RSO presents 21st Summer Pops concert season

The Racine Symphony Orchestra will present its 21st Summer Pops season this year, with three concerts at Festival Hall, continuing a tradition of cabaret-style events featuring light classics, jazz, popular, and theatre music.

On Fridays at 7 p.m. on June 27, Aug. 1, and Aug. 29, RSO artists will perform an eclectic array of musical entertainments, enhanced by food and the social atmosphere that has become a hallmark of Summer Pops since its inception as the Lakeside Pops.

RSO Pops Artistic Director Richard Carsey, who was appointed in 2006, says this year’s offerings show off the “versatility of the fabulous Racine Symphony,” with each of the three concerts based on a specific theme.

JUNE 27: AMERICAN FANTASY: The season opens with an all-American orchestral concert, featuring selections from some of the greatest musical geniuses our country has produced. Opening with the thrilling Summon the Heroes by John Williams (written for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta), the centerpiece of the concert will be Aaron Copland’s beloved Appalachian Spring. Also featured are marches by John Phillip Sousa, Victory at Sea by Richard Rodgers, Leroy Anderson’s Syncopated Clock and The Typewriter, selections from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and Victor Herbert’s American Fantasia. The traditional Pops salute to the armed forces will conclude the evening.

AUG. 1: HAPPY FEET: Great music written for all types of dance occasions will be featured in Happy Feet. Just as dance encompasses many moods and styles, this concert will tread lightly through a variety of sounds and centuries. Selections from Broadway’s A Chorus Line, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Suite, Borodin’s romantic Polivetsian Dances (inspiration for the famous song “A Stranger in Paradise”), and ragtime romps by Scott Joplin will all be played. Audience participation on the dance floor will be encouraged during a salute to Duke Ellington and the big bands.

AUG. 29: SCORE!! FAVORITES FROM STAGE & SCREEN: The RSO will celebrate music from films and Broadway in its third and final summer concert of 2008. Vocal selections from great movies sung by Racine favorites Becky Spice and Greg Berg will be the highlight of this concert, conducted by RSO Music Director Andrew Massey. Big-screen compositions by Henry Mancini, Dave Grusin (On Golden Pond), selections from John Williams’s amazing score to Star Wars, and Broadway favorites that have inspired hit films will be featured as well.

The Racine Symphony Orchestra’s 2008-09 season is supported by Chase and Johnson Bank.

The Racine Symphony Orchestra, now in its 77th season and 21st Lakeside Pops, is the oldest orchestra in continuous operation in the Wisconsin. Begun by Frederick Schulte, who served as conductor for many years, the orchestra has performed under the batons of Dudley Powers, Stephen Colburn, David Becker and Alexander Platt. The

Concerts are Fridays at 7 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.) at Festival Hall at the Racine Civic Center, 5 Fifth Street, Racine.

Tickets are $20 in advance for adults, $22 at the door; $5 students; $1 children.
Tables are available on a first-come basis at varying prices. Catering by O&H Danish Bakery of Racine will be available by pre-order to guests at tables, and walk-up sales will be available to all. Carry-in food and beverages are welcome, though all alcohol must be purchased inside Festival Hall.

Information and ticket sales are now online at www.racinesymphony.org and at 262.636.9285.