The Boston Pops Orchestra

When Adolf Neuendorff instituted the Promenade Concert idea in 1885, he had no idea that he was beginning a practice that would influence symphony orchestras around the world and become an enduring American tradition. It wasn't until 1900 that the word Pops came to be associated with the concert series and the whole "Boston Pops Orchestra" title wasn't used until 1935, when the symphony recorded its first album, under director Arthur Fiedler.

The Boston Pops Orchestra is made up of the members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, less the twelve performers who tour as the Boston Symphony Chamber Players. They play concerts Symphony Hall from for about six weeks in late spring, through May and into June.

The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra takes over at Symphony Hall from mid-June through early July. For the rest of July, they play free outdoor concerts at the famous Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade (hence their name) They tour the United States and perform Holiday Pops New Year's Eve concerts, as well.

For more information or to listen to some full, guest-star song, visit the Boston Pops Orchestra's MySpace profile or just go straight to the Boston Pops part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra website.

The Boston Pops Orchestra puts on "café-style" concerts, at which listeners sits at tables and are served snacks and drinks. The concerts consist of three parts: light classical music, a classical or popular guest-star vocalist, and a finale section of Broadway hits, film themes, Big Band swing, patriotic songs and marches, or other popular fare, depending on the concert's theme.

Arthur Fiedler began the Boston Pop's Esplanade concerts in 1929, though he didn't become the director until 1930. He also directed the orchestra through some of its wildest (and most wildly popular) theme recordings. The 4th of July concerts started in 1976, with a world-record attendance of 400,000 people for the American Bicentennial. Although that records has been broken a few times since, it was a fantastic indication of how the Boston Pops has become entwined in American culture.

It wasn't until 1930 that the Boston Pops Orchestra got its own conductor, in Arthur Fiedler. He brought personality and marketing to the Pops, taking it from a locally-famous summer season to a household name with the public television-broadcast Fourth of July show beginning in 1969. Fiedler led the Pops for a staggering fifty years and transformed it from a side enterprise of the Boston Symphony Orchestra into a musical powerhouse in its own right. Because the first decades were conducted by the same person who conducted the full orchestra, and because of Fiedler's dedication, the list of conductors dedicated solely to the Pops is actually quite short, despite the organization's long history. Fiedler conducted the orchestra until his death in 1979.

• Arthur Fiedler (1930-1979)
• John Williams (1980-1993 and as Laureate Conductor from 1994-Present)
• Kieth Lockhart (1995-Present)
• Bruce Hangen (the Principal Guest Conductor from 2002-2006)

Kieth Lockhart has been another photogenic and innovative conductor for the Boston Pops Orchestra. It was Lockhart, with his sense of popular culture and flair, who began inviting popular musicians to be featured with the orchestra, resulting in terrific recordings and the introduction of classical and pop music to the fans of each genre.