Peter Nero and the Philly Pops� celebrates 30 years of great music with a spectacular 2008-09 season
04/01/2008

Special guests include Broadway�s Anne Runolfsson, Gary Mauer, and Lauren Kennedy; the von Trapp Children; Sinatra interpreter Steve Lippia; jazz vocalist Diane Schuur; and Jodi Benson and Keith Buterbaugh in a tribute to the music of Hollywood

Visions of America takes the audience on a compelling visual and musical journey through the United States in groundbreaking premiere performances

Save the date!� Special show at Wachovia Center celebrates 30 years of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops�� 2008-09 anniversary season celebrates 30 years of great music with the sounds of Broadway, Frank Sinatra, jazz, Hollywood, and other favorites. Since its inception in 1979, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops has been entertaining audiences with a sophisticated blend of popular classics and new favorites. The 2008-09 season is no exception!

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops opens its season with its signature show and perennial favorite, the phenomenon known as Broadway Showstoppers! Once again, Peter Nero continues to combine Broadway�s most exceptional talent with the magic of The POPS. This season, in her Pops debut, Broadway star Anne Runolfsson (James Joyces�s The Dead, Victor/Victoria), a sublime vocalist equally at home singing in a large concert venue or an intimate cabaret setting, joins POPS veterans Gary Mauer (The Phantom of the Opera, Les Mis�rables) and Lauren Kennedy (Spamalot, Sunset Boulevard). They are sure to make this season�s Broadway Showstoppers! absolutely unforgettable (October 5, 8, 10-12, 2008).� Additional performances of Broadway Showstoppers! will be presented in Trenton, NJ, on September 27 and in West Chester, PA, on October 19.

Holiday POPS!, now a beloved tradition and Peter Nero and the Philly Pops� most popular concert of the season, returns to once again fill Verizon Hall with holiday cheer. The POPS are joined by the incredible voices of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas Gospel Choir, antiphonal trumpets, the 150-member POPS Festival Chorus, and a special audience sing-a-long, as they ring in the holidays with a festive blend of seasonal favorites. The charming von Trapp Children, great-grandchildren of Captain and Maria von Trapp, join the celebration to captivate audiences with their mesmerizing voices. What a splendid way for the whole family to celebrate this enchanting time of year (December 5-7, 12-14, 17-20, 2008).

Visions of America, a groundbreaking premiere of a multi-media portrait of America, draws on the truly astounding words and philosophies of our founding fathers. The program, which opens the week after America inaugurates a new president, takes audiences on a moving visual and musical journey through our great country, inspiring audiences to experience the ideas, hopes, and dreams that unite us as Americans! A collaboration between Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, renowned photographer Joseph Sohm, Grammy Award-winning pianist/composer Roger Kellaway, and legendary lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman (best known for their Grammy and Academy Award-winning work with Barbra Streisand), this stirring multi-media event reminds us how brightly the American spirit burns (January 25, 28, 30-31, February 1, 2009).

Impeccable glamour, supreme style, made his own rules, the height of cool. In A Celebration of Ol� Blue Eyes, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops steps into the magical life of one of the world�s greatest entertainers, Ol� Blue Eyes himself�Frank Sinatra. With his unmatched vocal stylings, Sinatra and his legendary friends embodied the very essence of hip. The incomparable Sinatra interpreter Steve Lippia joins Peter Nero and the Philly Pops as it pays homage to this late, great icon (February 15, 18, 20-22, 2009).

For the first time in The POPS� history, celebrated jazz vocalist Diane Schuur joins our very own legendary Peter Nero for one extraordinary concert�88 Keys and a Voice. Between them, Peter and Diane have four Grammy awards and recording careers that combine a span of more than five decades. Now, take all of that brilliant talent and imagine it together on stage at Verizon Hall (April 19, 22, 24-26, 2009).

What makes a movie memorable? The music of course! It makes us laugh, it makes us cry (and it most definitely kept us out of the ocean for a summer!) Ahh � Hollywood�it�s more than a place, it�s a concept. And now Peter Nero and the Philly Pops has created a special multi-media event to honor the captivating music that has the uncanny ability to transport us to another place and time. Jodi Benson (best known for her luminous performance in Disney�s The Little Mermaid) and Keith Buterbaugh join The POPS for an evening that will have everyone singing �Hooray for Hollywood!� (May 10, 13, 15-17, 2009) .

�Thanks for the Memories! 30 years of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops,� is a full on, no-holds-barred extravaganza celebrating 30 years of Grammy Award-winning pianist Peter Nero and his extraordinary POPS! Save the date for this special event at the Wachovia Center on June 20, 2009. Complete with performances by Cirque de la Symphonie and World Champion Ice Skaters, it is definitely a show not to be missed! Tickets are not yet on sale for this event. To be notified when tickets go on sale, please visit www.phillypops.org/30.

Peter Nero
�If the perfect pops conductor could be conjured, � he might answer to this description,� wrote Philadelphia Inquirer music critic Peter Dobrin. �Huge talent with polymath abilities and catholic tastes. Musician who actually enjoys giving audiences what they want. Plays piano like a dream. � [H]e might look something like Peter Nero.�

�Nero � plays with the energy of a 20-year-old rock and roll drummer,� noted the Palm Beach Daily News on March 26, 2008. �His Juilliard training shows in the cleanliness of his technique and in his control of the tone of the piano. His technical arsenal includes brilliant passage work, rapid bass lines, arpeggio-like figures ascending and descending, and subtle dynamic variations. His fast playing is thrilling, and his slow playing is marked by a beautiful lyricism.�

A two-time Grammy� Award winner and 10-time nominee, Mr. Nero has built an impressive career as a conductor, arranger, composer, and master pianist. For his ability to pick just the right material, he most recently was dubbed �Dr. Feelgood.� Named �the epitome of the Pops Conductor/Performer� by the Washington Post, Mr. Nero won the Grammy� Award for �Best New Artist� in 1961, another in 1962, and since that time has garnered 10 additional nominations and released 67 albums. His recent guest performances include engagements with the Indianapolis Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Charlotte Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Baltimore Symphony, among others. On January 27, 2007, Mr. Nero performed at the Academy of Music 150th Anniversary Concert, joining rock icon Rod Stewart from the piano on �They Can�t Take That Away from Me.� Maestro Nero was a guest soloist on Mr. Stewart�s second of four recordings, As Time Goes By ... The Great American Songbook, Vol. 2. He 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
One of America�s premier pops orchestras, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was founded in 1979 under the musical leadership of Mr. Nero, whose unique talents and innovative programming blending all musical genres have made their concerts widely popular in the pops world. POPS concerts run the gamut from great classics to jazz improvisation, big band to Broadway hits, ragtime to rock �n� roll. Mr. Nero�s participation as piano soloist has been received with boundless enthusiasm and acclaim. Guest artists�both established stars as well as outstanding new vocalists from Broadway and the concert stage�join The POPS each season. 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 is the Official Pops Orchestra of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a significant part of Philadelphia�s cultural scene. The POPS has produced continuously growing and loyal audiences and performs to regularly sold-out crowds as a resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.�

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops has played a role in the City of Philadelphia�s Fourth of July celebration for over 20 years. On July 3, 2007, for the fourth consecutive year, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performed a free outdoor concert in front of Independence Hall. This immensely popular annual event, which includes a musical tribute to all branches of the armed forces, draws thousands of attendees.� On July 4, 2006, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performed a free outdoor concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Their concert on the Parkway the previous Independence Day, featuring Sir Elton John, Patti LaBelle, and Bryan Adams, reached over a half million people. Other notables who have joined them for past city celebrations include James Earl Jones, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Ray Charles, Boyz II Men, and Dionne Warwick.�

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops celebrated its 25th anniversary during the 2003-04 season and is looking forward to celebrating its 30th anniversary during the 2008-09 season. Peter and The POPS had the honor of performing at the opening of the National Constitution Center in 2003, and participating in National Public Radio�s nation-wide radio broadcast on July 4, 2002. Another highlight took place in April 2002, when Astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn made a guest appearance in a special performance of Peter�s original composition Voyage into Space. Peter and The POPS were featured on ABC-TV�s �Independence Day 2001,� a live, star-studded national broadcast, sharing the stage with such luminaries as Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Whoopi Goldberg, and Garth Brooks.� More information about Peter Nero and the Philly Pops can be found at www.phillypops.org.

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Peter Nero and the Philly Pops�
A Celebration of� Ol� Blue Eyes
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

February 15 at 3:00 p.m. � Sunday afternoon
February 18 at 8:00 p.m. � Wednesday evening
February 20 at 8:00 p.m. � Friday evening
February 21 at 3:00 p.m. � Saturday afternoon
February 22 at 3:00 p.m. � Sunday afternoon

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops
Peter Nero, conductor and pianist
Steve Lippia, vocalist

Single tickets: $27-$104, 215.893.1999 or www.phillypops.org

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Peter Nero and the Philly Pops�
88 Keys and a Voice
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

April 19 at 3:00 p.m. � Sunday afternoon
April 22 at 8:00 p.m. � Wednesday evening
April 24 at 8:00 p.m. � Friday evening
April 25 at 3:00 p.m. � Saturday afternoon
April 26 at 3:00 p.m. � Sunday afternoon

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops
Peter Nero, conductor and pianist
Diane Schuur, vocalist

Single tickets: $27-$104, 215.893.1999 or www.phillypops.org

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Peter Nero and the Philly Pops�
Hooray for Hollywood!
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

May 10 at 3:00 p.m. � Sunday afternoon
May 13 at 8:00 p.m. � Wednesday evening
May 15 at 8:00 p.m. � Friday evening
May 16 at 3:00 p.m. � Saturday afternoon
May 17 at 3:00 p.m. � Sunday afternoon

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops
Peter Nero, conductor and pianist
Jodi Benson, vocalist
Keith Buterbaugh, vocalist

Single tickets: $27-$107, 215.893.1999 or www.phillypops.org

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Peter Nero and the Philly Pops�
Thanks for the Memories! 30 Years of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops
The Wachovia Center

June 20 at 8:00 p.m. � Saturday evening

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops
Peter Nero, conductor and pianist
Cirque de la Symphonie
World Champion Ice Skaters

Tickets are not yet on sale for this event. To be notified when tickets go on sale, please visit www.phillypops.org/30.

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US Airways is the exclusive airline sponsor of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.

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