Peter Nero and the Philly Pops Opens the 2009-10 Season With "Broadway Showstoppers: Revivals"

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops opens its 2009-10 season with its signature show, Broadway Showstoppers! Celebrating its ninth year, Broadway Showstoppers is, without a doubt, Philadelphia's unparalleled Broadway show. Broadwayworld.com called it "... the envy of any New York production." The unbeatable combination of Peter Nero and his Philly Pops with today's brightest singers has continually resulted in a show that has now become the Broadway event of the season. This year, veteran vocalists Lisa Vroman (Phantom of the Opera), Tony Award-winning Debbie Gravitte (Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Chicago), and Sal Viviano (City of Angels) lend their exceptional talent, making this season's program absolutely unforgettable.

The new season kicks off with Broadway Showstoppers performances on October 4, 7, 9, and 10, 2009, in Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (see calendar below for concert times). An additional performance of this exciting program will be presented at the Trenton War Memorial in Trenton, NJ, on October 3.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops' 2009-10 season continues with Holiday POPS! (December 5, 9, 11-13, 16, 18-20, 2009); LolliPOPS & Roses featuring the incomparable Jack Jones (February 21, 24, 26, and 27, 2010); The Stage Door Canteen with special guest vocalist Lynn Roberts (March 24, 26, 27, and 28, 2010); The Great American Tenor, a tribute to Philadelphia's favorite son-the late, great tenor Mario Lanza (April 21, 23-25, 2010); and Winding Around the '70s featuring Oscar Award-winning songbird Maureen McGovern (May 12, 14-16, 2010). Complete concert details for the 2009-10 season are listed in the calendar below.

Peter Nero

"If the perfect pops conductor could be conjured, ... he might answer to this description," wrote Philadelphia Inquirer music critic Peter Dobrin. "Huge talent with polymath abilities and catholic tastes. Musician who actually enjoys giving audiences what they want. Plays piano like a dream. ... [H]e might look something like Peter Nero."

"Nero ... plays with the energy of a 20-year-old rock and roll drummer," noted the Palm Beach Daily News on March 26, 2008. "His Juilliard training shows in the cleanliness of his technique and in his control of the tone of the piano. His technical arsenal includes brilliant passage work, rapid bass lines, arpeggio-like figures ascending and descending, and subtle dynamic variations. His fast playing is thrilling, and his slow playing is marked by a beautiful lyricism."

"Nero's love for the idiom, of course, couldn't be clearer, and it's hard to fault his touch, tone production and technical facility, all bespeaking a high level of achievement," said David Adler of the Philadelphia Inquirer of Nero during a recent solo performance in April 2008.

"At a Pops concert, it's easy to get swept away by the crash of the orchestra or the dazzle of a guest artist, yet when Mr. Nero sits down to do what he does best, we can appreciate that all these things originate from the man on the piano bench," wrote Lindsay Warner of the Bulletin.

A two-time Grammy®-Award winner and 10-time nominee, Mr. Nero has built an impressive career as a conductor, arranger, composer, and master pianist. For his ability to pick just the right material, he most recently was dubbed "Dr. Feelgood." Named "the epitome of the Pops Conductor/Performer" by the Washington Post, Mr. Nero won the Grammy® Award for "Best New Artist" in 1961, another in 1962 for Best Performance and Arrangement by an Instrumentalist, and since that time has garnered 10 additional nominations and released 68 albums. He also possesses an Emmy for his participation in the NBC special "S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin," with Jack Lemmon as host.

Mr. Nero's recent guest performances include engagements with the Indianapolis Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Charlotte Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Baltimore Symphony, among others. On January 27, 2007, he performed at the Academy of Music 150th Anniversary Concert, joining rock icon Rod Stewart from the piano on "They Can't Take That Away from Me." Maestro Nero was a guest soloist on Mr. Stewart's second of four recordings, As Time Goes By ... The Great American Songbook, Vol. 2. Mr. Nero has made numerous television appearances on national networks as well as PBS. He is the recipient of six honorary doctorates and in 1999 received the Pennsylvania Distinguished Arts Award.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops

One of America's premier pops orchestras, 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, 2009, for the sixth 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. The 2008 concert also featured Peter and The POPS performing music for the wedding of premier historic re-enactors Ralph Archbold and Linda Wilde, better known to Philadelphians as Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross. 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. Other notables who have joined them for past city celebrations include James Earl Jones, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Ray Charles, Boyz II Men, and Dionne Warwick.

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.

Other memorable moments through the years include a performance at the Republican National Convention during the summer of 2000; a Washington, D.C., gala performance to commemorate NASA's 40th anniversary in 1998; Philadelphia's "We the People" concert, the 1987 celebration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, which was broadcast nationally on CBS-TV; and a debut at New York City's Carnegie Hall in 1984, with a return visit in 1997.

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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