Holiday Pops to celebrate the season — and 50th anniversary
Way back in the auspicious month of December 1973, Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler put together three concerts and dubbed them “A Pops Christmas Party.” What a difference 50 years makes. What began as a two-day series at Symphony Hall has expanded exponentially for Holiday Pops’ golden anniversary, with Keith Lockhart conducting 44 performances in four states from Dec. 1 through Christmas Eve.
Symphony Hall will host 39 concerts featuring appearances by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and Santa Claus. In addition, Lockhart will bring the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra to Worcester (Dec. 2), Lowell (Dec. 17), Storrs,
Conn. (Dec. 8), Manchester, N.H. (Dec. 10), and Providence (Dec. 16). Tickets for all shows go on sale Tuesday at 10 a.m. and can be purchased at bostonpops.org.
For younger audience members, there will be seven kids’ matinees (Dec. 2, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, and 24) with shorter running times, no intermissions, and photos with Santa. And for families that include members on the autism spectrum or who have sensory sensitivity, a reduced-price sensory-friendly concert will be offered at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 2 that features loosened house rules, extra space, reduced lighting and volume, available noise-reduction headphones, quiet rooms, and support spaces.
Where-, when- and however they perform, the Pops will dig into its repertoire of holiday classics — including “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” the wide-ranging and witty arrangement of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” — as well as new additions to the program. After all, a lot has changed since 1973.