6th Annual UMass Amherst Pops Gala
GERSHWIN, BERNSTEIN & STAR WARS
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 6th ANNUAL UMASS AMHERST POPS GALA
It’s an event unique to the Pioneer Valley. You would have to go all the way to Boston to find something similar to the 6th Annual UMass Amherst Pops Gala. Just as at the Boston Pops, people sit at tables, munch desserts, sandwiches and hors d’ouvres, and drink alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The Pops Orchestra, Studio Jazz Orchestra and UMass Amherst Dancers will perform. With two intermissions, there is plenty of time to mingle and chat with friends, colleagues and business associates. The tables at the Campus Center Auditorium are decked out with cloth tablecloths, floral arrangements, exquisite chocolates and bottles of wine and water. In attendance will be Chancellor and Mrs. Holub, and music lovers from around the Valley.
Maestro Lanfranco Marcelletti, Jr. and the Pops Orchestra will begin the program, which will take place on Saturday, May 9th at 7:30pm in the Campus Center Auditorium, with Leonard Bernstein’s Slava Overture. When Bernstein received a request to write a “rousing new overture” for Mstislav (nickname, Slava) Rostropovich's first season as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in 1977, he began with a vaudevillian, razz-ma-tazz theme, and proceeded to a middle section containing a parody of political oratory, where two themes occur in reverse order. One of those themes refers to an old Russian tune with political overtones, known as the Slava (translated as glory). Near the end of the overture, the Orchestra actually chants Slava.
The music of George Gershwin has a prominent place at the Pops this year. The UMass Dancers will perform choreography by Professor Hazel Sabas-Gower to a suite of his music and the Studio Orchestra, under the direction of Professor Jeffrey W. Holmes, will perform several favorites. Crowd pleasers on the program include selections from Star Wars and the entire Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas, made famous in the classic Disney movie Fantasia. A choir of cellos with a soprano soloist will perform Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Marcelletti will hand the baton over to Graduate student and Longmeadow resident Matt Bertuzzi for a performance of Troika by Prokofiev.
Tickets to the 6th Annual Pops Gala are $45 each and are on sale at the Box Office, 413-545-2511. The last five Galas were sold out in advance. Food is served for an extra charge and purchased at the event.
Be a Pops Gala Sponsor with preferred seating and a host of other benefits for individuals and businesses. (Call 545-0018).
