Pops

The pastor of my parish likes to have parish trips to hear the Boston Pops. This year's trip was on Tuesday, May 12. I went along. We had a block of seats in the center section of the first balcony, and we sold all the seats we had requested.

It was a pretty good concert, starting with movie music, then a cellist, Maria Beiser, and after intermission jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli with his quartet. The cellist did three pieces which had been composed or arranged for her. All three were fairly slow, and it got to be tedious after a while, although she played them well. The jazz group performed arrangements af a half dozen or so Gershwin tunes. It was much more lively and enjoyable ( a surprising conclusion for someone who prefers classical, which the cellist gave us, to jazz).

I was amazed at how sparse the attendance was. The sides of both balconies were practically empty, and the center section where we were sitting was only about half full. I've never seen so many empty seats in the balconies at a Symphony concert. And the pastor says it was the worst attendance he has seen in all the years he's been taking groups to the Pops. It seems that they have to do something to make the programs more attractive. IMO they rely too heavily on movies, and too little on light classical and popular music.