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Television host Maury Povich, Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart, and network news anchors Connie Chung and Charlie Gibson, prior to the 30th Annual Pops By The Sea Concert in Hyannis
HYANNIS – Maestro Keith Lockhart led the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra in a crowd-pleasing performance Sunday night at the 30th Annual Pops By the Sea Concert on the Hyannis Village Green.
The show included favorites that have become part of the three-decade summer tradition, including songs from Oklahoma and Richard Rodgers Waltzes.
After the opening number, Lockhart greeted the crowd with a reference to the unseasonably cool weather that settled over Cape Cod during the day.
“On this fine October day, welcome to the 30th Annual Pops By The Sea!” he joked.
To mark the 30th year of Pops By the Sea, three celebrity guest conductors performed with the orchestra. Network television news anchors Connie Chung and Charlie Gibson joined with Chung’s husband, television talk show host Maury Povich.
CCB MEDIA PHOTOS
American Idol finalist John Stevens performs at 30th Annual Pops By The Sea
The trio first performed the spoken words of “The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers,” and then delighted the crowd in conducting the Washington Post March.
All three have summer homes on Cape Cod.
“I’ve done more work for the preparation of two minutes with the Boston Pops than I have done for 30 years of television talk,” Povich joked after his sound check.
Chung and Povich also said it was an honor to join the list of television and news personalities who have held the celebrity baton, including Walter Cronkite, Mike Wallace and Art Buchwald.
“Connie worked for Walter, worked with Mike, and Art has been a dear friend of mine for many, many years,” Povich said.
A young girl waves American flags during the 30th Annual Pops By The Sea Concert in Hyannis
The orchestra also performed versions of The Beatles’ classic songs, A Hard Day’s Night, And I Love Her, and Can’t Buy Me Love.
The concert is hosted by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, which provides year-round funding for arts and culture related organizations from Bourne to Provincetown. Pops By The Sea is their largest annual fundraiser.
In a tribute to Cape Cod, the orchestra played the theme from Jaws and American Idol finalist John Stevens delivered his take on the Patti Page classic Old Cape Cod. Stevens also crooned his way through Frank Sinatra’s classic songs Summer Wind and New York, New York.
The concert attracted the usual collection of local celebrities and politicians, including several members of the Kennedy family, former Gov. Michael Dukakis and his wife Kitty, and Congressman William Keating.
Conductor Keith Lockhart leads the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra.
Former Gov. Dukakis’ father-in-law, Harry Ellis Dickson, helped launch Pops By The Sea 30 years ago. “We used to come down here all the time, it was wonderful. Harry Dickson was the best father-in-law you could ever have. This is just a concert that means a lot to us,” said Dukakis.
The show opened on a strong note as Dan Clark, known as the Singing Trooper, delivered a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
Also honoring the concert’s 30th year, the Arts Foundation invited the founders of the concert in 1986.
Among those founders is Lanny Chase, who was the honorary chair of the event.
Arts Foundation Executive Director David Kaplan said one unverified story he has heard is that in order to get that first concert off the ground, Chase actually stood out on the Airport Rotary with a cup to raise the necessary funds.
Ethel Kennedy attends the 30th Annual Pops By The Sea Concert in Hyannis
Naming Leo Fein as another founder, Kaplan said, “It was really their efforts and hard work to make it happen.”
The Arts Foundation’s mission is to promote, support, celebrate and advocate for the arts and, Kaplan said, “that’s what we do 365 days a year, Woods Hole to Provincetown. All of our programming, our scholarships, our fellowships, our grants are just outgrowths of serving that mission.”
Besides the Pops concerts, the Arts Foundation puts on free concerts—over 50 this year—of local Cape Cod bands at venues from all over Cape Cod. A new series this year is a solo series with singer-songwriters at Mashpee Commons.
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