Pops on the River – A Salute to Sinatra & Friends:
Saturday, September 14 @ 7:30 PM | Alexandria Riverfront Center
The Rapides Symphony Orchestra’s annual Pops on the River is this Saturday. This year’s concert will feature guest vocalist Steve Vecchi in a concert paying tribute to Frank Sinatra and his contemporaries.
So, what is a pops concert? The term “pops” implies lighter music in a more casual setting than typical for an orchestral concert. The word “pops” does not necessarily imply “popular” music, however, and pops concerts have been known to focus on film music, favorites from operettas and musical theatre, or familiar orchestral showpieces from the classical repertoire. These days, most American orchestras hold pops concerts, often with the intention of attracting different audiences than the standard orchestra concert might attract.
I figure I don’t need to ask “who is Frank Sinatra?” Everyone knows “Ol’ Blue Eyes” as he was nicknamed. Many of the songs he’s famous for should be familiar to everyone: “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Luck Be a Lady,” “Bewitched,” and “Strangers in the Night” are just a few that I recognized. Plus, Steve Vecchi and the RSO will be performing songs by several other singers of Sinatra’s day.
Admission is free to the public, but patrons are also welcome to buy tables seating up to ten people. Hope to see you there!
JSH 13.09.11
About Jackson. Jackson Harmeyer is a recent graduate of the Louisiana Scholars’ College—Louisiana’s designated honors college located on the campus of Northwestern State University. There, he studied music history, completing an undergraduate thesis entitled “Learning from the Past: The Influence of Johann Sebastian Bach upon the Soviet Composers.” Now living in Alexandria, he is one of the founding members of TicketCentral and will also be writing this season’s program notes for the Rapides Symphony Orchestra.