Boston Pops Orchestra

about

The Boston Pops Orchestra was founded in 1885 as a subsection of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), founded four years earlier. Careful examination of the rosters of “Pops" or “Festival" orchestras, which are associated with a co-resident symphony orchestra in the same community, shows that the principal players of a “Pops" ensemble usually hold the post of assistant or associate principal of the “parent" ensemble. In general parlance, the Boston Pops is described as: “The Boston Symphony minus the first-chair players." This “elite core” of BSO musicians constitute a separate subsection of the BSO, and perform alongside the Pops as the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, a 12-member ensemble founded in 1964. These arrangements, and a similar one with the Tanglewood Festival provide year-round employment for the musicians. Other cities have founded their own "pops" orchestras, but the Boston Pops remains the most famous and well-known. History of the Pops In 1881, Henry Lee Higginson, the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, wrote of his wish to present in Boston "concerts of a lighter kind of music." The Boston Pops Orchestra was founded to present this kind of music to the public, with the first concert performed in 1885. Called the "Promenade Concerts" until 1900, these performances combined light classical music, tunes from the current hits of the musical theater, and an occasional novelty number. Allowing for some changes of taste over the course of a century, the

top songs

albums

White Christmas - A Christmas Festival

Pops Out Of This World

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12 Days of Christmas

Pops Christmas Party

Christmas Collection

Christmas Music with the Boston Pops

Sleigh Ride

John Williams Conducts Music From Star Wars

America, the Beautiful

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Pops in Love

Oscar and Tony: Award-Winning Music From the Stage and Screen

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