“The POPS sign will shine above Symphony Hall for the first spring season since 2019, as conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops welcome live audiences … in May and June,” writes A.Z. Madonna in Thursday’s (3/17) Boston Globe. “The orchestra plans to carry on beloved traditions such as films with live orchestral music, … Gospel Night, and plenty of special guests from Broadway. The season runs for only four weeks in comparison to the usual six, a decision that Lockhart explained as a strategic move to take things slow initially and accommodate the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s spring European tour. … It felt especially important to plan some evenings in honor of laureate conductor and film music titan John Williams, Lockhart said. ‘He just turned 90 in February.’ … ‘Duke Ellington Reimagined’ [will feature] pianist Lara Downes and actor Brian Stokes Mitchell [in] a newly commissioned piano concerto based on the themes of Ellington’s musical accomplice Billy Strayhorn…. The season opener will be ‘The Magical Music of Alan Menken,’ a program celebrating the storied composer [of Disney scores].… Lockhart is also looking forward to welcoming Pops first-timer Christopher Jackson, … the fourth member of the original ‘Hamilton’ cast to appear with the Pops.”
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