The Philly POPS and Comcast NBCUniversal Present MEMORIAL SALUTE Sixth Annual Free Public Memorial Day Concert

The Philly POPS announced today that the 2022 kick-off of its popular Salute Series, Comcast NBCUniversal Memorial Salute, will take the stage on May 27, 2022 at 7 p.m at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Registration for military, veteran, police, firefighter, first responder, and frontline worker communities and their families will be available soon through affiliated bases and organizations. Free tickets are now available to the public.

Led by guest conductor Byron Stripling, rising star vocalist Sydney McSweeney and violinist Jennifer Orchard perform with the full POPS orchestra. The show will feature a collection of patriotic anthems, Great American Songbook classics, and showtunes.

"The Philly POPS is incredibly proud to bring Memorial Salute to all of Philadelphia each year. We are grateful to Comcast NBCUniversal and Welcome America for helping us provide tickets to our servicemembers and families and for helping us make this a special day of celebration and remembrance," said Frank Giordano, President of The Philly POPS.

Memorial Salute, Philadelphia's only concert in honor of Memorial Day, has been an annual tradition for all of Philadelphia since 2016-especially for many servicemembers and their families. Memorial Salute is part of The Philly POPS Salute Series, presented by Comcast NBCUniversal, which honors the service community and families with free public concerts on holidays of civic celebration-including July 3 POPS on Independence, July 4 POPS at the Celebration of Freedom and POPS on the Parkway, Veterans Salute, I'll Be Home For Christmas: A Salute to the Military and First Responders and Memorial Salute.

Gates open at 6 p.m. on May 27, 2022; the performance will begin at 7 p.m. More details are available at www.phillypops.org/memorialsalute

Performance repertoire:

• "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key
• "Swingin' Stars and Stripes" by John Philip Souza
• "Ol' McDonald Had a Farm" by Thomas d'Urfey
• "I Want to Be Happy" by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar
• "Always" by Irving Berlin
• "Fascinating Rhythm" by George Gershwin
• "Sweet Georgia Brown" by Ben Bernie & Maceo Pinkard
• "This Little Light of Mine"
• "Hymn to the Fallen" by John Williams
• "Armed Forces Medley"
• "America The Beautiful" by Katherine Lee Bates

About Byron Stripling, Guest Conductor

A powerhouse trumpeter, gifted with a soulful voice and a charismatic onstage swagger, Byron Stripling has delighted audiences internationally. As soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Stripling has performed frequently under the baton of Keith Lockhart, as well as on the PBS television special, "Evening at Pops," with conductors John Williams and Mr. Lockhart. Currently, Stripling serves as artistic director and conductor of the highly-acclaimed, award-winning Columbus Jazz Orchestra. In January 2020, Stripling was announced as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Principal Pops Conductor.

Since his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops, Stripling has emerged as one of America's most popular symphony pops guest artists, having performed with over 100 orchestras around the world including the Boston Pops, National Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and The Philly POPS. He has been a featured soloist at the Hollywood Bowl and performs at jazz festivals throughout the world.

Television viewers have enjoyed his work as soloist on the worldwide telecast of The Grammy Awards. Millions have heard his trumpet and voice on television commercials, TV theme songs including "20/20," CNN, and soundtracks of favorite movies.

Stripling earned his stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Thad Jones and Frank Foster. He has also played and recorded extensively with the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, and Buck Clayton in addition to The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and The GRP All Star Big Band.

A resident of Ohio, Stripling lives in the country with his wife, former dancer, writer and poet, Alexis and their beautiful daughters.

About Sydney McSweeney, guest vocalist

Sydney McSweeney is a vocalist in Columbus, Ohio. Sydney studied classical voice at Otterbein University and graduated with a BA in Music. Sydney sings with Foley, a Columbus bass player is who known for playing with Miles Davis, Prince, Parliment Funkadelic and many more! On top of working wth Foley, Sydney is currently working on her own music.

About Jennifer Orchard, guest artist

"I can't remember a time when I was not playing the violin."

The statement reflects on her earliest memories of music, but it speaks to a larger truth about this gifted artist: life and music have always been joined as she lives out her life passion every day.

Orchard's biography spans all of the rites of passage that come with attaining the status of a world-class musician-the childhood successes, the rigors of conservatory training, and the progress of a professional career. Yet the conventional narrative does not capture the more complete picture of Orchard, who has a heartfelt love for the beauty of music and a sense of purpose as she brings it to life.

Orchard came to the violin as a young child. Her early success led to admission into the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, where she honed the skills that would lead to a professional career.

She speaks with reverence of her teachers, including famed violinists Szymon Goldberg, Robert Mann and Lorand Fenyves, who helped her achieve both virtuosity and artistry.

From her conservatory studies, Orchard entered her first professional position as a member of the Lark Quartet. She played with Lark for eight years, from 1993-2001 and while there began a recording career that continues to this day.

Now a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony first violin section, Orchard channels her artistic endeavors through many avenues. In 2015, she and three other PSO musicians formed the Clarion Quartet which commits itself to performance and awareness of composers whose lives and careers were destroyed through the atrocities of WWII. These composers, deemed degenerate by the Nazi party have been neglected and largely forgotten since the war. The Clarion Quartet's mission is to break the silence and restore this music to its rightful place on the stages of today. Their recording of three such composers came out in 2018 and is available on Naxos.

Orchard's recording work also includes partnering with pianist Igor Kraevsky on the music of Paul Juon, a Russian composer whose works were also, though not through war, neglected and largely unknown. Orchard and Kraevsky's work together has spanned fifteen plus years, performing the world premiere of Paul Juon's Triple concerto in Moscow Conservatory Hall and producing many recordings including two world premieres entitled "Weisse Nachte" and "Bagatellen".

Orchard expresses a sincere and humble gratitude for having had the opportunity in her life to play with great musicians and for appreciative audiences, which is the fulfillment of a life mission.

As for how she articulates that personal mission, she says without hesitation: "To always have passion about the music, and to never stop playing."

About the Salute Series

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.

About The Philly POPS

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 450,000 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.

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