Peter Nero and the Philly Pops� play musical host of Philadelphia�s Fourth of July celebration06/09/2006Annual free concert �POPS on Independence� on Independence Mall on Monday, July 3, is presented by Once Upon a Nation and part of the 2006 Sunoco Welcome America! Festival
Peter and The POPS perform at Sunoco Welcome America�s �Sweet Sounds of Liberty� concert, also featuring Lionel Richie, on the Ben Franklin Parkway on Tuesday, July 4
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops� plays musical host of Philadelphia�s Fourth of July celebration with the annual �POPS on Independence� concert on Monday, July 3, 2006, at 8:30 p.m. on Independence Mall and the �Sweet Sounds of Liberty� concert on Tuesday, July 4, 2006, at 8:30 p.m. on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The Pops also participates in two additional events: the Lights of Liberty Teen Idol Search for the Greatest �God Bless America� (finals are on Monday, July 3, 2006, at 11:30 a.m. on Independence Mall) and the Philadelphia Independence Day Ceremony on Tuesday, July 4, 2006, at 9:00 a.m. at Independence Hall.
�No Independence Day observance would be complete without some of the great music that celebrates America,� said Peter Nero, founding music director of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops. �Peter Nero and the Philly Pops has a proud history with Philadelphia�s Fourth of July celebrations since 1981, and we are honored once again this year to bring our music to so many people as part of the 2006 Sunoco Welcome America Festival.�
�POPS on Independence,� the Pops� annual concert celebrating America�s birthday, is a free performance of great American music. From stirring patriotic anthems, rousing marches, and the quintessentially American sound of Copland to big band, Broadway, and film scores, the concert celebrates the birth of our nation against the majestic backdrop of Independence Hall, where it all began. The concert takes place on Monday, July 3, 2006, at 8:30 p.m. on Independence Mall. The Voices of The POPS joins Peter and The Pops for this patriotic program. Seating is first come, first served, and the concert will be performed without intermission. �POPS on Independence� is presented by Once Upon a Nation and is part of the 2006 Sunoco Welcome America! Festival. This annual concert has traditionally drawn a picnic-loving crowd and as in previous years, the audience is encouraged to bring blankets, lawn chairs, and picnic baskets to the lawn of Independence Mall and celebrate America�s birthday with �the best orchestra of its kind in the entire cosmos.�
The �Sweet Sounds of Liberty� concert on Tuesday, July 4, 2006, at 8:30 p.m. on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway features Peter Nero and the Philly Pops. The POPS has served as musical host for Philadelphia�s Fourth of July celebrations for 27 years. On July 4, 2005, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performed for over a half million people on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, welcoming guests Sir Elton John, Patti LaBelle, and Bryan Adams. They have been joined by James Earl Jones (who read from the Declaration of Independence) and other great talents including Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Ray Charles, and Dionne Warwick. The 2006 concert also features R&B powerhouse Lionel Richie and 2004 American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino. The celebration is capped off with a star-spangled fireworks display framing the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The concert is presented by the 2006 Sunoco Welcome America! Festival and closes the weeklong Festival.
Joining Peter and The POPS at both concerts will be the winner of the Lights of Liberty Teen Idol Search for the Greatest �God Bless America.� This contest is open to singers ages 13-17. Preliminary auditions will be held on Saturday, June 24, 2006. The registration deadline is June 21, 2006, at 5:00 p.m. Final auditions, which will be judged by a panel that includes Peter Nero, will take place on July 3, 2006, beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Independence Mall. All contestants must register in advance and be available on June 24 and 30 and July 2-4, 2006. There is a $10 registration fee. Registrants receive 2 free tickets to the Lights of Liberty Show. For more information on attending the finals, visit www.americasbirthday.com. For information on scheduling an audition, call 215.733.0900 ext. 245, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.lightsofliberty.org/idolsearch.htm.
On the morning of July 4, 2006, the Philly Pops Festival Brass and The Voices of The POPS provide the music for the Philadelphia Independence Day Ceremony (formerly the Liberty Medal Award). The Ceremony, a tribute to freedom by the City of Philadelphia, will take place at 9:00 a.m. at Independence Hall.
Peter Nero has built an impressive career as a conductor, arranger, composer, and master pianist. �If he weren�t such a superb musician, Peter Nero might be easy to dismiss as a mere great entertainer,� notes Peter Dobrin, music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Dobrin goes on to say, �In musicians� parlance, Nero�s got chops.� 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 Philharmonic. 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.
Now entering its 27th season, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops continues to delight current audiences, while cultivating new audiences throughout the region. Peter Nero�s imaginative programming has made Philly Pops concerts unique and widely popular in the pops world. His program concepts and participation as piano soloist have been received with boundless enthusiasm and acclaim. POPS concerts run the gamut from great classics to jazz improvisation, big band to Broadway hits, ragtime to rock �n� roll. Guest artists join the POPS each season � established artists as well as outstanding new vocalists from Broadway and the concert stage. The Voices of The POPS, the resident vocal group, has become a member of the Philly Pops family as well.
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was featured on ABC-TV�s �Independence Day 2001,� a live, star-studded national broadcast, sharing the stage with such renowned stars as Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Whoopi Goldberg, and Garth Brooks. They also had the honor of performing at the opening of the National Constitution Center in 2003 and participating on National Public Radio�s nation-wide radio broadcast on July 4, 2002. Earlier that year, Mr. Nero�s good friend, U.S. Senator and former astronaut John Glenn, appeared with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops in a special performance of Mr. Nero�s original composition Voyage into Space. During the 2003-04 season, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops celebrated its 25th anniversary. One of the most significant events of that year was the signing of a three-CD contract with DRG Records, making them one of only a few orchestras in the country with such a deal.
There have been many memorable moments for Peter Nero and the Philly Pops including a debut performance at New York City�s Carnegie Hall on February 6, 1984, with another visit to the prestigious concert hall in May 1997. Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was the featured performer at Philadelphia�s �We the People� concert, the 1987 celebration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, broadcast nationally on CBS-TV. Other distinctions include performing at the Washington, D.C., gala to commemorate NASA�s 40th anniversary in 1998, and a performance for the Republican Governor�s Association at the Republican National Convention during the summer of 2000. More information about Peter Nero and the Philly Pops can be found at www.phillypops.org.
Celebrity judges � including Peter Nero � will decide who sings �God Bless America� with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops that night and at the Sunoco Welcome America! July 4th concert.
Audience attendance is free, no registration required. For more information, visit www.americasbirthday.com.
For information on scheduling an audition, call 215.733.0900 ext. 245, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.lightsofliberty.org/idolsearch.htm.
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops
Peter Nero, conductor and pianist
The Voices of The POPS
�POPS on Independence,� the Pops� annual concert celebrating America�s birthday, is a free performance of great American music features stirring anthems, rousing marches, and holiday favorites set against the majestic backdrop of Independence Hall.
FREE! For more information, visit www.americasbirthday.com. Seating is first come, first served.
�POPS on Independence� is presented by Once Upon a Nation and is part of the 2006 Sunoco Welcome America! Festival.
Philly Pops Festival Brass
The Voices of The POPS
A tribute to freedom by the City of Philadelphia. Music for the ceremony is provided by the Philly Pops Festival Brass and The Voices of The POPS.
FREE! For more information, visit www.americasbirthday.com.
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