The Philly POPS Returns To Independence Mall On July 3 With POPS ON INDEPENDENCE

The Philly POPS continues its 44-year Independence Week tradition with POPS on Independence at Independence Mall on July 3, 2022, at 7 p.m.

The POPS will perform an original program created and conducted by Music Director and Principal Conductor David Charles Abell, featuring three-time GRAMMY nominated singer and songwriter Ryan Shaw. The program will feature patriotic standards, pop favorites, and Shaw's usual soulful take on the classics. POPS on Independence also features Miss America Emma Broyles and master storyteller and narrator Charlotte Blake Alston. A Philadelphia tradition, this performance is part of The Philly POPS Salute Series, honoring our nation's traditions, values, and commitment to service.

"The Philly POPS is thrilled to bring POPS on Independence back to Independence Mall. We are grateful to Comcast NBCUniversal and Wawa Welcome America for all their help and support." said Frank Giordano, President of The Philly POPS.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a chair or blanket. Beginning at 5 PM, on 5th Street outside The Bourse Food Hall, guests are invited for entertainment, food, and fun before the start of the show. This is a free event and registration is not required.

For more details about the POPS Independence Day performances, visit phillypops.org.

Comcast NBCUniversal is the Presenting Sponsor of The Philly POPS Salute Series. These free celebrations of community and tradition, which honor our shared commitment to service on holidays of American tradition, also rely on the generous support of Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development, Wawa Welcome America, The City of Philadelphia, Independence Blue Cross, The Presser Foundation, Visit Philadelphia, and Aqua America.

Performance repertoire:

• "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key, a cappella Miss America Emma Broyles

• "Philadelphia Freedom" by Elton John, Ryan Shaw vocalist
• "76 Trombones" by Meredith Wilson
• "The Patriot" by John Williams
• "Anthem" by Benny Andersson, Ryan Shaw vocalist
• "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels, Ryan Shaw vocalist and violin soloists
• "Sketches on Shenandoah" by Peter Boyer
• "Mambo" by Leonard Bernstein
• "Liberty for All" by James Beckel, Jr., narrated by Charlotte Blake Alston
• "America The Beautiful" by Katherine Lee Bates
• "Star Wars (Main Title)" by John Williams
• "We are the Champions" by Freddie Mercury
• "God Bless America: by Irving Berlin, Ryan Shaw and Miss America Emma Broyles vocalists, narrated by Charlotte Blake Alston

Ryan Shaw is a three-time GRAMMY nominated artist for his solo projects, Columbia Records' This is Ryan Shaw, his In Between and Dynotone's Real Love. He has shared the world stage with such artists as Van Halen, Bonnie Raitt, John Legend, B.B. King and Jill Scott. His music has been featured on FOX's So You Think You Can Dance and ABC's Dancing with The Stars, Grey's Anatomy, and Lincoln Heights, and the films My Blueberry Nights and Bride Wars and the Sex and the City soundtrack.

Ryan has been a featured guest on national TV talk shows. He starred as Judas in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Olivier Award-winning London production of Jesus Christ Superstar, as the original Stevie Wonder in Motown: The Musical on Broadway, and on London's West End as the Soul of Michael Jackson in Thriller Live. Ryan debuted at Radio City Music Hall in the Dream Concert benefit for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. His Carnegie Hall appearances include Elton John and Bernie Taupin Tribute, A Celebration of The African American Cultural Legacy, and a Nat King Cole 100th concert with the NY Pops. His concert schedule includes Nat King Cole at 100 with the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center, and A Tribute to the Queen of Soul: Aretha Franklin with numerous orchestras throughout North America.

Ryan's new album, Imagining Marvin, showcases Marvin Gaye hits alongside Ryan's original songs and features multi-GRAMMY Award-winning co-writers and special guests.

In December 2021, Emma Broyles became the 100th Anniversary Miss America and the first Miss Alaska to earn the crown. Emma was awarded a record $100,000 in scholarship assistance.

Emma has embarked on a year of service promoting her social impact initiative, Building Community Through Special Olympics, an organization she has volunteered with for more than 12 years.

"Being crowned Miss America 2022 is an incredible dream come true," said Broyles. "It's been an honor to represent the great state of Alaska and I look forward to making a significant impact through my personal story and social impact initiative on the national stage."

Broyles is in her junior year at Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University, where she is majoring in biomedical sciences with plans to become a dermatologist. A gifted vocalist, for the talent portion of the Miss America competition, Broyles sang, "Let Me Be Your Star" from the NBC television show, "Smash."

Charlotte Blake Alston is a storyteller, narrator, librettist, instrumentalist and singer who performs in venues throughout North America and abroad. Venues are wide and include The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, the Kimmel Center, the Women of the World Festival in Cape Town, South Africa, prisons, detention centers and a refugee camp in northern Senegal.

She breathes life into traditional and contemporary stories from African and African American oral and cultural traditions. Her solo performances are often enhanced with traditional instruments such as djembe, mbira, shekere or the 21-stringed kora. In 1999, Charlotte began studying the kora and the West African history-telling traditions of Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Guinea Bissau. Her teacher was the highly respected Senegalese griot (jali), the late Djimo Kouyate. She has recently resumed her studies with Malian Virtuoso Yacouba Sissoko. She brings her stories and songs to national and regional festivals, schools, universities, museums, libraries and performing arts centers throughout the United States and Canada, as well as local and national radio and television. Her repertoire is wide-ranging and programs are adapted to any grade level or age group.

In 1991, Charlotte became the first storyteller to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra on both their Family and Student concert series. Since 1994, she has been the host of "Sound All Around"; the orchestra's preschool concert series and continues to appear as a guest host and narrator on family concerts. For 6 seasons, Charlotte hosted "Carnegie Kids", Carnegie Hall's Preschool concert series and has been a featured artist on the Carnegie Hall Family Concert Series in NY since 1996. She has been a featured teller at The National Storytelling Festival, The National Festival of Black Storytelling, and at regional festivals throughout North America and abroad. She has been a featured artist at both the Presidential Inaugural Festivities in Washington, DC and the Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Children's Inaugural Celebrations in Harrisburg, PA. In addition to her solo performances, Charlotte performs with her brother, world-renowned jazz violinist, John Blake, Jr. and his band in Tellin' On The Downbeat: A Program of Storytelling And Jazz. In Fiddlin' With Stories, Charlotte and John perform as a duo featuring violin and kora, in a program that celebrates the role of stringed instruments in African and African American culture. She has collaborated with numerous instrumental ensembles as well the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera North and the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company. She has been a featured narrator for several orchestras and conductors including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Luke's, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She represented Carnegie Hall in 2003 when she hosted a series of concerts in Miyazaki, Japan with the Eddie Arron String Quartet and fellow storyteller, Motoko. Currently, she performs as both pre-concert artist and host of Carnegie Hall's Family and Education Concert Series. In addition, she served as a host for Carnegie Hall's Community Sing-Ins.

Charlotte has received numerous honors including the prestigious Pew Fellowship in the Arts. She was selected as Philadelphia Magazine's "Best of Philly" and was the recipient of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Artist Of The Year Award (The Hazlett Memorial Award), which recognizes individual artists "for excellence in the Commonwealth." She holds two honorary PhDs and received the "Circle of Excellence" Award from the National Storytelling Association.

Charlotte was one of four Americans selected to perform and present at the first International Storytelling Field Conference in Ghana and was a featured artist at the Second Int'l Festival in Cape Town, South Africa. In the summer of 2005, she was the sole American selected to perform on a main stage at the STIMMEN: Voices Festival in Basel, Switzerland and The Cape Clear Island Festival in Ireland. In 1996, she was the Director of "In the Tradition..." the 14th National Festival of Black Storytelling. She is a recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston Award, the highest award bestowed by the National Association of Black Storytellers.

Born in North Carolina, David grew up in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia. At the age of fourteen, he turned his attention to conducting and went on to study with Leonard Bernstein and Nadia Boulanger. He earned degrees from Yale University and the Juilliard School after intensive study of viola, piano, and composition. He has worked with such distinguished artists as Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, Idina Menzel, Heather Headley, Bryn Terfel, Josh Groban, Matthew Morrison and Michael Feinstein. Previously, as Guest Conductor and Principal Guest Conductor of The Philly POPS, he conducted Cole Porter's Broadway: Too Darn Hot, Lenny's Revolution, Blockbuster Broadway, and A Philly POPS Christmas in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020's streamed performance, and 2021.  

   

David has appeared regularly on television, most notably conducting the 10th and 25th Anniversary concerts of Les Misérables. He has conducted five times at London's BBC Proms, including a live telecast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!. Recordings include the musicals Miss Saigon, Martin Guerre and Man of La Mancha, Something's Gotta Give with baritone Simon Keenleyside, Forever with soprano Diana Damrau, and highlights from La Bohème and Madama Butterfly with the Royal Philharmonic.  

   

In the UK, David recently conducted his own critical edition of Kiss Me, Kate for Opera North. He has conducted many of the premier British orchestras, including the London Symphony, City of Birmingham, Bournemouth, and Royal Philharmonic. His work with the BBC Symphony Orchestra includes a centenary concert honoring his mentor Leonard Bernstein in 2018. A much-respected artist in London's West End, David conducted the Olivier Awards ceremony for four years and was Andrew Lloyd Webber's personal choice to lead the world premiere of Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre.  

  
David's recent projects have included a series of Gershwin concerts at Kyiv National Theatre of Operetta in Ukraine, Carousel at the Vienna Volksoper and Sweeney Todd at the Zurich Opera House. David also conducted Barrie Kosky's production of The Magic Flute at Opera Philadelphia, West Side Story at the Glimmerglass Festival, and Silent Night, Kevin Puts' acclaimed opera about the World War I Christmas Truce, in Kansas City, Cincinnati and Detroit.  

Wawa Welcome America is Philadelphia's premier July 4th festival, the largest July 4th celebration in America, and one of the largest free festivals in the country. Wawa Welcome America offers residents and visitors alike sixteen days of free, family-friendly programming across the city, with a focus on arts, culture, diversity, education, wellness, history, and performance. Festival attendees can enjoy free concerts, fireworks, complimentary museum access, Wawa Hoagie Day, and more!

In 2021, Wawa Welcome America expanded the festival to include a new slate of programming entitled "Freedom - Liberty," in commemoration of Juneteenth. The expansion, in partnership with African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) and VISIT PHILADELPHIA, has been designed by AAMP to provide education and awareness of Juneteenth, and to explore the historical significance of and thematic ties between these two important U.S. holidays.

Wawa Welcome America is committed to creating platforms to nurture diverse perspectives, raise diverse voices, and celebrate our nation's evolving history through the lives, voices, and experiences of all Americans.

The Salute Series, presented by Comcast NBCUniversal, is an expanding portfolio of programs performed on American holidays, which celebrates those who serve our country, its cities, and communities.  

 

Performances including Memorial Salute, POPS on Independence on July 3, POPS on the Parkway on July 4, and Veterans Salute showcase the magic of the orchestra to diverse and enthusiastic crowds. The annual I'll Be Home for Christmas concert rings in the holiday season with a free concert for active military, police, and fire department families.   

 

Comcast NBCUniversal is the Presenting Sponsor of the Salute Series. These free celebrations also rely on the generous support of Major Sponsors Bank of America, Archer Law, BB&T/Truist, and Visit Philly, as well as grants through partnership with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia. 

The Philly POPS, the largest standalone pops orchestra in the United States, delights audiences with the inspired performance of American popular music. The POPS celebrates this distinctive musical heritage through an expanding repertoire of innovative concert performances and a robust set of educational and engagement initiatives.

As the official POPS orchestra of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia's partner in civic celebration, The Philly POPS serves a consistently growing audience of over 950,000 annually. Music Director and Principal Conductor David Charles Abell and the 65-piece Philly POPS orchestra keep listeners tapping their toes to an impressive repertoire of songs-from American traditional music up through to today's chart-toppers.

In addition to Subscription Series performances at The Kimmel Center, The Philly POPS presents innovative programming with contemporary artists at the Met Philadelphia in The Philly POPS at the Met Philadelphia series. Other ensembles that make up The Philly POPS are: The Philly POPS BIG Band, which plays a rock and rhythm and blues repertoire, and The Philly POPS Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, under the direction of Artistic Director for Jazz, Terell Stafford.

Outside the concert hall, free Salute Series performances - including Memorial Salute, July 3 POPS on Independence, July 4 POPS at the Celebration of Freedom Ceremony and POPS on the Parkway, Veterans Day activities and the I'll Be Home for Christmas: A Salute to the Military and First Responders concert - celebrate the American tradition of service around important national holidays. POPS Outside brings POPS music to local communities. The Philly POPS performs as a founding resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, as the Principal Orchestra of the Met Philadelphia, and at venues throughout the mid-Atlantic region.

To post a comment, you must register and login.