Boston Pops Midwest Tour – With BU Faculty!

Above, faculty members Ron Haroutunian, Linda Toote, David Martins, Andrew Price, and Terry Everson glow after another successful Pops concert! Renee Krimsier and Bruce Hall are also in the Pops Esplanade Orchestra, although not pictured here. BU shares an amazing bond with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where 30 of our faculty play! To learn more about the BSO and the Boston Pops, read on:

In 2017 the Boston Pops will enter its 132nd season of entertaining audiences in Boston and beyond. Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart will mark his 23rd year at the helm of the orchestra. It all began in 1885, thanks to the vision of Civil War veteran Henry Lee Higginson. Fours years earlier, in 1881, he founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra, calling its establishment “the dream of my life.” From the start he intended to present, in the warmer months, concerts of light classics and the popular music of the day. From a practical perspective, Higginson realized that these “lighter” performances would provide year-round employment for his musicians. The “Promenade Concerts,” as they were originally called, were soon informally known as “Popular Concerts,” which eventually became shortened to “Pops,” the name officially adopted in 1900.

The following year the orchestra performed for the first time in its new home, Symphony Hall. Not only is this performance space acoustically outstanding, it was also designed, at Higginson’s insistence, so that the rows of seats for Boston Symphony concerts could be replaced by tables and chairs for Pops concerts. To this day, patrons sitting at the cabaret-style tables can enjoy food and drink, along with the kind of musical entertainment only the Boston Pops can provide.