Ring in the holidays with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.� annual Holiday POPS!12/01/2005
Ring in the holidays with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.� annual Holiday POPS!
New! Three additional matinee performances
Philadelphia.s premier holiday event also features special guests
Ann Hampton Callaway, POPs Festival Chorus, and Combined Gospel Choir
(Philadelphia, November 22, 2005) . Peter Nero and the Philly Pops� presents its annual crowd-pleasing Holiday POPS! concerts with three additional performances, for a total of 10 performances. Ann Hampton Callaway joins as special guest in addition to the POPs Festival Chorus and Combined Gospel Choir. Holiday POPS! performances take place in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts December 1-4, 6-7, and 16-18 (see listing calendar for concert times).
Philadelphia.s premier holiday event, Holiday POPS! is the quintessential holiday treat. Peter Nero and the Philly Pops perform selections from their 2003 recording, Holiday Pops! including .White Christmas,. .Santa Claus is Coming to Town,. (both featuring Peter Nero on piano) and .Sleigh Ride.. The concert also includes .Spirit of the Season. from the Oscar-nominated movie The Polar Express and the ever-popular audience sing-along. Known for her crowd-pleasing, humorous improvisations, Ann Hampton Callaway adds her warm vocals and signature style to .I.ll Be Home for Christmas,. .A Christmas Lullaby,. and .Do You Hear What I Hear,. among other traditional favorites. The POPS Festival Chorus lends its 100+ voices to the program and the Combined Gospel Choir joins the POPs performing .Rise Up Shepherd, And Follow. and .Mary Had a Baby..
Singer, pianist, songwriter, and actress Ann Hampton Callaway makes her second appearance on a Holiday POPS! concert and her fourth appearance overall with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops. Featured on the POPS. 2003 best-selling CD Holiday Pops!, the multi-talented Ms. Callaway is equally at home in the worlds of jazz, pop, and cabaret as she is on stage, in the recording studio, and on television. She has been described by the Chicago Tribune as ..the best equipped jazz vocalist swinging today.. Ms. Callaway was nominated for a Tony Award in 2000 for her appearance in the Broadway hit Swing!
Slow, Ms. Callaway.s debut recording for Shanachie Entertainment, includes two collaborations with pop icon Carole King. Her other solo recordings include After Ours and Signature, and she has participated as a guest artist on over 40 recordings. A leading interpreter of the Great American Songbook, Ms. Callaway was the first person granted permission by Cole Porter.s estate to write music for a previously unrecorded Porter lyric, .I Gaze In Your Eyes.. She recently made her film debut in the upcoming independent movie Sky King. Ms. Callaway and Peter Nero participated in the 2003 Macy.s Thanksgiving Day Parade on the US Postal Service float.
Peter Nero has built an impressive career as a conductor, arranger, composer and master pianist. Dubbed by the Washington Post as ..the epitome of the Pops Conductor/Performer,. Mr. Nero won the Grammy Award for .Best New Artist. in 1961 and since that time has garnered 10 additional nominations and released 67 albums. Mr. Nero recently returned from two highly successful performances with the Dayton Philharmonic featuring Senator John Glenn as narrator on Mr. Nero.s multimedia piece .Voyage into Space.. His recent guest performances include engagements with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center; the Saint Louis, Pacific, Detroit, and Virginia Symphony Orchestras; and the Buffalo and Dayton Philharmonics. A Steinway artist for close to 50 years, Mr. Nero returned to Carnegie Hall in 2003 to perform at the 150th Anniversary of Steinway Gala with many noted pianists, including Billy Taylor, Herbie Hancock, and Michel Legrand. Mr. Nero has made numerous television appearances on national networks as well as PBS. He is the recipient of six Honorary Doctorates and in 1999 received the Pennsylvania Distinguished Arts Award.
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was founded in 1979 under the leadership of two-time Grammy Award-winning virtuoso pianist, conductor, and performer Peter Nero. As founding music director, Mr. Nero.s unique and extraordinary talents have helped to create and develop innovative programming blending all musical genres. In turn, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops concerts have produced continuously growing and loyal audiences. One of America.s premier pops orchestras and a significant part of Philadelphia.s cultural scene, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops subscriptions have nearly doubled since the 2000-01 season, as have single ticket sales. The Official Pops Orchestra of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performs to regularly sold-out audiences as a resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.
Holiday POPS! performances are sponsored by First Penn Bank. Media sponsor is CBS3. Special support is provided by Sunny 104.5.
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