Jodi Benson, Sal Viviano, et al. Set for Philly Pops' 2012 Season

Fresh off seven overwhelmingly successful Holiday POPS! performances, the musical magic continues for another season of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops! Four fabulous concert series are planned for the 2011-2012 season.

The season begins on February 8th with A Night at the Oscars celebrating the award winning music from the movies. Peter and The POPS will play the epic scores from Academy Award-winning and nominated movies. Vocalists Jodi Benson and Sal Viviano will bring the movie music to life. Benson is the ethereal voice of Ariel in the Oscar-winning film The Little Mermaid. Viviano is not only a Broadway and film star, but also a Philadelphia favorite. This passionate evening will bring tears to your eyes, having you rolling with laughter, and set your heart afire - just in time for Valentine’s Day!

Jodi Benson, a native of Rockford, Illinois, has received worldwide recognition and critical acclaim as the voice of Ariel in the Academy Award-winning animated feature film The Little Mermaid. Benson received a Tony Award and a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for creating the starring role of Polly Baker in the Tony Award-winning musical Crazy For You.

Sal Viviano made his Broadway debut in The Three Musketeers; followed-by starring roles in the Broadway hits Romance / Romance, City of Angels, Falsettos, The Life, and The Full Monty.

Just when you think summer will never get here, Peter and The POPS throw a beach party! March 21st kicks off Symphonic Surfin’ Safari featuring Papa Doo Run Run. This Beach Boys tribute will transport you straight to sunny California with Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Good Vibrations, California Girls, and, of course, Surfin’ Safari.

Formed in 1965, the now legendary California band, Papa Doo Run Run, quickly discovered their forte - they sounded like the Beach Boys! The group had an unprecedented 15-year run as the "Celebrity House Band" at Disneyland from 1975-90! Papa’s 1975 Top 40 hit “Be True To Your School” reached No. 1 in California. Their ground breaking CD “California Project” (1985) exploded onto the Billboard Hot 100 Chart at no. 17 and earned the band their second Gold Record and a Grammy Nomination. Their best kept secret - Papa Doo Run Run is who the Beach Boys call when they need someone to fill in in their band.

This is a concert of pure classic Pops with Grammy Award-winning Maestro Peter Nero at the piano. Ultimate POPS! opens April 11th and will highlight the unparalleled talents of the Philly Pops orchestra. Running the gamut from swing, to light classical, to rock ‘n roll, it’s guaranteed to be a night of Pops favorites that will please everyone.

We end the season with a new twist on our annual Broadway Showstoppers with Broadway’s Most Wicked Villains. This season finale highlights those evil characters that we love to hate. Starring Allie Mauzey from Crybaby and Wicked, Nicole Parker known for her zany characters on MADtv, and the devilishly handsome Ryan Silverman. This is a one-of-a kind evil extravaganza that you won’t want to miss!

Alli Mauzey most recently starred as Glinda in the final San Francisco company of Wicked. She also starred as Glinda in Wicked on Broadway. Mauzey originated the role of Lenora in the Pre-Broadway production of Cry Baby at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, where she won the Theatre Critics Circle Award.

Nicole Frances Parker is an Emmy Award-winning actress and singer best known for her work on Fox's sketch comedy show MADtv. In July 2009, she concluded her run as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked. She can currently be seen in the new Broadway musical, The People in the Picture.

Ryan Silverman’s impressive vocal range has allowed him to move smoothly across various genres including opera, symphony concerts, pop musicals, traditional music theater and big band. He recently starred as Raoul in the Broadway and Las Vegas productions of The Phantom of the Opera. Other Broadway credits include Karl in Music in the Air, and Al in Most Happy Fella. Concert work includes the Cincinnati Pops, The New York Pops, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphonies of Utah, Vancouver, Edmonton, Modesto, Hartford, and Fort Worth. Silverman is featured in the recent feature film, Five Minarets, with Danny Glover and Gina Gershon.

Peter Nero
This year marks the 51st anniversary of the birth of Peter Nero’s recording career, which eventually produced 67 recordings. In 1960 he was signed to a three-year contract with RCA Victor records, which was then renewed for another five years, producing more than 26 LPs, including Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Piano Concerto in F with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. The following year, he was honored with his first Grammy Award, as “Best New Artist of the Year.”

In October 2009 pianist and conductor Peter Nero was honored with lifetime achievement awards from the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) and the Philadelphia Musicians’ Union Local 77, AFM. He also received the Mario Lanza Award, in recognition of outstanding achievement in the field of music, in November 2009.

A two-time Grammy Award-winning pianist, Peter Nero leads his unrivaled Pops orchestra blending classical, swing, Broadway, blues, and jazz—all performed with virtuosity, authenticity, and an inviting sense of humor.

One of his greatest achievements is being the founding Music Director of the world renowned Peter Nero and the Philly Pops. On January 27, 2007, Mr. Nero joined Rod Stewart from the piano for a performance of “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” at the Academy of Music 150th Anniversary Concert.

Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Nero began his formal music training at the age of seven. By the time he was 14, he was accepted to New York City’s prestigious High School of Music and Art and won a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music. Constance Keene, his teacher and mentor, once wrote in an issue of Keyboard Classics that “Vladimir Horowitz was Peter’s greatest fan!”
In addition to his two Grammy awards, he has garnered 10 additional nominations and released 68 albums.

Hailed as one of the premier interpreters of Gershwin, Mr. Nero starred in the Emmy Award-winning NBC Special “S’Wonderful, S’Marvelous, S’Gershwin.” Other TV credits include performances on PBS-TV’s “Piano Pizzazz” and with the National Symphony in Washington, D.C., on its July 4th special titled “A Capitol Fourth.” He served as music director and pianist for the PBS-TV special “The Songs of Johnny Mercer: Too Marvelous for Words” with co-stars Johnny Mathis, Melissa Manchester, and the Philly Pops.

Peter Nero is an active supporter of many important causes, including the funding of school music programs, fundraising for the building of new arts centers across the country, as well as research for cancer, dystonia, and autism.

When not touring the world, Peter Nero makes his home in the Philadelphia area. He has two children—Beverly, a successful film producer residing with her husband in California, and Jedd, a commercial real estate entrepreneur residing with his wife near New York City. Both children have made him a grandfather.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops
Recently hailed by allaboutjazz.com as “arguably the best pops ensemble on the planet today,” Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was founded in 1979 under the musical leadership of pianist and conductor Peter Nero. Maestro Nero’s unique talents and innovative programming ideas blend all musical genres making their concerts widely popular in the pops world. POPS concerts run the gamut from great classics to jazz improvisation, big band to Broadway hits, ragtime to rock ’n’ roll. Peter’s participation as piano soloist is always received with boundless enthusiasm and acclaim. Guest artists—both established stars as well as outstanding new vocalists from Broadway and the concert stage—join The POPS each season. The Voices of The POPS, the resident vocal group, has become a member of the Philly Pops family as well.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops is the Official Pops Orchestra of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a significant part of Philadelphia’s cultural scene. The POPS has produced continuously growing and loyal audiences and performs to regularly sold-out crowds as a resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops has played a role in the City of Philadelphia’s Fourth of July celebration for over 25 years. On July 3, 2011, for the eight consecutive year, Peter and The POPS performed a free outdoor concert in front of Independence Hall. This immensely popular annual event, which includes a musical tribute to all branches of the armed forces, draws thousands of attendees. On July 4, 2006, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performed a free outdoor concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Their concert on the Parkway the previous Independence Day, featuring Sir Elton John, Patti LaBelle, and Bryan Adams, reached over a half million people.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops celebrated its 30th anniversary during the 2008-09 season. Their Holiday POPS! CD featuring vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway is available on DRG Records.
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops had the honor of performing at the opening of the National Constitution Center in 2003, and participating in National Public Radio’s nation-wide radio broadcast on July 4, 2002. Another highlight took place in April 2002, when Astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn made a guest appearance with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, in a special performance of Peter’s original composition Voyage into Space at the Kimmel Center. Peter and The POPS was featured on ABC-TV’s “Independence Day 2001,” a live, star-studded national broadcast, sharing the stage with such luminaries as Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Whoopi Goldberg, and Garth Brooks.

For many years Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performed in the historic Academy of Music. In December 2001, they became the second largest resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, a state-of-the-art, world-class venue on Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops is presented by Encore Series, Inc., a non-profit organization enriching the cultural life of Philadelphia through the performing arts. For more information, please visit www.phillypops.org.

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