February 4, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … 1970’s pop diva Roberta Flack, the spicy hot Latin-flavored jazz of the Mambo Kings , acclaimed jazz/pop trumpeter Chris Botti, The Jerry Butler Orchestra and the Shirelles’ lead singer Shirley Aston Reeves will be the featured performers on the Oregon Symphony’s 2005-2006 Pops season. The Pops series will also include an all-new Portland production of “Yuletide Celebration,” the highly popular holiday concert that has become an annual tradition , a tribute to dance legends Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and a concert of favorite film scores from “King Kong” to composer John Williams’ Oscar-winning music for “Star Wars.”
This year’s Pops concerts will be conducted by a group of talented stars within the pops music scene. Acclaimed conductor, pianist and composer Charles Floyd, who leads the Symphony’s ever-popular Gospel Christmas concerts and who is a regular guest conductor of the Boston Pops, will conduct the Symphony for Chris Botti. Principal Pops Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Jeff Tyzik, whom audiences will remember from last season, leads the Symphony in both a tribute to film music and a concert featuring the Mambo Kings . Charles Prince, former Associate Conductor of the New York Pops from 1996-2003 returns to conduct the Yuletide Celebration. John Morris Russell, Music Director of the Windsor, Ontario ( Canada) Symphony and Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony, will conduct for Roberta Flack. The 2005-2006 season also features the Pops debut of newly-appointed interim Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda, who will lead the Symphony in an homage to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers .
The season opens on Oct. 8-10, 2005 with singer Roberta Flack, whose name is synonymous with 1970’s romantic pop ballads and whose silky voice and smooth phrasing made her a superstar. She will perform many of her signature hits, including “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and “Tonight I Celebrate My Love.”
The Symphony will present unforgettable film music from yesterday and today in “Fabulous Film Music” on Nov. 26-28, 2005, including selections from “Schindler’s List,” “King Kong,” “Star Wars,” “Gone With the Wind,” “Superman,” among others.
The 2005-2006 Holiday Pops concert on Dec. 17-19, 2005 features the return of what is fast becoming a Portland tradition, the ever-popular Yuletide Celebration, a multi-media theatrical production that includes seasonal costumes and sets, show-stopping choreography and virtuoso soloists. Because this program has become a core part of Portland’s family holiday entertainment, an extra show will be added on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. In addition, this year the Symphony will present its own production of Yuletide with a dazzling array of both local and national talent directed by Vivienne Elborne, fun-filled new skits and orchestral arrangements of beloved holiday music and the return of audience favorites including the chorus line of tap dancing Santas.
On Jan. 28-30, 2006 audiences can travel down memory lane with “Shall We Dance: A Tribute to Fred and Ginger,” which features immortal song-and-dance numbers from Astaire and Rogers’ ten films, including “Top Hat,” “Fascinatin’ Rhythm,” “S’Wonderful” and “Hooray for Hollywood.” This concert, conducted by Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda will feature guest artist Doug LaBrecque, last season’s host for Yuletide Celebration. LaBrecque will be joined by vocalist Debbie Gravitte and dancer/singers Joan Hess and Jeffry Denman.
On Feb. 25-27, 2006 the Mambo Kings bring the hot sounds of Latin jazz to the Symphony for three concerts of vibrant dancing-in-the-aisles music. The Mambo Kings fuse Afro-Cuban rhythms with improvisatory jazz to create what critics have described as “vital Latin jazz that… really nails the genre.”
Music stars of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s headline the March 18-20, 2006 concert which pays tribute to rock, soul and doo-wop. Shirley Aston Reeves, lead singer of the Shirelles, whose hit songs include “Soldier Boy” and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” shares the stage with The Jerry Butler Orchestra (“Only the Strong Survive,” “He Will Break Your Heart”) and doo-wop artists Willie Winfield and the Harptones (“Sunday Kind of Love,” “Life is But a Dream.”)
On April 22-24, 2006 the Pops series concludes with contemporary jazz/pop trumpeter Chris Botti. Botti, an Oregon native has turned heads with his latest album of love songs, “When I Fall in Love,” which leapt up the Billboard charts following his appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” last year. Botti will perform fresh new versions of standard romantic ballads such as “What’ll I Do?” “My Romance” and “Let’s Fall in Love.”
The Oregon Symphony Pops series presents some of the best songs written over the past century with an emphasis on Broadway and film music performed by popular music’s brightest stars. The series is comprised of seven subscription concerts running from October 2005 through April 2006. Performance times are Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. and Mondays at 8 p.m. in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, located in downtown Portland at the corner of S.W. Main and Broadway.
Subscriptions for the Pops series (seven concerts) range from $126 to $476 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office in downtown Portland at 923 S.W. Washington, or charged by phone at (503) 228-1353, (800) 228-7343 weekdays (and Saturdays from September through May) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or (503) 416-6383 after 5 p.m . Subscription orders may also be placed online at www.orsymphony.org beginning Monday, Feb. 7, 2005 . Pops subscribers receive full subscription benefits, including flexible ticket exchange and advance purchase for Special Events concerts at a 10 percent discount.
Single tickets for Pops and other Symphony concerts will be available to the general public at 9 a.m. on Aug. 22, 2005.
