Pasadena POPS Concludes Summer Season with Gershwin

Pianist Kevin Cole and conductor Larry Blank join the Pasadena POPS and their newly-created JPL Chorus in a celebratory performance Gershwin on the Green at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden on September 8 at 7:30 pm. The Pasadena POPS finishes its summer concert series with George Gershwin’s powerhouse piano works Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F alongside Porgy and Bess, Foggy Day, I Got Rhythm and Strike Up the Band.
Kevin Cole is regarded as one of the greatest interpreters of Gershwin’s music by critics and has been described by the Gershwin family as the only pianist alive that comes close to performing Gershwin’s works as the composer did. Known as “America’s Pianist,” Cole has performed and recorded with orchestras around the world such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and more. His 1995 album Gershwin’s Oh, Kay! with soprano Dawn Upshaw won the Gramophone Musical Album of the Year award.
Larry Blank, who appeared with Marvin Hamlisch and the Pasadena POPS in front of record-breaking crowds in July, is a conductor in high demand amongst Broadway and pops orchestras; he and the Pasadena POPS’ late principal conductor Marvin Hamlisch were close colleagues. Blank was the original Broadway conductor for Hamlisch’s musical They’re Playing Our Song, and led the original international tour of A Chorus Line. He was also Hamlisch’s musical director throughout much of the 1980s.
Saturday, September 8, 2012 | Gates open at 5:30pm for picnicking | Concert begins at 7:30pm Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Garden; 301 N. Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA Child tickets start at $10, adult tickets start at $20

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