Massachusetts, and van driver for special needs children, won the inaugural POPSearch contest in 2004.
Frances Botelho-Hoeg, an elementary school principal from Kingston, Massachusetts, was knocked out in the second round of the inaugural POPSearch, but returned in 2005 to sweep the competition.
The POPSearch 2007 grand champion Maria Perry won $5,000 and performed with the Boston Pops on July 3 and 4 in the annual July 4 Extravaganza seen by a live audience of almost a half-million people on the Charles River Esplanade and several million more on WBZ-TV.
High School Sing-Off[edit]
In the early spring of 2008, Keith Lockhart announced the "Boston Pops High School Sing-Off—A Best of Broadway Challenge", the first Boston Pops musical theater competition for Massachusetts high school students. Students from high schools throughout Massachusetts were encouraged to submit audition videos of musical theater vocal works for solo, duet, trio, quartet, or quintet to the Boston Pops before May 9, 2008. The winner was featured in the Fourth of July concert on the Esplanade.