NY Pops, With Skitch Henderson, Is Returning To Danbury For ‘Pops & Fireworks’

DANBURY — Skitch Henderson will celebrate Independence Day with his Carnegie Hall-based New York Pops orchestra in two star-spangled concerts. The first concert next week will be a return to the orchestra’s traditional pre-Independence Day show on Tuesday, July 3, at 7:30 pm, at New York City’s World Trade Center Plaza in a free outdoor concert.

Then on Wednesday, July 4, at 7 pm, Henderson and the orchestra return to Danbury’s Charles Ives Center/Ives Concert Park for a concert and fireworks presentation. Tickets for Wednesday’s extravaganza are $50 for reserved seating, or $25 for the lawn area, with children ages 3 to 12 on the lawn at $5 lawn. Call TicketMaster, 744-8100, for reservations.

It has been nearly a generation since Conductor Skitch Henderson founded what has become the world’s largest independent symphonic pops orchestra and the best-selling subscription series at Carnegie Hall. This Independence Day, Skitch Henderson will share his world-class orchestra with his friends and neighbors of New York and Connecticut in two unrivaled Independence Day concerts to celebrate the nation’s birth, and also to celebrate the upcoming centennial of Broadway’s music master Richard Rodgers.

The Danbury concert has been underwritten by Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation of Ridgefield.

The program for Wednesday night will be Dvorak’s Carnival Overture (Op. 92), F. Delius’ Irmelin (Prelude), Johan Strauss’ Csardas and Freikugeln (Polka), and MacDowell’s To A Wild Rose and To A Water Lily.

The program will continue with, from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, the songs “The Sound of Music,” “How Can Love Survive,” “The Lonely Goatherd,” “My Favorite Things,” “Sixteen, Going on Seventeen,” “So Long, Farewell,” “Do, Re, Mi,” “Edelweiss,” “An Ordinary Couple” and “No Way To Stop It.”

Herbert’s American Fantasy will conclude the first portion of the program.

Following intermission will be performances of “Salute to the Armed Forces” and 1812 Overture.

Nearly a generation ago, Skitch Henderson founded The New York Pops to bring the enduring favorites of 20th Century music to New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall. The orchestra has since become a world-renowned cultural institution, the largest independent symphonic pops orchestra in the United States.

Its Carnegie Hall concert series is virtually sold out season after season, enjoying one of the highest subscription renewal rates of any series at Carnegie Hall. The orchestra also tours throughout the world, and presents free concerts in the parks of New York City through its SummerMusic program.

The New York Pops’ recordings include From Berlin to Bernstein; The New York Pops Goes To The Movies; The New York Pops Christmas In The Country and Magical Moments from Great Musicals, featuring the baritone Michael Maguire. All four albums were recently re-released on the Centaur Records label.

A new recording, With A Song In My Heart: The Great Songs of Richard Rodgers, with guest artist Maureen McGovern, was recently recorded for Readers’ Digest and released this past season. Broadcasts of the orchestra’s Holiday Concert aired on Public Radio International in December 1999 and 2000.

The New York Pops also provides education programs that allow hundreds  of school children to participate in various concert and music-making experiences. Every year, the “Salute to Music” program provides over fifty talented and select junior high school students, from throughout New York City’s five boroughs, with free instrumental lessons. The “Kids in the Balcony” program invites hundreds of children, who would otherwise not have such a chance, to attend a concert at Carnegie Hall with The New York Pops.

The New York Pops is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to broadening the public’s awareness and enjoyment of our rich musical heritage. The orchestra is supported solely through the generosity of individual donations, institutional grants, and concert income.