Pops, Pops and More Pops! (corrected)

While the KSO Masterworks Series has a lot to offer with its all-star repertoire and its parade of guest maestros, the Pops Series packs a wallop, too, with six concerts that run the gamut of popular culture and music.

Starting with a bang is the “Classical Night Fever,” a 70s disco revue that will whisk you away to the days of dance floor derring-do, platform shoes and disco balls. Our guest ensemble, Motor Booty Affair, keeps a busy schedule around their Maine home base, but they will board their flying funk machine to the Tennessee Theatre on FRIDAY, Oct 2nd at 8:00. (Please note that except for this one, all of the subsequent Pops concerts will be Saturday nights, and will start at 8:00 at the Knoxville Civic  Auditorium).

1940 was a great year for movies, with The Great Dictator, The Grapes of Wrath, The Philadelphia Story and Foreign Correspondent all capturing the imagination of adult viewers, and Pinocchio  and The Blue Bird  charming the kids. One movie was released, however, that won over movie-goers of all ages, and that was Fantasia,  celebrating its 75^th anniversary this year.  On January 16^th, 2016, the KSO will be providing music to scenes from Fantasia, including Mickey Mouse's ever-popular Sorcerer Scene. IMDb has a lotto say about this wonderful film, and also provides some interesting trivia.

As a prelude to Valentine's Day, the KSO will present songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein on February 13^th. Wouldn't It Be Loverly if you took your sweetie to the Civic to hear love songs and songs you love? (Say yes). Tunes by other Rodgers collaborators, such as Lorenz Hart and Jerome Kern, will also be performed, adding up to what will surely be Some Enchanted Evening.

The Fifth Dimension will grace us with a return engagement on March 12, 20 years after their first appearance with us in May of 1995. Their 60s and 70s hits are baby-boomer anthems, hearkening back to a pre-Auto-Tune era when what you heard was what you got.

In 1975, I bought my first stereo, and was thus indoctrinated into the world of record collecting. My first purchases were Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, by Elton John, and Led Zeppelin IV. I wore out that Led Zep album, trying to unlock the secrets of Jimmy Page's guitar playing, while my parents wondered when I would unlock my cello case. On April 9, Windborne (who brought us The Music of Queen this past April) will be back, this time with a program of Led Zeppelin's music. This very first of Windborne's productions is now in its 20^th year, and features gritty Classic Rock hymns such as Kashmir, Black Dog, Stairway to Heaven, and Good Times, Bad Times. I don't need to add that this will be a GOOD time.

For the grand finale of the News-Sentinel Pops Series, we will be hosting none other than Kenny G! OMG!   If songs like Yakety Sax and Junior Walker's Shotgun helped put the saxophone on the pop map, Kenny G built an entire empire based upon the sax. Songs like The Moment, Songbird and Forever in Love are staples in a genre that really only includes him.  This smooth jazz feast will take place on May 7^th.