Palm Beach Pops 2009

On a night when Maestro Bob Lappin and The Palm Beach Pops — with guest pianist-arranger Mike Renzi — were arguably at the top of their game, Holmes held his own with the large group through a well-paced program of show tunes, big band and ...

During the school year, Charlie, a first grade student at Liberty Park Elementary School, experienced the loss of his mother. Since then, he’s had trouble coping with her passing and difficulties interacting with other students. Last week, Charlie met musicians from the Palm Beach Pops orchestra who are visiting his school for their weekly Music & You classroom session. Charlie learned to sing a new song that was taught to the class, and it reminded him of his mom. The healing power of music touches the human heart and soul, bringing hope and comfort through even the darkest times. “My mom’s in heaven and that song sounds like heaven,” whispered Charlie to his teacher. “I miss my mom so much and she’d be so proud of me singing.” And after seeing the brass and woodwinds instruments the prior week, Charlie, along with his father, learned how to make his own woodwind instrument that he showed to his class

Springtime officially kicked off with a bang at the Kravis Center Friday night, as maestro Bob Lappin & The Palm Beach Pops opened their final concert series for the season with a balanced, solid program. Titled Big Bands & All That Jazz, it featured two world-class Pops favorites and a number of notable performances by various Pops personnel. As you might expect in a big band program, most of the selections focused on the brass and reeds — and they certainly came to play, as did the veteran rhythm section of bassist Phil Flanigan and drummer Frank Derrick, who served as the engine that kept this musical vehicle humming along smoothly throughout the evening, V8-to-the-bar, if you will. Sitting in on piano was special guest Mike Renzi, a composer/arranger who has worked with legends such as Sinatra, Mel Torme and Liza Minelli, in addition to winning seven Daytime Emmy awards for his work in television, most notably on Sesame Street.

Nobody sets the stage for Broadway like Bob Lappin & The Palm Beach Pops in their renowned tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber, March 2-8, 2010. This concert series features Broadway stars soprano Tamra Hayden of Les Misérables and tenor David Burnham, Helen Hayes Award winner for Best Actor and star of Wicked. Audiences will delight in breathtaking selections from famed Broadway shows Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables and other classics from the Great American Songbook!